Will It Fit? 88 Lx 5.0 With Cx Racing Fmic For Vortech

[89gtsleeper]

Hey guys. Just picked up a really nice 88 lx notch. Right before I bought the car, the previous owner installed a vortech blower and all the fuel system upgrades to support it. The car has not had its SCT chip retuned since the install, so I'll be taking it to get that done in 8 days. The car came with a CX racing front mount intercooler kit, complete with all tubing and clamps. However, I just don't see how the intercooler is going to fit without doing some serious trimming of the front bumper cover. This car is so clean that I really hesitate to do anything that will impact the car's beauty from the outside. All pictures I can find of this kit going on a fox body is of a GT, which as I recall is quite a bit more spacious between the radiator and the lower portion of the bumper cover. Can anybody send pics or advice on whether or not this will fit an lx without serious modifications? Truth is, there blower only has the pulley for about 6-7 lbs of boost and I don't absolutely have to install the intercooler. Just trying to be smart, as I will be driving this car everyday. Thanks.

 

[89gtsleeper]

 

[89gtsleeper]

 

[Gearbanger 101]

No need for an inter cooler at those boost levels. Heck, I plan on spinning my S-trim twice as hard an I don't see the need for one. Sell it off and use the cash for a boost upgrade IMO.

 

[Farrell5.0]

I'll echo gearbanger, it's not needed. If you ever take it to the point where you want some cooling, it's much simpler to use methanol injection anyways.

 

[mikestang63]

Do not cut up that nice clean car. You will get more benefit and boost from a good meth kit. At 6-7 lbs the intercooler is not needed. however with the power pipe and stock heads on an 8 rib setup you may be seeing more than that # of boost. Do you have handy a boost gauge.

 

[89gtsleeper]

Tore down the entire front end yesterday. Spent about an hour measuring, experimenting, and test fitting. This kit isn't even close to fitting my car. Going a different direction. But for the record, here is what I believe I would have to do to make it work...

Run car with no A/C. This is important for two reasons... The intercooler is going to rob so much airflow that there won't be much left for the radiator if there is still ac between the two. Also, in order to not cut the bumper, I would really need different brackets that set the intercooler about another 3" toward the rear. The intercooler I have now measures about 3.6" deep. On the far pass side, it is just under 14" high, then it slopes to the driver side t a height of round 10". I believe an IC that is a rectangle and is 3" deep and around 10-11" high would be a much better option.

That leads me to the next problem. I would have to relocate the transmission cooler lines since this is an automatic. Don't want to do that.

By the time the new brackets are made and the intercooler is set back, now I would need slightly different piping to reach the new location. Even if I reworked that, I noticed some other piping challenges inside the engine bay.

My blower bracket has a smog delete pulley under the blower, then the alternator below that. I believe the piping will not have enough room to fit where it goes behind and under the blower then wraps back up to get over the frame rail. It looks like I would need to get rid of the smog delete pulley and somehow leave the alternator about where it is, but with some bracket modifications.

 

[mikestang63]

That is why Vortech used a water to air intercooler which fit under the hood.If you are dead set on an air to air intercooler, you will most likely have to flip the intake to the driver side, run the tubing out the driver side inner fender, out through the front bumper and in through the passenger side fender panel.

That CX kit has a lot of sharp bends, which IMO would rob more power than add it.