Vintage Air with Intercooled Twin Turbo

[ItDoRun]

Not sure where to put this thread, so I'll stick it here. I'm twin turboing a 68 Camaro and will have Vintage Air as well. My question is this. How much will the intercooler affect the cooling capabilities of the condenser being that it will be sandwiched between the radiator and intercooler?

[camcojb]

Originally Posted by ItDoRun

Not sure where to put this thread, so I'll stick it here. I'm twin turboing a 68 Camaro and will have Vintage Air as well. My question is this. How much will the intercooler affect the cooling capabilities of the condenser being that it will be sandwiched between the radiator and intercooler?

I've ridden in a couple twin turbo/Vintage Air cars and the ac works just fine. On my Chevelle Mark moved the condenser onto the radiator/engine side of the radiator support to allow more intercooler clearance and a bit more room between the intercooler and condenser.

Jody

[ItDoRun]

Got any pics?

[BRIAN]

I am finishing up mine with heat exchanger for Cobra motor in my 51 Ford. I spoke with Vintage air about moving to engine side and after some discussion they felt this was not a good idea. I have a larger car so the efficiency is a big deal.


According to V.A. the condenser needs constant air flow from either the air movement from the fans or from the moving vehicle or both most of the time. I felt mounting it in front and then placing the fan in front of the condenser as noted above would work? From what I got there is a heat soak concern from it not getting the same air flow if out in front. I have seen it done this way and all I can say is I guess it all depends on how effecient you want it to be. At the very least get a 20x14 Supercooler horizontal style.


I mounted my rad and A/C on a rearward slant and the heat exchanger straight up. This way there is only about 1" of overlap between the A/C and heat exhanger. It also places the exchanger further away as it progresses upward. There will also be a air duct that will flow past excahnger to the a/c and rad. I am also going to run a pusher fan on the front.


It is a ton of work to get it all in there and look right.


By the way I ordered the VA condenser and sent it back as the Hot Rod Air from Summit is nicer and cheaper. I am using VA head unit though.

[Blown353]

I mounted my intercooler in front of the condenser.

You want a little space between all the components in the cooling system to help minimize radiative heat transfer. Sometimes you just run out of room though. In my installation I have about 1.75" of clearance at the bottom of the IC to the condenser, but at the top it's down to about 1/4" because I had to tip the intercooler back for hood latch clearance. The condenser is about 1/2" away from the radiator.

It's also a good idea to have some of the condenser exposed to clean air if possible.

Since you mentioned pusher fans... keep in mind that puller fans are more efficient that pusher fans.

Another thing to keep in mind is that idle and low speeds the heat load on the intercooler is minimal so it won't be shedding a lot of heat to decrease the efficiency of the condenser; however it will still restrict some of the airflow. When intercooler heat loads are high (i.e. under boost) you're usually already moving along at a good clip and will have plenty of airflow.

Here's some pics of how I did things...
http://home.comcast.net/~procharged69/intercooler.htm

[ItDoRun]

Thanks for the replies. I just got my turbos yesterday, but still have a long way to go. The car is getting body work done right now, but I'm just trying to get some ideas ahead of time.

[clill]

I have Twin turbos and Vintage air on the Mule and we ran Power Tour with the fan on low. It worked great.

[ten1nchrubbers]

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[BRIAN]

Your condenser should be as close to the radiator as possible (about 3/8)
otherwise the fan will not draw enough air through the condenser. The heat soak concern is from the heat in the engine compartment not as much from just the radiator.

[andrewmp6]

you could always make some cooling ducts make the air go where you want it. i had a 240sx with a front mount use to overheat tell i riged up some cool ducts. basicly boxed it in from the bumper to the radiator supprt.