I finally got round to changing my 3B intercooler to the modest upgrade of an ABY unit. Other than benefiting from a slightly larger intercooler it was also noticed at a garage meet a few months before I bought the car (then known as “Jimmy”!) that there looked to have been some repair work done at some point in the car’s history to the intercooler. I didn’t realise just how much!!
Firstly the front!
:
It looks like its hit something like a sign post that’s caused damage to the top of the intercooler and bent the x-member. Rather than replace the intercooler they simply bodged it up! Looks like they might’ve had a go at the O ring joint too! Not sure if I’ll ever get them to split!
You can see from this angle how its caught the x-member!
But the back is even worse!!
Probably from being pushed back into the pulley wheels:
Oddly the x-member has been sprayed from dark blue – and not very well – so doesnt seem to be the original unit! The cables running across the top has been taped over i think when it was sprayed and I hadn’t appreciated this until it was off the car.
To be fair I don’t think there was an issue with any loss of pressure with the old set up. They may be ugly but at least the patches were effective! However, I feel much better having nice ABY replacements on. The mounting bracket for the slightly larger ABY intercooler is quite different from the hanger set up the 3b uses. I was lucky to source a pearl x-member and I stuck a 60/80 silicone reduction pipe at the O ring end for good measure.
For any other 3B owners looking to do the same job other than the intercooler and x-member you will also need a couple of ABY boost hoses: turbo to intercooler and x-member to intake pipe. Whilst the O ring joint is the same both outlet pipes are orientated slightly differently on the ABY. The feed to the turbo on the intercooler bends in towards the engine and I don’t think the 3B pipe would twist sufficiently. The ABY x-member pipe comes straight out whilst the 3B bends upwards .
Old against new
Its therefore also possible to replace the complicated accordion ringed and ribbed pipe to metal elbow to connecting hose assembly with the straight through and far less fussy ABY pipe. It joins the intake pipe at roughly the same place so it possible to get away without using the plastic ABY replacement if you don’t have one. Not sure if there’s any true different in length, but it works!
Paul
Firstly the front!
:It looks like its hit something like a sign post that’s caused damage to the top of the intercooler and bent the x-member. Rather than replace the intercooler they simply bodged it up! Looks like they might’ve had a go at the O ring joint too! Not sure if I’ll ever get them to split!
You can see from this angle how its caught the x-member!
But the back is even worse!!
Probably from being pushed back into the pulley wheels:Oddly the x-member has been sprayed from dark blue – and not very well – so doesnt seem to be the original unit! The cables running across the top has been taped over i think when it was sprayed and I hadn’t appreciated this until it was off the car.
To be fair I don’t think there was an issue with any loss of pressure with the old set up. They may be ugly but at least the patches were effective! However, I feel much better having nice ABY replacements on. The mounting bracket for the slightly larger ABY intercooler is quite different from the hanger set up the 3b uses. I was lucky to source a pearl x-member and I stuck a 60/80 silicone reduction pipe at the O ring end for good measure.
For any other 3B owners looking to do the same job other than the intercooler and x-member you will also need a couple of ABY boost hoses: turbo to intercooler and x-member to intake pipe. Whilst the O ring joint is the same both outlet pipes are orientated slightly differently on the ABY. The feed to the turbo on the intercooler bends in towards the engine and I don’t think the 3B pipe would twist sufficiently. The ABY x-member pipe comes straight out whilst the 3B bends upwards .
Old against new
Its therefore also possible to replace the complicated accordion ringed and ribbed pipe to metal elbow to connecting hose assembly with the straight through and far less fussy ABY pipe. It joins the intake pipe at roughly the same place so it possible to get away without using the plastic ABY replacement if you don’t have one. Not sure if there’s any true different in length, but it works!
Paul
Glad to hear you're on the mend matey and we can sort the pipe next weekend 
Comment