I am looking to change my standard top mount intercooler to an Sti 8 version,the car is an MY98,which means i need to cut and weld the dump valve connection from my existing intercooler onto the Sti one.I have taken both intercoolers to a aluminium welders,he is willing to do it,but is a bit concerned that there is a rubber seal between the main cooler core and the end tank,does anyone who has had this conversion done,know if this is correct.

see picture

 

You might have read this already but......

https://www.scoobynet.com/projects-4...ase-1-5-a.html

 

yeh Rigger,have already read this article,but doesn't tell me the answer i need,cheers anyway

 

Yes there is a rubber seal between the core and end tank.

I figured the cost of a new seal outweighed the hassle of prizing open all the tabs. I haven't suffered any i'll effects since mine (photographed) was welded.

 

the welder i spoke to basicaly said the heat generated by the welding would melt the rubber gasket and then intercooler would loose boost pressure,has anyone experienced this,just seems a bit daft to fit a bigger intercooler,for the performance of it to be hindered by a loss in pressure of it anyway ?

 

anyone ?

 

The performance of the intercooler will only suffer if the seal is damaged by the heat of the weld-pool. Even then the intercooler will only leak charge air for as long as the vehicle owner allows it to...

Like i said, i weighed up my options and chose to replace the seal if it became an issue after welding. If you're that concerned about the issue prize open the tabs and separate the end-tank from the core before you take it to be welded.

For reference, my setup holds a healthy 1.70barg of boost... 1.81barg if you believe the Defis.

 

found someone to weld in the origional dump valve plate,welder has said before i fit the new intercooler to the car,flush it out with petrol to get all the metal filings out,when i have done this will i need to flush it out with water again,just a bit worried about running an inercooler full of petrol fumes on the car ?

 

I flushed mine with petrol and left it to dry out in the sun (...?) afterwards. No problems.