Okay, I know a few of you out there have 2.3T's, can I see what you've done for your intercooler plumbing? I'm trying to figure out the best way to run the least amount of pipe, but each option has me cutting into the front support or running long tubes through the fenders.
I don't have a Turbo 2.3L, but have been looking at what the TurboFord folks have been doing for quite a while.
One of the most popular things is to cut the inlet, rotate it 90 degrees to the front, and reweld it. This is the most efficient (i.e. shortest pipe length) when using a front mounted inter cooler.
The front mounted cooler seems to be much more efficient than the hood inlet SVO and T-Bird coolers as they don't have either the surface area or air stream to really get the job done.
I haven't ran mine yet, but have a planned route that works for 2" pipe.
The intercooler I have has tanks at the top and bottom with the inlet and outlet both on the passenger side. It was made out of two Volvo IC cores.
The turbo outlet will go straight toward the fender, but turn 90 degrees and run forward under the starter solenoid it bends again at the radiator support and slips in the space between the radiator and the upper support.
The exit from the intercooler will be routed under the passenger bumper mount, then up and back in through the hole that's normall used for the battery cooling duct and the engine air duct. The pipe should barely squeeze over my mass air meter and under the other intercooler pipe.
The only hole cut is a 4" hole into the fender well which is for the 90MM mass air meter to mount to. The filter is in the fender well and I have 4" pipe from the turbo to the air meter.
That's what I was wondering, whether to go through the fenders or not. I don't have to worry about an air meter, I'm going MegaSquirt II very soon and will use the stock small VAM until then (non blow-through).
I Finally got a T-5 in the car, what a world of difference it make. That RAD-4 was simply awful.