Custom Chargecooler

[Drfatz]

I finally got my custom chargecooler installed. She needs a little more tweaking to get it just right, but it looks pretty good! I had this custom made by Bell Intercoolers and I must say they are fantastic. I haven't hooked up the water lines yet to my massive pump, that will happen when she comes back from the body shop.

Shot with CYBERSHOT at 2007-06-29

Shot with CYBERSHOT at 2007-06-29

-Graham

[Guy W Johnson]

cool cool cool !!!!!

Guy

[Paul93Lotus]

Awesome, friggin' awesome!

Is that going to fit underneath the engine cover? You will have to datalog your manifold temps once you get the car running good so we can see the benefit over stock.

Your car is really coming along. Looks good.

[Artie]

Rock on dude! Looks the t#ts! I'm thinking screw the engine cover what a travesty to cover that up! Are you gonna leave it bare aluminum or are you going to paint it red?

Artie

[Paula&Marcus]

Graham,

The cooler looks very good.

Just one question, because I cannot see any reinforcings.

I hope you did not just build a box that big with a heat exchanger inside.

An aluminium box like this would end up looking like a new pillow after the first max boost run.

Please dont ask me why I know that ...

Marcus

[t70]

VERY SEXY!!! the BEES KNEES... lol Man that looks awesome!

[Drfatz]

Thanks everyone for the comments!

As for fitment, I test fitted it when I first got her and the hatch would not close (my mistake when I measured how much space I had ) I had it sent back to Bell Intercoolers and lowered about 1" It "should" fit now, but if not I will have my body guy "alter" the hatch a little so that it closes nicely while keeping clear of the chargecooler. I will not be running an engine cover in my Lotus

Edited June 30, 2007 by Drfatz

[Jonathan]

You've done a cracking job of the whole car by looks of things - tre bien !

[arbell9]

Sorry dude but I cant help but think you have plumbed in a Silver painted cornflakes box to you engine!

Is there anywhere where you could take it to get a lotus logo etched or masked on with red paint to finish it off?

[Drfatz]

Sorry dude but I cant help but think you have plumbed in a Silver painted cornflakes box to you engine!

Is there anywhere where you could take it to get a lotus logo etched or masked on with red paint to finish it off?

I actually have a few Lotus badges around. I am considering making a plate with a badge on it to place on top of the chargecooler, but I definitely am not going to paint it, I rather like the raw aluminum look.

[Riddlemr2]

I think there might be some money to be made if somebody turned something like this into a kit with everything included from the cooler to the water pump etc... Very cool setup indeed!

[mchlrodrigues]

One observation.

The rear mount looks like it bolts solid to the head. Did you retain the factory rubber mount? If not, You might consider a design modification. I tested a solidly mounting an intercooler on my Esprit, I don't recall if if it was 3/16" or 1/4" plate. it kept breaking off at the weld of the mounting ear until I added a rubber isolator. Give it a try, but don't be surprised if you have to change the design to accommodate the original steel bracket and rubber isolator.

[Simon350S]

I agree, Deffo mount it on some rubber cusions, will shake the thing to pieces otherwise, if you dont break the mounting you'll break the cooler itself, theres goona be alot of weight in that when its full of water and those engines shake quite a bit....

Simon

[Drfatz]

I agree, Deffo mount it on some rubber cusions, will shake the thing to pieces otherwise, if you dont break the mounting you'll break the cooler itself, theres goona be alot of weight in that when its full of water and those engines shake quite a bit....

Simon

Good observation guys. I had not thought of that. I actually do not have any of the original chargecooler hardware for it was illegally purchased off of my car prior to the insurance company picking it up and then me getting it I guess I could try a rubber mount somewhere though with the current setup I am not sure how that is going to work. I may be able to put an isolator between the mount cam towers

-Graham

[CNH]

Since it was made by turbo people do you happen to know what the calculated turbo lag would be? It looks like there is quite a bit more interior space that the turbo needs to pressurize to bring it up to the proper Bar. I believe the reason they went with a liquid intercooler was it did a better job cooling and to the reduce turbo lag by allowing the interior space of the intercooler to be smaller with less piping than an air intercooler. Let us know if you notice a longer turbo lag than stock. I would be more inclined to increase the size of the cooling radiator, coolant circulation and to increse the core inside of the intercooler. What marcus was refering to is the boost blowing up the box like a balloon and making the box into a pillow shape. Some air intercooler people are not really familiar with the liquid intercoolers and may lack reinforcements of the box. I really don't know what exactly the thickness that is required of the box to prevent this.

[Drfatz]

Since it was made by turbo people do you happen to know what the calculated turbo lag would be? It looks like there is quite a bit more interior space that the turbo needs to pressurize to bring it up to the proper Bar. I believe the reason they went with a liquid intercooler was it did a better job cooling and to the reduce turbo lag by allowing the interior space of the intercooler to be smaller with less piping than an air intercooler. Let us know if you notice a longer turbo lag than stock. I would be more inclined to increase the size of the cooling radiator, coolant circulation and to increse the core inside of the intercooler. What marcus was refering to is the boost blowing up the box like a balloon and making the box into a pillow shape. Some air intercooler people are not really familiar with the liquid intercoolers and may lack reinforcements of the box. I really don't know what exactly the thickness that is required of the box to prevent this.

Won't be able to say much about turbo lag when it is finished since the car was not running when I got it and have never even driven an Esprit yet! Also, I upgraded the turbo to a GT3071 BB Turbo along with a 3" turbo back exhaust. I am also going to be wrapping the exhaust and turbo to help reduce lag even more. As for the pump I have a large Jabsco pump that pumps about 11 GPM. On my list of future upgrades is to replace the factory CC heat exchanger with a much larger custom unit.

Actually, the guys at Bell Intercoolers wanted to go with a slightly smaller chargecooler originally to reduce cost and lag, but I decided to go with a larger unit to make sure that I will be good to go for all future upgrades.

-Graham

[Htown]

Very slick...., but 1/4"?!!!! How much does that thing weigh?

I have a PWR Barrel intercooler on the way... 6"x6", good for 500bhp. again, on the larger side, but I was right in between sizes, and opted for the larger unit as well (still pretty dang small for 920cfm capability though).

http://www.pwr-performance.com/intercooler.htm

[Drfatz]

Very slick...., but 1/4"?!!!! How much does that thing weigh?

I have a PWR Barrel intercooler on the way... 6"x6", good for 500bhp. again, on the larger side, but I was right in between sizes, and opted for the larger unit as well (still pretty dang small for 920cfm capability though).

http://www.pwr-performance.com/intercooler.htm

It actually doesn't weigh to much I admit its complete overkill, but I still love it

Edited July 5, 2007 by Drfatz

[rydning]

Won't be able to say much about turbo lag when it is finished since the car was not running when I got it and have never even driven an Esprit yet! Also, I upgraded the turbo to a GT3071 BB Turbo along with a 3" turbo back exhaust. I am also going to be wrapping the exhaust and turbo to help reduce lag even more. As for the pump I have a large Jabsco pump that pumps about 11 GPM. On my list of future upgrades is to replace the factory CC heat exchanger with a much larger custom unit.

Actually, the guys at Bell Intercoolers wanted to go with a slightly smaller chargecooler originally to reduce cost and lag, but I decided to go with a larger unit to make sure that I will be good to go for all future upgrades.

-Graham

That GT3071BB 0,63AR is gona be perfect in this car.And your big chargecooler is gona be up to this task.

Are you gona insulate the botom and side of the CC? Its incredible how much heat thats comming up from the exhaust manifoil.I would not have wrap the exhaust manifoil because its gona be to hot and will cracks easyer.

The exhaust manifoil is big and heavy and will store a lot of heat so if you wrap it, more of that heat will end up in the head and can do so the headgasket last even shorter.I get 110-120Celsius in the exhaust camcover.

I have full boost on my GT3076BB 0.82AR, 1,5 bar at 3500rpm.So I have a wide powerband 3300-7300rpm.

When I`m on the track and dont let the rpm go below 3500rpm there is no lag at all.The trottle response is incredible.

So is probably the heat in the exhaust also.its red 20cm after the turbo.....

And I know you will have 1,0 bar below 3000 maybe 2700rpm.Will be nice to hear when you have got it running.

But I also have some problem getting pressure(and higer temp) in the cooling system after 10min of track work.And this is with a new headgasket.I need to make O-ring in the liner to solve this.

You will probably be amaiced how god performace you get.Depends what you are used to.