Intercooler in a B-engine?

[BIRDIEMANGO]

THIS IS MY INTERCOOLER INSTALLATION FROM A MERCEDES SLK KOMPRESSOR IN A B-ENGINE 99T.......IT JUST ABOUT SLOTS IN FRONT OF THE RADIATOR,WITH SOME MODIFICATION TO THE FRONT PANEL.

ALL PIPEWORK CAME FROM SAAB PARTS BIN,SOME IS THE ALLOY PETROL FILLER PIPES FROM IN THE TRUNK, CUT &RE-WELDED TO FORM BOOST PIPES......

INTERCOOLER TO ENGINE PIPEWORK WAS,FROM H-ENGINE INTERCOOLER SET UP,CUT AND RE-WELDED,THEN SMOOTHED OUT THE STEP UP,TO AID AIRFLOW.....

IT MEANT,I DIDN'T HAVE TO DESTROY THE LINES OF THE 99.........AND ALSO IT GETS MAXIMUM AIRFLOW......

I HAVE BEEN COMPETING WITH THIS SET-UP FOR NEARLY FIVE YEARS NOW IN HILLCLIMBS/SPRINTS AND IT WORKS WELL......

HOWEVER,CONTINUAL POUNDING ON TRACKDAYS RESULTS IN HEATSOAK.........

I COULD REALLY DO WITH FITTING AN EARLIER -72 RADIATOR,WHICH HAS A DEEPER CORE,TO GIVE MORE COOLING......AS YOU LOSE FRONTAL EXPOSURE TO COOLING AIR,WITH THIS SET-UP AND THE 99T RUNS VERY HOT.....

IT DOESN'T HELP THAT I HAVE THE ENGINE OIL COOLER,MOUNTED BELOW THE INTERCOOLER EITHER....SO IT DOESN'T GET DAMAGED DURING COMPETITION.

I AM ALSO CONSIDERING RUNNING SOME COOLANT THROUGH THE MINATURE OIL COOLERS,THAT SAAB FITTED IN THE INNER WING VOIDS,WHICH THEY USED AS GEARBOX OIL COOLERS ON THE WORKS CAR......

I WAS WORKING ON A NEW JAGUAR XF,LAST WEEK REPAIRING ACCIDENT DAMAGE,AND A NICE SMALL ALLOY AUXILIARY RADIATOR SITS IN FRONT OF RIGHT HAND FRONT WHEEL,IN THE BUMPER.....

PROBLEM IS THOUGH,I AM FINDING IT DIFFCULT TO FIND SPACE UNDER THE BONNET OF THE 99T........JUST LIKE SAAB DID

[RadioFlyer]

Nice! What was all that heat shielding made from?

[squaab99t]

Nice! What was all that heat shielding made from?

Looks like a stainless steel metal assembly. Looks fairly effective since he is using plastic zip ties to hold on the insulation above it. If you have some free time, 75 pages of his build http://www.uksaabs.co.uk/UKS/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=17835

[BIRDIEMANGO]

THE STAINLESS HEAT SHIELD,IS SIMPLY THE STANDARD TURBO HEAT SHIELD( NORMALLY BOLTS TO BATTERY TRAY),BENT AT 90 DEGREES,AROUND THE SHAPE OF THE TURBO INSTALLATION.

I THEN USED SOME SLIGHTLY THINNER STAINLESS STEEL SHEET,TO MAKE UP SOME RETAINING BRACKETS,WHICH FIX TO THE EXISTING BATTERY TRAY MOUNTS,TO KEEP IT ALL RIGID.....

SOME MORE SHEET METAL WAS USED TO FILL THE AREA DIRECTLY UNDER THE TOP RADIATOR HOSE,TO TRY AND KEEP THE RADIAL HEAT FROM SOAKING INTO THE COOLANT PIPEWORK.

IDEALLY THE TURBO PIPEWORK THAT EXITS THE COMPRESSOR SIDE,(CURVING OVER THE TOP OF THE TURBO ITSELF IN THE ABOVE ENGINE BAY PHOTO),COULD DO WITH KEEPING WELL WAY FROM THE TURBO...


MAYBE THIS IS WHY SAAB,LOCATED THE 900 INTERCOOLER SET-UP TO THE LEFT OF THE ENGINE BAY,DIRECTING ALL INTERCOOLER PIPEWORK AWAY FROM THE TURBO...?

I HAVE LOOKED AT 'CLOCKING' THE COMPRESSOR HOUSING,THROUGH 180 DEGRESS,SO I COULD RUN THE PIPEWORK UNDER THE TURBO HOUSING,BUT EITHER WAY,WITH A FRONT RADIATOR MOUNTED INTERCOOLER,IS VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO KEEP THE PIPING AWAY FROM THE RADIANT HEAT.....

I SPENT A LOT OF TIME,RESEARCHING HEAT INSULATION.....
''CORKY BELL'' WRITES A VERY INTERESTING BOOK ON THE SUBJECT OF 'MAXIMUM BOOST'......AMONGST OTHERS....

FITTING A T3 TURBO UNIT FROM A 1983 SAAB 900,GREATLY IMPROVES THE CHARACTERISTICS OF TURBO REPSONSE WITH THE 'B' ENGINE, THE EXHAUST TURBINE IS MUCH BIGGER THAT THE STANDARD UNIT AND COMBINING THIS WITH A LIGHTENED FLYWHEEL.....GIVES INSTANT THROTTLE RESPONSE, WITH NO TURBO LAG.....

IF YOU LOOK AT THE ENGINE BAY PHOTO AGAIN,YOU CAN SEE I HAVE MADE UP A CUSTOM STAINLESS EXHAUST DOWNPIPE, RUNNING DOWN FROM THE TURBO,WHICH RUNS DOWN THE SIDE OF THE GEARBOX(LIKE A 900)

THIS WAS VERY TIME CONSUMING,AND BEING SOMEWHAT CLOSER THAT THE ORIGINAL DESIGN, THE RADIANT HEAT CAUSED PROBLEMS INITIALLY WITH STARTER MOTOR FAILURE,AND ASSOCIATED WIRING....

THIS WAS SOLVED WITH THE HEATWRAP SILVER FOIL TYPE JACKETS,YOU CAN NOW SEE ENVELOPING MUCH OF THE ANCILLIARY COMPONENTS IN THE BOTTOM RIGHT OF THE PHOTO.....

I RE-ROUTED THE STARTER MOTOR WIRING ALONG THE SIDE OF THE ENGINE,AND SHROUDED THE STARTER MOTOR WITH ADDITIONAL FABRICATED HEAT SHIELDING....

ALL HAS BEEN WELL, SINCE THEN.......

AND THE BONNET VENTS,I FITTED DIRECTLY ABOVE THE TURBO,ALLOW STAGNANT HEAT TO ESCAPE,WITH THE HELP OF A BLOWER FAN,WHICH DRAWS AIR FROM THE FRONT SPOILER,AND COOLS THE TURBO......WHEN I AM WAITING ON THE START LINE,OR HAVE JUST COME IN FROM A RUN.....

I DID SOME TEST RUNS ON THE ROLLING ROAD,WITH....... AND WITHOUT THE INTERCOOLER.

RESULTS WERE INTERESTING,INITIAL RUNS SHOWED A SMALL BHP INCREASE WITH THE INTERCOOLER,UNTIL IT BECAME HEATSOAKED,WITH CONTINUAL TESTING......

MORE IMPORTANTLY TORQUE INCREASED WITH THE INTERCOOLER,UP SOME 10-15 LB/FT......

I NOW RUN AN INTERCOOLER SPRAY,MADE UP FROM SOME SQUISHED 0.7MM COPPER WELDING TIPS,FED VIA SOME SAAB WASHER TUBING,AND A 1974 SPEC SAAB 99 VDO WASHER PUMP......

THIS USES THE EXISTING WASHER BOTTLE AS A WATER SUPPLY,AND IS ONLY SWITCHED ON,AS I GO OFF THE START LINE.

REGULATIONS HERE DO NOT ALLOW ANY KIND OF 'WATER COOLING DEVICE' TO CAUSE PUDDLING ON THE START LINE....

I ALSO OPENED UP THE FRONT VALANCE VENTS,TO TRY AND GET SOME MORE AIR IN,AS PER PHOTO....

RUNNING THE CAR ON A TRACKDAY WITH NO FRONT BUMPER,SEEMS TO MAKE NO DIFFERENCE TO COOLING.....