[s-cars] Cheap/effective FMIC option w/ Sex and free beer

[lschip at speakeasy.net]

Eric,
I helped Brian P. with his FMIC, moving the steering cooler
and such.
There will be a complete write-up on this someday, but
to answer a few questions:
1. We didn't want to weld directly to the pipe connections
on the intercooler, but to fit the pipes behind the bumper
cover we needed 45deg immediately off the IC, and we didn't have any
2.5" 45deg hoses. That would have been nice (Brian wasn't able
to find any 2.5" 45deg hoses, in time).

2. You might be able to do all the piping with alum. pipe
bends and hoses, but you'd end up with a lot of hose connections;
and more places for leaks. Fitting the pipes and welding is the
better solution. Or get SAMCO or other to make some custom
sicone hoses (do Si hoses baloon enough under boost to cause
even worse lag?)

3. We had to build up the 2.5" alum pipe to an OD of 2.75 to fit
the turbo outlet hose. Dunno why Audi did this, and it was
a PITA for a beginner welder. We rolled up a piece of sheet AL
into a tube of 2.75" OD, cut slits in that and bent in to 
the 2.5" pipe and welded it enough so I could smooth it with
a die grinder (it sounds easy enough...)

4. We welded angle pieces to the IC mounting tabs because I
wasn't confident that drilled/tapped tabs for the brackets would
be strong enough, long term. I liked bolting through the angles.

5. We didn't cut any of the bumper and only a small amount of
the lower bumper cover supports (the vertical pieces that hold 
the small lower grills - you can't really even see where we cut).

6.Yes, about 1/2 the IC is blocked by the bumper. It might work 
better if some ventilation was provided through the bumper (I think
I've seen photos of this? Maybe Hap's car?). But Brian has already
seen higher boost pressures with the bumper covering it; in Denver
in winter. Maybe hot summers will require more airflow over the IC.

As Brian said, we could do another in a lot less time; maybe less than
1 day. 
We spent way too much time test fitting the IC locations, using PVC 
pipe to check clearances, and fine-tuning the AL pipes before welding. 
Oh, and basically learning to TIG weld.

I'm happy to answer any more questions.

Chip