Re: FMIC Piping costs
 

My point wasn't that the aluminum doesn't heat soak as well, my point was that the SS will heat soak and never cool down, as to where the aluminum would be able to quicker. Like between runs at the track... Phenolic spacer... just wait until it warps.

Re: FMIC Piping costs
 

And why is the SS not cooling down? Because it is not transfering that heat into the intake air going through the IC piping. If the heat stays in the pipe, it is not going into your nice cool intake air.

Ideally the upper IC pipe should be made of aluminum and wrapped with reflective and thermal insulation. That wouldn't work real great on a street car though. The insulation tends to deteriorate.

Re: FMIC Piping costs
 

Look, I don't realy care what is better... just sharing my thoughts on the topic. I personally have SS and do not plan on changing. But is aluminum probably better? yeah, but not by much.

On the street... nothing will make a difference. At the track, between runs, with your hood open, the heat will balance out with whereever the air is cooler... atmosphere normally...

Re: FMIC Piping costs
 

The balancing out is the main point. Depending on how the car is setup and the conditions it runs in, there are two possible scenarios. On one hand the underhood temps are likely higher than the intake charge and on the track only vehicle it would be the opposite. In one case you would want to protect the cooler intake charge from the higher underhood temps so a pipe with better insulating properties is going to be the better choice, in which case SS is correct. In a car prepped for track only with low underhood temps and cool down between runs etc, a pipe with higher conductivity would be appropriate. So in reality, everyone is right in one way or another. As far as once the pipe getting hot and staying hot, it matters less with SS because it will transfer less heat into the intake air for the same reason, less thermal conductivity. if you had two pipes one SS and the other Aluminum, and both physical pipes were the same temp, the air inside will be less effected by the one with less conductivity. Not drastically in either case just for the fact the air is moving quickly.

As far as the phenolic spacer goes, the ones we use are a glass fibre composite, they don't warp but they do need to be sealed properly. Andy's is the only one I know of that ever leaked and it had a problem right away, so likely there was a defect with it. They have been run on many types of cars for many years boosted and NA with no issues. It isn't logical to assume from one bad one that they all will fail.

Re: FMIC Piping costs
 

Phenolic spacer... Yours is not the only one we have seen that has had problems...

And I think we are saying the same thing as far as the piping goes... I just didn't feel like writing that much...

Re: FMIC Piping costs
 

Well, we all agree then. What Mike wrote agreed with everything I said, he just elaborated on it more.

Another good option would be to use aluminum piping with a thermal coating on it, like Jethot coating or something.

Re: FMIC Piping costs
 

How much would QPR, Elite or Jet charge to create it and ship it out, otherwise does anyone know of a good place to get it online?

Re: FMIC Piping costs
 

I assume that you already bought the core, it would be very difficult to figure out in and out piping if the car is across the country and you make piping here in MN. It would need to be custom and I dont think thats really possible unless you have all specs, dimensions, routing plans, etc...

If you buy a FMIC Kit with piping thats a different story becuase they are already speced fro your car but you would have to install.... Like SLS makes a 2G kit for 700- all piping couplers FMIC, etc..

Re: FMIC Piping costs
 

You're pretty much getting F**#ed with that price. Check out the link below. This is my old '97 GST that recently sold. My brother and i did all the custom piping. I think i might have about $80 into it and that's including clamps, hose couplers, etc.


http://mis15437.tripod.com/griffin_20x10.htm

Re: FMIC Piping costs
 

Clean piping work...nice job.

Re: FMIC Piping costs
 

Thanks. I appreciate it. It's a Griffin I/C. It's very efficient. My 99 GSX came with a 2-178 intercooler and i called Mike at RRE to ask him which he thought was better of the two and he told me to actually sell the Spearco. My brother is an awesome TIG welder. I cut the piping to how i wanted it and he welded it. I think i had roughly $600 into the whole thing and that included everything, i/c, piping, clamps, couplers, etc.

Re: FMIC Piping costs
 

Where did you get your piping from? Did you weld it yourself?

Re: FMIC Piping costs
 

At the time i got the bends from RRE. They're like $12-15 each. I used all 90degree bends. The nice shiny straight piece on top is some stainliess we had laying around. I just polished it. My brother welded some small beads around the tips of the pipes to help keep the hose flying off at high boost. My brother did all the welding. He works for my dad in which he owns a machine shop.

Re: FMIC Piping costs
 

I am willing to bet there is a lot more than $80 into it. You said you used 20 clamps, if they are all T-bolts you have over $60 just in clamps. Add $60 for the bends, $20 for couplers and you are around $150 if you have a buddy weld them up for free. Those are low figures too and assume you hook it up to your existing IC piping like RRE does.

Re: FMIC Piping costs
 

Clamps are just the cheap radiator clamps. They were like 80 cents a piece. Coupling was like $12 per foot. I know i didn't have much more than a foot into it, maybe 14" total if that. The mandrel bends were around $12-13 a piece. The straight pipe on top would probably be around $20 or so. It was scrap, i just polished it up. Ok, so maybe i had a little bit over a hundred into it. Point is, it was cheap. If you have access to a saw, TIG welder, go for it.