FMIC fitment questions

[chriscurtin]

Hi

I started to install the FMIC on my 84 Capri RS Turbo today and have run into a bunch of issues:

1. I don't see how to move the power steering cooler that is in the way of the intercooler (picture below)

IMG_3294 by Curtin Family, on Flickr

2. What is the best order to install things? I started at the top and no way will the intercooler fit since both the 'C' tubes line up against the radiator instead of offset so I can have A/C. Should I get the intercooler mounted first?

IMG_3293 by Curtin Family, on Flickr

3. I clocked the turbo (that was fun removing the bottom bolt on the wastegate bracket ...). Is it clocked too far? I see some pictures with it almost straight up, some with it closer to the TB tube and others where it is pointing at the fender.

IMG_3291 by Curtin Family, on Flickr

4. How is the BOV supposed to fit? With the turbo clocked as shown there is no room for it against the fender.

IMG_3290 by Curtin Family, on Flickr

Thanks

Chris

[chriscurtin]

I found some threads on here about the power steering cooler, and I'm now confused. Shannon you replied in one of them

"There are some pics in the listing for the FMIC kit on our site that show the IC location in the background. It would be easiest with the body panels in place as it will show exactly where it needs to go then. Basically remove the condensor brackets, then it goes right in front of the radiator support, behind the PS cooler tubes (may need to loosen up the mounting bolt for it) and it sits on the lower part of the bumper cover.

Read more: stinger-performance.proboards.com/thread/997/full-exhaust-fmic#ixzz5Pz76pKCs"

So the intercooler should be between the PS cooler and the radiator, or the PS cooler should be between the radiator and the FMIC?

If the FMIC is between the radiator and the PS cooler I don't have enough slack in the lines to move it closer to the bumper more than 1/2" or so.

Thanks

Chris

[Stinger]

Outlet should be straight up and down or slightly towards the engine which will resolve the BOV clearance issue.

IC goes between PS cooler and radiator support. I can't say why you've got less slack but I just remove the bolt that holds the bracket to the radiator support and slide it forward. I can't see how much clearance is showing in the pic, looks like maybe 2" or so in the pic?

IC basically sits where the stock condenser sits only slightly lower.

Order of things is typically to put the IC in place, connect the "U" bends around the radiator support leaving them just loose enough at the IC where they will hold themselves up but can be moved with force. Then attach the turbo outlet pipe and throttle body pipe.

Looks like you need to slide the turbo outlet pipe out of the coupler a bit as well so it moves the U bend forward so it's not hitting the radiator support.

[chriscurtin]

Hi

I finally got to work on the FMIC yesterday and today. I had to remove the power steering cooler completely to get the intercooler to where I could hook up anything.

Now have lots of issues.

1. Should the intercooler be centered in the radiator opening? When I did that, the pipe to the intake was a good 3" over the throttle body. So I had to move it closer to the passenger side.

2. even with it to the passenger side it barely clears the fan. (like 3/4"or less) I can't find any pictures of anyone with a non-stock fan but the stock fan is quite deeper than the Flex-a-lite I use (photo below)

3. the driver's side pipe sits on the lower radiator hose

4. output from the turbo barely can be clamped on. Pressing on the hose the right clamp (looking from passenger fender) it is at the edge of the pipe. The left clamp off the turbo is a little better, but maybe 1/2" from the end of the elbow (pressing on the hose I how I'm measuring this.). Laying the L-hose you ship on top of the elbow I'm using clearly shows it wouldn't have reached if I had an SVO turbo.

5. the output from the turbo pipe hits the upper radiator hose.

6. With the clocked turbo, when I went back to attach the wastegate, the actuator doesn't have a straight shot at the flapper It misses by almost an inch. Moving the wastegate to cold side either direction either hits the return line or the center section (unbolt from the cold side, move the bracket). clocking the cold side (not moving the bracket) either doesn't allow the output elbow to intercooling piping to fit or it hits the oil return (played a couple of hours with this. the elbow lines up perfectly without the wastegate so it seems to be off by about an inch.)

The intercooler itself is flush with the radiator support.

How far down from the bottom of the radiator support should the intercooler be? I raised and lowered it a couple of times and either hit the lower radiator hose or couldn't get the turbo output side to line up.

Any pictures from above showing how the output from the turbo is supposed to be lined up around the radiator hoses?

I spent 4 hours Friday and 6 today so I'm at my wits end.

Pictures

Distance to the fog light bracket (I thought I had everything lined up so I created the brackets, then found the wastegate issue since installing the actuator was one of the last things to do.)

IMG_3373 by Curtin Family, on Flickr


IMG_3385 by Curtin Family, on Flickr

IMG_3392 by Curtin Family, on Flickr

IMG_3391 by Curtin Family, on Flickr

IMG_3394 by Curtin Family, on Flickr

IMG_3386 by Curtin Family, on Flickr

[Stinger]

1) It should be pretty much centered. Connect TB pipe first and work back towards the IC. There is about 4" of adjustment depending on whether you have the u-bend clamped right at the outer edge of the coupler or if you put it flush with the IC outlet or if you slide it into the outlet a bit.

2) How much fan clearance do you need before you are "OK" with the clearance? 3/4" is more than sufficient IMO.

3) Yes, it will.

4) Never in my life seen anything close to this problem. Normally it's got over 2" of overlap and I've actually had a few people complain it's hard to push the pipe into the coupler as far as it needs to go (opposite of your situation). I suspect it has something to do with how low the IC is and what it makes the u-bend on that side do to compensate but I can't tell for sure in the pics.

5) I suspect this problem is actually related to the same thing that's causing #4 above though. If your pipe is 1-1.5" farther "forward" than normal, it will hit the radiator hose like yours shows. Looks like cutting 1/2" or so off of the hose where it clamps onto the radiator would do the trick though if necessary.

6) Is it the stock actuator? I believe the bolt locations for the actuator are different for the SVO housings and the non-IC housings since they are clocked different in stock form. There is some wiggle room with the actuator rod where you can connect it without it being a perfectly straight shot though. As long as the actual rod doesn't rub on the canister body it's OK. You also have the option of putting a little bend in the rod if you want, many new actuators are made with a bend in them. They also have slotted mounting holes to let you move it all around. With that said, there should be a spot where it will work, even if you have to do a little clearancing of either the return line flange or the turbo bolt to allow it to slide into that space. It's basically personal preference whether you'd rather clearance things or bend the rod a bit, if you can't find a spot where you are happy with a little side loading of the rod to attach it.

IC should be basically flush with the bottom of the support, or slightly above. Inlet and outlet will be just below the bumper bars. Note the IC in/out aren't perfectly centered so it's possible you've got it upside down which is why you've got it hanging so low?

I just sent you an email with about a dozen customer install pics showing areas you have questions about (fan clearance, rad hose, outlet, IC location, etc.).

[chriscurtin]

Thanks Shannon.

Yeah mine sits 3-4 inches BELOW the radiator support so that is probably the issue. Good to know about the actuator rod. The pictures helped some. The one showing the intercooler on the mustang fog light bar was interesting. All of the ones I've seen for the RS Turbo has the intercooler being below the foglight bar which is why I thought I had it right.

A couple of follow up questions
1. should the u-bends be parallel to the frame rails or angled down? Right now they are parallel.
2. which side is 'up' if the inlet/outlet aren't exactly in the center?
3. having a 3" inlet/outlet shouldn't matter right? (remember they didn't have any 2.5" output when I ordered it so they shipped the 3" version)
4. For the trimming of the inner fender, my cuts are 4-5" below the frame rail with the intercooler mounted too low. Would they now need to be closer to the framerail?

It will be a couple of more weeks before I can get back at it (even though its 70 today in Atlanta. Sigh.) I'm going to remove the whole thing and start over.

[Stinger]

1) They don't have to be level. This is where some of the kit's adjustment is. Moving them up/down gives you both vertical adjustment, as well as slightly moving the pipe forward/back.

2) It's been so long since I developed the kit that I "think" it's biased so the in/out is slightly higher than centered but I'm not 100% certain. It's only a bit off center so technically this just adds to adjustability. That's why mounting bolts are in the same spots top and bottom.

3) No, once it's adapted down to 2.5" with the couplers it's all the same.

4) Whatever it takes to clear the pipe in the final configuration. Best to remove them until you get it all finalized so you don't cut too much.

[chriscurtin]

Figured it all out. More pictures to come, but the biggest issue was the intercooler was mounted too far down.

IMG_3743 by Curtin Family, on Flickr

[Stinger]

Yeah, the bottom of the IC should be about the same height as the bottom of the radiator support, slightly higher but close.