I picked up the 88-92 kit for my 85 Trans Am a while ago, and finally (/slap) got started getting ready to put it on. I picked up the belt setup from a 92, fans from an 86, put those on, got rid on the cannister, but still need to move the horns, battery, cruise and washer fluid cannister before I can start.

I was having some cooling issues after anihilating my air dam on some potholes, so I thought I'd put the new one that came with the system. No I'm wondering if the intercooler (3 Core) needs to be installed before the air dam, so I thought I'd mount the intercooler. Things don't line up, as usual in the aftermarket industry.

Has anyone installed one on an 85 before? If not, could someone please post some pictures from various angles of the underneath on anything 85-90? It would be very much appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

Colin

 

Do you want pics of the stock air dam? Or the one that comes with your kit? If you want to see the stock air dam, you can just check mine out on Friday or something...

 

I'd like to see some pictures of the ProCharger air dam. Thanks though Adam.

 

3 core on my 89 GTA

 

2

 

3

 

I have some more pic's showing what modding I had to do to get it to fit in there, i can post them later if you want.

 

Is that the air dam that came with it? I'm thinking that I got the air dam for the 2 core, as it doesn't cover the entire intercooler. Did you have to do any or much trimming?

Thanks again Tony!

 

VERY nice IC setup . I would like to see the top aswell ....

I am also trying to pick the best way to intercool

 

Can't say forsure if that is the air dam that came with it since I bought my system used. Here are some more pic's of the trimming i had to do.

 

The other side

 

Trimming the air dam

 

 

How much better is this mounting setup as opposed to the ATI
mounting right in front of the radiator when it comes to lowering engine temps. As mentioned by WILLIE on here when he mounted his 2 or 3 core cooler where ATI says to his car ran 20 degrees hotter ? What has been your experience with engine temps ?

 

ATI has no instructions to mount a intercooler on a T/A really, the kit was designed for a camaro so it's more of a DIY project. As far as the temp thing goes I can't say I noticed any difference other then after 3 1/4 mile runs the temps will start to rise but nothing to major, I figure that's more from the extra power the engine is producing and still using the stock cooling system.

Now that I think about it my car probably stays more cooler then his cause I have my one fan programed to kick in sooner, and for the other one I'am using a cooler fan switch to control it.

 

One other thing Tony, how well did the tubes that came with the kit fit? Did you have to do any cutting? When I was trying to do a mock up, and it looks nearly impossible to route those freaking things up through the fenders.

 

Thx for the reply, obviously you have some fab skills, nice job. Your install is as nice as Willie's and we know that is a compliment. Anyway I love the way you installed the IC, did you fab up some mounting brackets. You say it is not running any hotter unless you work the engine pretty hard so can I assume there is enough airflow getting between the IC and the radiator airdam to satisfy the engine temp wise ? Also what about the ambient temp when you tested it out ? In F please, thx.

 

Ya those lovely tubes I had to cut about 2-4 inches off the top of both sides, the ones going up the fenders. I also had to notch the fenders on the bottom on both sides for the tubes going up. Basically what I did was install the Intercooler first then work from there.

 

Yup I had to fab my own brackets, the ones that were giving to me were in rough shape and the one bracket mount in the middle of the intercooler was broken off. Simple fix with some aluminum bar and a vice.

I can't really report much about the temps, once I get it back on the road again I'll look into getting some kind of device that will give me a good reading on stuff like that. But I did change the plenum MAT sensor with something that has a more open sensor if you know what I'am talking about, should give some kind of reading now lol.


Pic of my 4" brackets

 

middle bracket

 

Very nice //again gives me a very good starting point to work with . I like the way your doesnt block off the rad .

 

one of the nicest firebird intercooler installs ive seen..

 

Very nice setup, The only downfall i can think of is it might block some airflow through the radiator. Still very nice

 

Well I can now agree, I'm going to have to cut a couple inches off of both of the top tubes, it looks like a giant cluster-f*ck right now. Did you have to modify the hood latch support? And the fender supports!! My ***, I had to actually remove thost damned things to get the tubes to go up. I'm going to have to let ATI know all of the things that aren't fitting... Like the rear intercooler mounting bracket, that's so far out to lunch it's not even funny!

 

I think I got away from doing those things to my car and about the rear bracket I had to make my own anyways since the mount on the intercooler was broken off.

Just make sure you center the intercooler and push it right up to the front of the car as far as it can go.

 

Well I wasn't able to get the rear mounted, as the bracket the sent does not come close to being in the right position, but I did get it tucked up nicely at the front, and it is up there solidly. Now my other question, since all of the tubes are ceramic coated, and have that rib at the end, if I have to cut past that rib, will I need to worry about a tube blowing off?

 

Well we've got all done save for mounting the blower, FMU and surge system. This kit will NOT work on a firebird. We had to take the ground effect off and more or less bend the fender down. The only pipes that had to be cut down was the passenger side 'L' shaped one and the upper tube for the mass air. All in all I'm not too dissapointed.

 

I don't think so mine havn't blown off yet even when I uped the boost to 17 psi but I also changed every clap to T-bolt style clamp.

Well glad to hear you have it plumed any chance you can post some pic's?

 

Great pics Tony, thanks for posting them.

Curious on your 1/4 time though, with your mods, shouldn't you be able to pull mid-12's with that setup?

 

Well I haven't been able to put the belt on yet, as I broke a piece of my alternator bracket, new one will be here tomorrow. So the belt didn't line up quite properly, so I ran it for 30 seconds and it jumped a couple ribs off the back of the crank pulley. Quick shot of the car and engine bay.

 

Another question Tony, are you using your stock air dam? Mine is significantly different. I've seen some brand new ones from GM that looked nearly identical to yours, perhaps that will be the best route.

 

Hey CeeDubYa, that looks like very clean intercooler piping work. I wanted to ask, at the point where the inlet and outlet pipes go into the fenders, did you have to cut any of the metal there to make it fit? Or did you use rubber tubing and just squish it in until it fit in there? The holes into the fenders look to be a very tight fit.

 

Thanks Fred. Oh they look tight because they are tight! lol I had to remove both of the fender-frame supports as they were in the way, and also had to remove the front-pass ground effect and bend the fender lip down, as it was directly in the way of the tubing. I had to cut about 1-1/2 inches off of the tube going up through the fender as it was too long, and do the same on the tube leading up to the intake pipe for the MAF, as they sent the one for the speed density cars. I never had to really squish anything, just a lot of wiggling, turning and swearing.

Only thing now, is I need an aluminum rad, and perhaps another pair of pusher fans to attempt to keep the car cool.

 

Lovely looking car CeeDubYa - very clean! Can you post any pictures of the underside, brackets etc like Tony89GTA has done above?

Did you relocate the battery to the trunk I presume? Can you tell me where you relocated the horns, cruise control and washer fluid cannister to?

 

CeeDubYa, Tony89GTA and any others who have installed Prochargers on Firebirds/TA's....

Could you post whether or not you have problems with the airflow to the radiator with the single intercooler set-up? How much hotter the car runs etc?

I'd love to get a Procharger for my GTA at some point and am thinking that considering the amount of work and modifications people have to do to fit the single intercooler, that perhaps it could be worth my while fitting a twin set-up?

Any comments or information would be great!

 

Oh she runs hot. I had anihilated my air dam this spring, but with the intercooler scoop it does get a fair amount of air flow, but ideally I'm going to put a universal Griffin rad and possibly the Flex-a-lite low profile fans. She runs quite warm.

My battery is located on the passenger side, stock location for the year. With the kit you have to re-route the headlight wiring to the other side of the wall, and the relay that is there (if applicable). Then they provide you with a bracket (for lack of a better term) to move the battery backwards and towards the center of the nose to open up the hole in the fender. If you're seriously considering going with ProCharger, click the link in my sig, and give me a ring. Nothing I like better than talking to people about potential ProCharger projects.

 

One thing I would like to know, is where the hell did anyone route the surge valve and hose??

 

Working on it went to the track with slicks for the first time last week got a 12.8, still need more experience with the slicks and I need to start speeding up my shifts again, just fix my tranny so still little scared to drive it hard. I figure a 12.6 shouldn't be out of the question.

Yes stock air dam

BTW

 

For everyday driving I have no problems but I have a 180* thermostat and 180* fan switch also I've programmed my car to have the main fan come on at 180* only time it heats up is when I do like a 1/4 mile run and it will go up about 2-3 notches but cools off pretty quick once I'am off the gas.

 

Hunh, they must have changed air-dams in either 88 or 89 then. I'll definitely have to look into it. I overheat just booting around town now.. My fans are always on as soon as the car starts.

 

Mine is a 91 but should be the same. I wanted mine vertical so I took out the grill for max cooling. I have no issues with heat(runs about 170-190 on a hot day) using the stock LT1 radiator and on 8.5lbs of boost.

Check out the link in sig for some pics.

 

could someone PLEASE email me or post or something where I can get one of these kits or the price or something?? All I can find is either LT1 or Procharger's site, lol. I got an 89 350 TPI. Thanks guys. sorry to get off topic.

 

PM sent.

 

bump

 

Complete kits are well over $3,000.
www.superchargersonline.com

 

Did you get my PM, I am a ProCharger distributor...

 

back at ya... Just figured out how to use the PM thing.

 

Always glad to help.