Also in preparation for my ecu (and eventually a turbo) upgrade, I decided to do something about that restrictive heatsoak-prone top mount. As with everything else, I set out to do this in a cost effective manner, so I gathered some supplies:
- Evo 9 IC $50
- Various 80's-90's Volvo IC pipes and clamps $30
My first thought was a FMIC setup, since they are popular and well documented. However I didn't want long runs of piping, and the lag they produce. I looked into the
corksport FMIC which has slightly shorter piping and a core thats almost the exact size as the one I had but it required some pretty specific bends that would increase the cost of the project and even a short-pipe FMIC is a decent amount of piping.
The next thought was doing a middle mount setup, positioning the IC above the oil cooler but still in front of the rad. The piping would be shorter and thus easier to route and less laggy. However the core was too large for that and I would have no place for the a/c condenser.
Finally I placed in in a VMIC configuration....like it was meant to be. Shortest possible piping, easiest routing, plenty of space for the condenser, and it looked like the pieces I had would be enough to get the job done. The problem with the v mount is that cutting and welding of the IC core became a requirement as well as fashioning mounts for the rad (at least)
Decisions decisions....