Intercooler Hoses

[Zahos]

Does anyone know where I can get intercooler hoses (prefer rubber to silicone b/c of price factor) with 90 degree bends in them? I tried purple pig in sunshine as they specialise in these sorts of things but they only had straight hoses. The piping to my cooler runs to the factory plumbing, and the pipe that runs under the cooler hangs too low. If used a rubber hose instead of the pipes i had made up, I can avoid this problem...

Thanks

Zahos

[Warpspeed]

What about radiator hoses, these come in every shape you could possibly think of up to about two inch. Truck hoses are even bigger. These hoses normally run at high temperatures, and typically 12psi, they work just fine as intercooler hoses.

[Zahos]

Would they be strong enough? The hoses I have now (straight though) are rated to 150psi. Also, The hoses will need to be 3 inch.

[Warpspeed]

I cannot see a radiator hose bursting at any sane boost level. There may be three inch moulded hoses made for trucks, busses, earth moving machinery and so on. If you can find them, they would be almost certainly extra heavy duty and be well up to the task.

Let me know how you go, because I have a future project requiring three inch moulded hoses, and I am too mean to pay eight hundred dollars for a GTR silicone hose kit.

I am also in Melbourne, and I think we should keep in touch.

My e-mail is: [email protected]

[SKY031]

Try AVO

AVO

[Zahos]

Warpspeed:

Well if u only need straight hoses, then purple pig on McIntyre rd sunshine will be your best bet! The have silicone aswell, but its like $180 per meter :lol:

Just get some rubber hose, as its only a fraction of the price and it does the job. They also have clamps and other bits you might need.

R31 Skyline Chick:

Thanks for that. I'll give em a call and see how much they are, but i suspect that they will be ridiculously overpriced.

Zahos

[Warpspeed]

Hi Zahos. Yes, straight hose combined with some mandrel bends would be the cheapest and simplest solution. It would also flow very well. Moulded hoses are better though if the installation is really tight, and high flexibility is a prime requirement.

AVO had a special a few weeks back on the HKS silicone GTR hose kits. I think the price was reduced to somewhere around $500 ? from the more usual $800 for these kits. I believe the kit consists of four 90 degree bends. Better check with them though.

I am using a lot of GTR engine parts in a supercharger installation. As it is not yet fitted to the car, I am not yet at the stage of knowing exactly what the hose routing is going to be.

That is why I am extremely interested in anything that you can find out, but am not really ready to go searching myself. I do not yet know exacty what hoses I will need.

It must be possible to find a bit of three inch radiator hose with a ninety degree bend that costs less than $200 per bend ! ! !

[Sideways]

H.I.S. Hose have all the silicon stuff - straight and Bends - In a few colours too from memory...

This is one of the places that some of the turbo shops buy the stuff from..

158 wellington Road Clayton Ph 9560 9222

or

405 Francis Street Brooklyn Ph 9314 2255

I would have thought that the biggest problem with using Rubber Radiator hose is not bursting - but bulging - they would expand with boost... especially when they get hot?

James

[Warpspeed]

Thanks James. I might just go around to H.I.S. tomorrow and check them out. I have used radiator hose for years on turbo and supercharger installations. The stuff is made to handle heat and pressure, water or air does not seem to matter. Have had hoses blow off due to not being clamped properly, but have never had a single hose burst or rupture.

If you need a fairly sharp bend straight after the turbo, a bit of radiator hose in the correct shape is ideal. The only reservation might be that turbos tend to sometimes spit a bit of oil, and the hoses become covered inside with an oil film. But I have never had a hose actually fail on me, and I have run up to 20psi boost.

[Warpspeed]

Just got back from H.I.S, they carry almost no stock on the premises, but there are two three inch ninety degree bends in stock warehoused somewhere in Australia at the moment. Anything not in the country takes 8 weeks.

They can get 1 metre lengths of 3'' reinforced silicone hose at $190 plus GST.

The 3"reinforced silicone bends are very sharp, more an elbow than a bend. $135 plus GST.

The stuff I saw looked to be exactly the same as that shown on the Turbonetics USA website, and probably comes from the same original source.

[Zahos]

damn, that is more than i was hoping to pay for! Thats why i was looking towards rubber instead of silicone.

Where in melb do you think you can source some 3" radiator hoses from in melb warpspeed???

Zahos

[Warpspeed]

I am with you Zahos. It was an interesting exercise to go through though, at least if I ever need the silicone hoses I know where to get them in Melbourne.

When I can find some time it may be worth checking Ryco and Dayco, these are two companies that make the moulded hoses in Australia that I can think of off the top of my head.

There must also be places arouund somewhere that sell all the truckies accessories, but have no idea where at the moment.

Also companies like Kenworth, Caterpillar, probably have some suitable three inch hoses ?

[Sideways]

That sounds like retail prices...

They are cheaper if you can get a trade order..

It's been about 2 years since I was down there... their Mulgrave store use to have a wall display with all the available types of bends stuck up

on it...

[Warpspeed]

Yeah, probably is retail, but even with a trade order it is still going to be a bit expensive.

I have just returned from a nice little drive to Dandenong. On the Princes Highway south of Dandenong, there are a lot of trucking places. Finally ended up a place called Truckline at 2-10 Decor Drive, Hallam, ph 97023344.

They photocopied a page out of one of their catalogs for me. Now the big rigs usually have a vertical exhaust stack on one side, and an air intake snorkel on the other side, behind the cab.

The snorkels uses rubber bends and hump hoses in 3 inch, 3.5, 4, 5, 5.5, 6, 7, and 8 inch sizes. All the variants between 3 inch and 5 inch cost typically $20 to $30 each.

I asked the counter guy where they had to come from if they were ordered in, he said Scoresby. The photocopied page that I got says Tubengineers (with a turbo logo), and a phone number 9763-8066. But any truck place could probably get these hoses in the same day. The catalogue describes them as"Äir Inlet-rubberware".

Although they are simply plain rubber and not reinforced, the rubber is 7mm thick and pretty stiff. For the low cost, I think it may be worth a try. I bought a 45 degree bend that I have in front of me at the moment for $20.45

[Zahos]

Sounds good, but a bit of a worry if it is not reinforced... I dunno, I guess it would be good to test it out somehow though.

Maybe they do make some reinforced ones too.

Well done warpspeed, good find!

[Zahos]

I just called the manufacturer 1800 032 037, and asked them for a 3" 90 degree bend - part no: 3316566S

The chick on the phone didnt know if it was reinforced, and she also didnt know if it were rated to a certain preasure or heat rating. She put me through to an "expert", but he wasnt at his desk!

[Warpspeed]

Well the only concern might be the heat rating on the turbo side. If your intercooler is half decent, heat on the downstream side should not really be a problem though.

Because it is an atmospheric induction hose, it probably does not have a pressure rating. It is a bloody tough hose though, it might swell a bit under boost, but so what. For $20 well worth a try I think.

Where abouts are you Zahos? I am in the south eastern suburbs. Dandenong is no sweat, but Scoresby is a bit further for me.

[Zahos]

Yeah, swealling might be a bit of an issue, especially once it's heated up a bit. I need the hose on the turbo side, so it will heat is definately an issue.

I'm in Avondale heights, right accross the other side of town (Near highpoint and showgrounds)

[Warpspeed]

I will give it all a bit more thought. See if you can get back to the manufacturer tomorrow.

[ice180]

go to Purple Pig in Bayswater!!!