Installing Intercooler

[mh17]

hi guys i was thinking of getting an intercooler kit for my R34 gtt...have no experience in installations of any sort...n heard from a mate that installing intercoolers from unknown brands would be a pain in the arse...any comments on this or are there anyone who would do that for a reasonable fee?

[R31Nismoid]

In the overall terms... If you've never done it before or more to the point never played around with it all... easier just to pay someone.

I think RE Customs were charging ~$250-$300 for a I/C install (for most skylines, kit dependant of course), so in overall terms thats pretty cheap when you consider your time, the tools you need, and the fact that it'll take you a whole day (if your not too handy) ... $300 is well spent. At that way the cooler is definately going to be fitted right

Im not against DIY... Infact i do where i can.

However it just comes down to a cost vs effort vs time (the old measures of efficiency anyone?)... and for a I/C install its one of those things better left to the workshops.

So get a trust kit from a SAU Trader, get it fitted by a workshop. Plenty of reasonably priced kits from the traders here.

As for Ebay kits - don't. You're asking for trouble and more $$$ on installation if you do as they are just rubbish 9 times outta 10.

[KURAUN]

jjr also have the return flow which are not to bad if you dont wana go all out

[R-SPEC]

i finished installing my new fmic yesterday. if you're not too handy with tools and dont have the proper ones then i strongly suggest you get it fitted by a workshop

hardest part for me was to guesstimate where the whole was to be made (the 1 under the battery tray) i did sort of make a mess of it, but for a first non return flow kit install i think i did a good job

also i will say that if your too "careful" with your car, as in you dont want to cut bits off etc then dont do it yourself

[mh17]

thanks for the swift replies guys. yeah but thing is the trust ones are 3-4 times the price of ebay ones...are there any hybrid ones that are dependable?

or else i guess i just have to save up for it =S

[_Ryan_]

jjr also have the return flow which are not to bad if you dont wana go all out

no they arent to bad, they are f**king shit fitment wise, core seems okay, welds are neatish

rather a trust from access

[R31Nismoid]

thanks for the swift replies guys. yeah but thing is the trust ones are 3-4 times the price of ebay ones...are there any hybrid ones that are dependable?

or else i guess i just have to save up for it =S

Like i said - Forum Traders (there is a whole list 1/2 down the page from the main forum index)...

All of those kits are pretty reasonable. Sometimes in FI you see people post up about a kit "not fitting" and turns out they fked it up somehow because they don't know what they are doing

And as JJR have always said - if it doesn't fit, send it back and they will replace it... but funny how those people posting up about how 'apparently' bad they are... never post up about it again

[KURAUN]

well considering the jjr kits are for 33-34 and i managed to fit it to a 32 with only 1 small mod i would say its the best money i ever spent on a cooler

they informed me that it would need a few mods for a 32, and honestly all it was, was cutting one small bracket off and it all went together in about 2 hours for me

[cheez]

like the rest have said, wouldnt waste time on ebay cooler, ring jjr and get a price on a return flow system like nick and fit that to ur car.

cops can be picky and if they arent in the mood to go a lil easy, cutting a hole in ur engine bay aapron is unroadworthy, engineering certificate would be needed for roadworthy so do the best thing and make sure its a return kit that pipes to standard points.

[_Ryan_]

Like i said - Forum Traders (there is a whole list 1/2 down the page from the main forum index)...

All of those kits are pretty reasonable. Sometimes in FI you see people post up about a kit "not fitting" and turns out they fked it up somehow because they don't know what they are doing

And as JJR have always said - if it doesn't fit, send it back and they will replace it... but funny how those people posting up about how 'apparently' bad they are... never post up about it again

so you reassemble the car, pay the mechanic, pay two lots of shipping for another one that MIGHT fit better?

or you wear it and get shit fabbed to make it fit, then share your experience with people and reccomend a part that will fit first time?

i learnt my lesson

[nismo_GTST]

+1 for the JJR return flow kit. Fitted one not long ago into my car. It took a mate and I around 3-4 hours to do it all.

I had never installed an intercooler before then, but was pretty supprised at how easy it was to get it done.

[R31Nismoid]

so you reassemble the car, pay the mechanic, pay two lots of shipping for another one that MIGHT fit better?

or you wear it and get shit fabbed to make it fit, then share your experience with people and reccomend a part that will fit first time?

i learnt my lesson

The longer this thread goes, the more people you'll see have fitted JJR items without issue...

Proof is in the pudding

[HEKT1K]

so you reassemble the car, pay the mechanic, pay two lots of shipping for another one that MIGHT fit better?

or you wear it and get shit fabbed to make it fit, then share your experience with people and reccomend a part that will fit first time?

i learnt my lesson

i have only dealt with JJR once, and when it turned out that the item was faulty, they refunded my money with little hassles, PLUS the shipping there and back.

my 2c

[_Ryan_]

The longer this thread goes, the more people you'll see have fitted JJR items without issue...

Proof is in the pudding

i read of other people having issues in FI section, so just let it slide

[R31Nismoid]

And most of them are installing for the first time and screwed something up.

Or they ordered a kit for another model and expected it to fit.

There was only i think two legit threads, and JJR refunded the cost and ate postage too... So no, i wont let it slide that you bag our a trader based on an isolated incident that will have two sides to the story like all claims

[KURAUN]

no company will EVER refund postage EVER

and when people buy intercooler kits they must know that its an aftermarket part and no matter the brand or price

somethign will always/most likely have to be modified to make it fit

but saying that people that do an intercooler kit install first time are more than likely to have it not fit rather than the product be faulty

must remember that these kits are made in mass production and it takes many hours in designing them before they are

so more than likely its not the product thats faulty its the person fitting it, however there may be some faulty ones in the batch

[_Ryan_]

And most of them are installing for the first time and screwed something up.

Or they ordered a kit for another model and expected it to fit.

There was only i think two legit threads, and JJR refunded the cost and ate postage too... So no, i wont let it slide that you bag our a trader based on an isolated incident that will have two sides to the story like all claims

http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/in...t&p=4416366

there is another, cbf'd searching for more

maybe it was an isolated issue with a batch of stagea units?

its like their stagea dump/fronts foul the crossmember, mine does(reangled now) it is just less of a headf**k NOT to send it back.

and RB25 dumps are hard to get one of the bolts in(on some of them impossible)

and heard a few reports besides mine of the cat being too short,(catco) but most people just use up the play in the hangers(as i had too)

so that is 3/3 badly fitting products,

i still reccomend the exhuast parts as they are a very easy fix for an exhaust shop. but when i was told on the phone by justjap that there would be no cutting, then having to remove either a thermo and mod piping, or half my bumper, i lost my faith in their cooler kits and even for the money i won't reccomend them.

that said, justjap have bloody fast shipping... i am just going back to my old rule- custom or brand name!

must i post a photo of how mine is lined up? bolt holes are meh, fabbed bracket solves that(for the top, the bottom two fit, but then the piping is a bloody mission too fit)

/end banging head against a brick wall

Edited March 31, 2009 by Ryan1600

[R31Nismoid]

A bolt hole doesn't line up? That's the best you could do...? Oh dear...

No where in the thread does it say what kit was purchased (was it for the correct model), JJR contacted, or anything else for that matter

Far as that goes its nothing more than random talk.

And being we are just talking about I/C kits - that's where it ends.