My theory for putting it behind the radiator is as follows:

The SVO is a very rare car. The majority of owners want to keep the car a collectable by not hacking into things or doing modifications that are not easily reversed. Putting the it behind the radiator makes routing all the proper plumbing and whatnot very easy.

I saw somewhere where a guy had a pretty nice looking intercooler mounted behind the radiator. It was near the bottom, but the lower end was kicked out so the intercooler layed at an angle. Behind it were two small fans to help pull air from whatever comes up through the bottom of the motor compartment.

I assume people are seeing decent gains over the pint sized stock intercooler. I completely agree this is not the most effective placement of an intercooler...but it must be better than that tiny thing Ford put on the car.

And like Dave said, there isn't much air getting through that front bumper. Although I really think that bottom opening is adequate for a FMIC. If I have to hack things up to get a FMIC in there, I'm just going to forget about it and figure something else out. As much as I want to enjoy this car, I also want to be able to keep the resale high. Worse comes to worse I could put a nice liquid/air intercooler...the heat exchangers are much smaller than a FMIC and there is plenty of room under the hood for plumbing.

 

Alan, very nice ride. If I had to get a 4cyl car that's would I would get. Those cars were ahead of their time in 86. Didn't they have 205hp? Show them civics that domestics can make a fast 4 cyl car too! -Mark

 

I remember having that car on our dyno a few years ago. We are reinstalling the dyno next week so when I get the computer back up and running I will look to see what kind of power the car was making back then for you.

 

191 is what the owner's son said. Right now, it feels a bit laggy. I can't pinpoint the exhaust leak, but it seems to be coming from where the manifold meets the head. I suppose this might be causing the lagage. Hopefully once Alan fixes all of the little issues and upgrades along the way it will be a nice little run against me.

Another weird issue that we came across today is that the car will roll down the driveway while in gear. The clutch is fairly new and is a Centerforce stage 2 (or whatever their second level is) so I am thinking it is possibly the clutch quadrant taking a poop. The car actually rolled down the driveway with the parking brake engaged and the vehicle in 3rd gear. Kinda scary.

I'll shoot some pics of everything tomorrow for Alan just so you guys can get a grasp on how clean this car really is. Hard to believe it is 18 years old. It'll get the full Zaino and claybar treatment tomorrow. Hopefully I can convince Alan to go out to Sonic on Saturday to floss his shizzle.

 

Thanks again for your help Craig.


I'm busily trying to find a SVO specific clutch quadrant. It is slightly different than the 5.0 quadrant. It can be made to work, but I prefer NOT to rig when given the chance.

Oil leak issue will be solved shortly. Exhaust leak will be solved by an ATR 3-inch downpipe and new manifold gaskets. What does the downpipe have to do with the exhaust leak? Nothing...just an excuse to upgrade while the turbo is off the car. Also ditching the split-y exhaust and going with a single 3-inch outlet with a Magnaflow muffler. w00t.

 

Hey phatstang1 by chance were you driving down Rosevelt today at around 5?

 

Yes'sir.

 

Saw your car then, I was in a 2003 Yellow GT vert. It looked very nice as you went by.