Patching an Intercooler

Ok i have a problem.

On the way to my girfriends there was some road construction. They removed the top layer of road but left the manholes up around 4-5 inches. Basicly I did not see them and put about a 2 inch gash in the bottom of my intercooler. It is a greddy Type S front mount. the bottom plate is pushed back around 1 inch and first tube has a decent gash in it.

Does anybody know of a shop that can fix it?

Think i can get anything from the city becasue there were no bump or construction signs and no street lights on the road?

I will post up some pictures of it once i get my bumper off.

People have tried that before with rims getting bent and what not and few have won. So if you can absoletly prove it wasn’t clearly marked, you may have a chance. Even then you may not, just ask some people. As far as your intercooler goes, any radiator shop could fix it as thats basically what an intercooler is.

I have gone to rad shops about htat before and they turned me away.
The reason is, it’s aluminum and you need a tig welder. Some rad shops might have them, but most don’t. The shop I talked to said they would just send it to another welding shop in town and then charge me extra. So I figure your best bet is to find a welding shop with a tig.

custom trailer builders, some oilfield…etc…

You don’t HAVE to TIG weld aluminum. You can use a spool gun with MIG.

Contact Norwest Cooling. They do nothing but repair/replace intercooler cores.

I didn’t know MIG could work, I was told only TIG would work for that kind of aluminum.
Good to know though, I have to get mine repaired as well.
Is the MIG with spool a good alternative are will it just “work”? Is TIG still the way to go?

Yep, with an aluminum spoolgun MIG will work just fine. Check it out.
http://www.millerwelds.com/education/articles/articles10.html

Some dumbass farmers may tell you you don’t need an aluminum spoolgun. Don’t listen to these guys, to do it properly you need the spoolgun for aluminum MIG.

You can even stick weld aluminum. You’d never catch me doing it but some companies do sell aluminum rod.

So just to clarify, your core is actualy torn open? Good luck trying to fix that. I think your best bet would be to just put a new core into your endtanks.

Rob, as far as the construction goes, the site must be secured and all hazards must either be made to be safe or barricaded right off. Exposed manholes are supposed to have rubber condoms around them that make them easier to cross, but if the manhole is that high with no protection around it, you should definately have a case.

If that site is still there in the same condition it was when you hit it, take a digital camera and today’s newspaper. Take a shot of the manhole that took out your I/C with the newspaper’s front page in frame, as well as general site shots and so on.

The reason for the newspaper is to date the picture, make sure you keep it afterwards so you can show judges/officials and whatnot. Then you can contact the city and see if they will do anything about it, or if not, you can sue the city for the damage. You may not see anything out of it but a waste of time, but it might be worth a shot.

Thank you for the answear. Some were covered by the black thing but this one was not. I have pictures i will post up tomorrow. Lucky i took my bumper off today and there is no hole. :partyman: but the black paint is scratched off pretty bad and it is pushed in alot but no hole. The source of my boost leak is that i ripped a silicone coupler and bent one of my supports.

Its back on the road.

Yupeeee :drinkers:

good to hear you got lucky!

Good to hear it turned out ok! You still dynoing?

Yup and i got the rest of the money

I bet that driver in the Camaro SS yesterday wished there was something wrong with your intercooler. :lol:

I bet he did.

I could have killed him if i launched harder.

I think Kent was a little scared. All he talked about was “remeber the accident i was in” “Just wishing i did more in my life” was the small talk after. :rolleyes:

I would be scared to Mr. “I dont know how to modulate my brakes”.

LOL

and why did it take sooo long for you to catch up to me. Once i hit 23rd i stayed in second gear.

Oh and this was with a boost leak (bouncing vaccum at idle) and boost at 1.0 bar spike and holding at .85 ish.

WOW so back on topic.

I lifted my car up for an oil change and realized my tranny cross member is no longer shaped like a U. It is more like and O. Also there is a huge dent at the front of my enigne crossmember. Where they stamp the steel together it is not vertical.

I have talked to the city adn lawyers and they have said because my car was not at its stock height there is a possibilty that i would have not hit the manhole. However for those who have seen my car know it is not that low. Also my exhasut is pushed in and my new nismo tranny mount is pretty much shot.

:rant:

So i need an tranny mount and I am wondering if my car is still ok with the damage to the engine X-member. the box of it is still ok but the front lip is pushed up.

You are in luck. I have a tranny mount in my garage… unless I threw it out.

haha rob you were maybe a foot away from taking the back end of the jimmy off :finga:

Used???

I’ll give you 5 bucks