Stock intercooler question...

Nic87gn

New Member
Joined
Apr 30, 2014
I was cleaning up under my hood and taking a few things off to paint. The stock intercooler still has the shroud on it, but in poor shape. Does anyone run with the stock shroud off and if so does it really make much of a difference that I'd notice any difference in the car running hotter?
 
Without the shroud you will be taking air from the hot under hood area. Point of the shroud is to shield the intercooler from grabbing that air. The scoop under the car grabs fresh air from the channel running under the car. There is a box in shield too that is supposed to be around the bottom and edges of your radiator to prevent that hot air from being forced down and into the intercooler scoop. Visit the parts thread and get a new but used good condition scoop, they come up from time to time. There are some cars being parted out on there now that might have one for you. The cooler the air you feed it the more efficient it can be at doing its job.
 
GN1 Performance has a nice aluminum shroud thinking about getting it myself. Kinda on the expensive side to me at $170 but if you know your gonna keep your stock intercooler for a good while may be the route to go. Could also have it powder coated black for a closer to stock look.
 
When I got under my '86 to do some work replacing my rad, I saw that my intercooler was all gunked up with decades of bug crud, and also noticed that the stock intercooler shroud partially obstructed the intercooler opening, and that the stock plastic grille was quite restrictive. After pulling out the intercooler to give it a thorough cleaning, I did some modding of the setup to optimize intake airflow. If you're sticking with the stock intercooler, you might find those mods helpful. It might not make a huge difference in the seat of your pants, but I figured why leave it the way it is, if there was a way to improve it. :cool:

http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/threads/coelacanths-86-gn.415173/
 
Thank you all, it helps a lot. I pulled my stock intercooler off and cleaned it up and I stripped the paint off and I polished it up I'll post a pic of it, looks great!
 
Coelacanth, thank you for sharing your pictures and info on your detail job! I will try some of your methods!
 
While its out, stuff some rags in the inlet and turn it upside down and take a die grinder to the inlet and remove approx .180" from the entire ID of the inlet. After grinding, pull the rags out and blow air out through the outlet. Then spray a couple cans of brake clean in and slosh it around. Pour it out........rinse and repeat until the brake clean is clean. Blow dry and spray a light.....light coat of flat black paint over the whole intercooler.
 
I've repainted my intercooler with Eastwoods radiator satin black. It's almost an exact match to the original black paint.

Craig
 
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