Fmic Conversion R34gtt (the Harder One)

[STYLN]

Last weekend i got stuck in and fit up the front mount intercooler kit from JJR to my R34 GTT. I chose NOT to go with the cooling pro stealth kit for both look and later practicality, knowing sooner or later i'll end up upgrading to a side mount plennum. I say right now it's a daily and i wont but i know myself well enough to know i probably will. hahahahaCooler kit as advertised

After delivery this is the kit

and the cooler

SIDE PROJECT

I painted my forum name onto the cooler before i went ahead and fitted it. The results are great considering they cost nothing. Using some A4 paper, some patience, tape, stanley knife and the original box i was able to make a very suitable stencil. A can of black enamel spray paint and bobs your uncle.

[STYLN]

engine bay before

thanks to the diy i had read from here taking the bumper off was too easy. My son even helped hahaha

Take the air box out and the two black pipes connecting to the side mount intercooler. Then work the clamps free and undo the mount bolts to take the smic out

pipe holes for smic after removal

Keep the lower pie as it's reused again in the new setup just chuck it aside.

[STYLN]

Examine the front area and look for opportunities to move anything clear that you can. View intercooler void before

I turned the horns around to face back at the car for the time being but i'll relocate them again properly when i mount the new front bumper. The view from the top

Next you should spend some time mocking it up and checking clearances, mount points and other objects. Heres mine mocked in...

I chose NOT to cut away the front bumper bar section for fitment, instead opting to bend the lower lip clear of the cooler. It's been done pretty neatly considering and is not visible with the bumper on.

I moved the sensor that was sitting just infront of the oil cooler at base by rebending the bracket so it sits directly below the oil cooler.

folded lower lip of bumper

To fit the cooler i used the short bracket provided and carefully drilled and tapped a hole into the top of the cooler. The top section is just a flat piece of allow bent up as channel so i had about 4mm of thread depth and 4mm of space to thread in past it.

View of top hole into fmic

View of it fitted below and above, you can see where i ran the brackets. Only had to drill one hole into the under bar for the passenger side bracket.

[STYLN]

Put the lower pipe back in and run the under pipe from there to the cooler and connect it up.

crossover pipe in place (note its different from the one pictured - i'm investigating why now)

Time to start looking at the cutout hole going through to the engine bay. It's a single plate section right where the relay thingy sits. Relocate it down and tie it back, then get stuck into it. I removed the battery for easy access and visibility.

alignment to chassis cutout

cutout location (engine bay side)

under guard side

Remove the washer bottle. As i saw with mine it wouldnt go back so i've cut it free for now while i investigate what others have done. Any help would be great guys!

I cut mine with an angle grinder after my dremel tool broke and used the black rubber line they gave with the kit to act as a protection layer around the cutout.

[STYLN]

Run the lower return pipe in through cutout and hook it up. I had some issues with mine but persistence with it and changing back to the old black rubber hose to connect the gap did the trick.

Once thats done its just a matter of refitting the front bumper. Put her up in place and look at which sections require trimming back then, remove trime the section out using a one handed hacksaw style tool or something that doesnt require a bow style frame. It will get around the tricky corners and along edges with no fuss. The blade also should be suitable for soft woods or plastics not metal if you dont wanna be at it all day.

Keep refitting, checking and try again until your happy with the fit. I wasnt too stressed as mine isnt staying on it very long so it was done quickly for sure. And here it is fitted

Took us almost 8 hours with the two of us and the two kids in our way so i'd say 5-6 without the kids...

Since the install ive noticed an improvement in mid and low range response. My factory boost guage is playing up and im not sure why, and of course i have yet to refit a washer bottle as the factory one no longer fits.

The look is good but will certainly be much better when it's got the Top Secret bar on.

Hope its helpful guys ;-)

[Turbotonic]

hey bud you have done good with it im suprised u didnt cut a bit of the fan to get the return pipe through anyway with that washer bottle turn it 180degree and get 2 30cm by 3cm peace of alloy,

put a 5mm holes on each end of the brackets and use nuts now you'll have 1 bolted under the battery tray and the other on the side of the flare and thats your support for the washer bottle

and your bumber will fit.

[_Ryan_]

if the fan fouls attach some sand paper to the pipe as that way it will wear down evenly

[dori34]

when i posted up a thread asking if i could keep the washer bottle, ppl said they rotated it so it just fits or they used a s14 washer bottle.

i've yet to try either yet so i cant comment which will work.

[Turbotonic]

when i posted up a thread asking if i could keep the washer bottle, ppl said they rotated it so it just fits or they used a s14 washer bottle.

i've yet to try either yet so i cant comment which will work.

washer bottle dose fit ill get you some pics when i find them

[STYLN]

thanks guys! I'll get the washer bottle done asap coz its something i use regularly i have found over the last few days

After a look around i found a pic from one of the stag boys that shows it well.

SMIC is on ebay closing in an hour or two for anyone interested

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi...em=250456072001

I didnt have heaps of issues with the fan as i played with the mounting bracket by bending it etc, but it comes very close. If it turns out i need to swap the crossover from jjr then perhaps i may have to sand back the fan as said. Cheers guys!

[dori34]

nice one, love the diy bracket.

turbotonic, post up the pic when you find them

cheers

[bombtrack]

Washer bottle can definitely be made to fit by rotating it 90 degrees. I ran without a washer bottle for ages, then finally got motivated to put the car on stands and try it out. Easy fix

[STYLN]

Hey guys can anyone shed any light on why my factory boost guage works sometimes and other times not? It was fine before i fitted the boost controller and up to the fmic install, but now it's random on when it works and doesnt work.

Where / how does the factory boost guage get it's reading from???

[HEKT1K]

a small black box near the firewall on the drivers side. should have a vac line running from it to the inlet manifold.

check the vac line for leaks and stuff, it may be causing your factory boost gauge to go a bit haywire.

[Tangles]

nice job, clean install, cute kid too (I can say that, got two little lads myself, they loved helping with the fmic install)

here is mine

using crossover pipe system and Trust fmic rated (proven) at 300rwkw,

[Turbotonic]

Hey guys can anyone shed any light on why my factory boost guage works sometimes and other times not? It was fine before i fitted the boost controller and up to the fmic install, but now it's random on when it works and doesnt work.

Where / how does the factory boost guage get it's reading from???

mate i got the same car the same problem i wouldn't worry about it that much coz there not accurate anyway get yourself a defi or something good 60mm will fit in the

old one's spot

[dori34]

awesome, now i can go fit the washer bottle this weekend

[STYLN]

a small black box near the firewall on the drivers side. should have a vac line running from it to the inlet manifold.

check the vac line for leaks and stuff, it may be causing your factory boost gauge to go a bit haywire.

Thanks Hekt1k much appreciated mate. im a fan of keeping the original guages wherever i can, so i'll check it out before going down the line as suggested by turbotonic (cheers also)

nice job, clean install, cute kid too (I can say that, got two little lads myself, they loved helping with the fmic install)

here is mine

using crossover pipe system and Trust fmic rated (proven) at 300rwkw,

thats a nice job tangles! i noticed youve not hooked up the bracket mount they give you with the top pipe section. Did you have fan issues doing that???

I got the normal kit sent up by JJR and played last weekend swapping back to the one piece top pipe kit. (just that pipe for now). The newer two piece kit by JJR is slightly larger pipe (by 1/4") and it bends different in the top pipe area to clear away from the belt cover and the fan. It's not an easy fit per say an it's hardly beutiful as you see, but it's quite effective at staying away from the fan.

As soon as i fitted the older style one piece top pipe i had fan issues but a bit of tweaking of the brackets, the alignment and bingo i cleared the fan by just enough.

see below the comparison pics of the one and two piece versions.

Time to fix the horn mountings and washer bottle next...

[2000gtt]

whats the power gain? anything noticable, im thinking of getting 1 for my gtt, stock with pod and exhaust

[stenve]

awesome work mate

did this on my r34 gtt a few weeks back with a trust front mount kit i took off my old r33 gtst.

had the same issue with the washer bottle, but now this weekend i can fit it up. didnt even think of rotating it.. just went doesnt fit, oh well and threw it to the side haha

also from memory i think there was a vacuum line that i couldnt connect with the new pipework as there was no nipple to attach it to.

I'm pretty sure this was connected to the a/c pumpand i just blocked it off.

I havent had any real problems with it. when i run the a/c the revs drop down a little to 500rpm or so (car is auto) feels like its gonna stall but always corrects itself.

I dunno if thats a fault of not connecting that line up or its just normal with the ac... any ideas?

Edited September 2, 2009 by stenve