My intercooler arrived today! (CNT install attempt)

I recently submitted a thread with a innovative method to on smoke testing for boost leaks, apparently the stock unit sprung a leak.

I had opted against an OEM unit as they seem to require the addition of metal zip ties to keep everything stapled together and prevent it from bursting at the seams.

The CNT unit was also cheaper.

In doing some research I even found a thread or two and a youtube video that reported success. I've also had a decent experience with the installation of their downpipe. How bad could it be?

The unit shipped out fast, like next day morning fast. The website only offered one day or two day UPS shipping but after checking with the carrier website I noticed the shipping method was standard/ground. The representative quickly replied when summoned on facebook messenger and promised a refund "if mistake". I promptly received a refund for the difference in shipping costs.

After a week of edge of my seat excitement DOS'ing the UPS website through my repeated abuse of the f5 key (and the excitement of driving my ford ranger) the package finally arrived.

The packaging was fair enough, the unit came out with one or two slightly bent fins. Maybe it happened during shipping. The welds look good as far as I know, but I don't know any god damn thing about welding.

Before taking the plunge on the install I found the instructions affixed to the exterior of the box. They're logical enough even if they consist of one single sided 8x11 page of engrish. It's no huge crime, though if I were running a company, or a mailroom I'd probably have sent out for proof reading.

The stock intercooler is super easy to remove and needs to come out to essentially do anything under the hood. It should take 3.5 minutes and the unit will gladly jump out at you and cheerfully sit itself on the driveway out of the way while you continue working.

They recommend reusing the turbo inlet gasket which had to be forced into the groove of the new intercooler. The groove seems to be partially too narrow to accommodate the full width of the re purposed gasket. While seating the gasket a small piece had carved off. That wont make any difference anyways.

The new kit also came with some hardware. The 10mm bypass valve bolts? Well they're allen key bolts now. That's... sort of odd. Why would you use an allen key in this application? I reused the subaru hardware for sake of consistency.

Remember the easy access to the clutch master cylinder? probably not, it just faithfully sat back there quietly doing its thing. Well, because CNT fitment the intercooler pushes up against it. If you need to get in there in the future you now have to remove the this monstrosity. But really, how often do you need to anyways? Yeah, just bend that out of the way. This thing isnt just fighting for space, this is krav maga inflicted with the swiftness of a sumo wrestling honey badger clad in iron armor.

While you eviscerate the clutch reservoir the intercooler barely barely aligns with the turbo inlet. But not really. Just keep pushing the intercooler against that master cylinder until the threads are aligned as much as possible. Are they cross threaded yet? ok, good. After spending some time to attempt to fit a socket I realized the front bolt doesnt really actually give enough clearance for a socket. Maybe you could kill yourself and use a open ended wrench to turn the bolt 1/256th of a turn at a time. Maybe not. The old subaru bolts are too short. Remember that incredibly novel use of allen key bolts on the bypass valve? This could have been an actually useful application. If it wasnt cross threaded before it probably is now. Remove everything and wipe the shavings off the the turbo flange. Did I mention the new bolts come with washers? Yeah, those are going in someone's turbo inlet. It makes me wonder if they test fitted this at all during the acceptance process.

Now I'm no mechanical engineer or certified automotive mechanic to be making these complaints, but to my knowleg there's no amoeba chewing at my frontal cortex. Just a CNT atrocity munching at the engine bay of my spec.b and tearing at my soul.

I would attempt to apologize to the subaru engineering team for this install but I fear it may result in a mass seppuku situation. Which speaks volumes after builds with glass pistons, cracked oil pickups, cardboard headgaskets, ringlands made out of paper clips and intercoolers that essentially fly apart at the sight of boost. This thing is essentially a Perrin clone, had it been sent through the xerox machine 1000 times at 12 dpi.

I guess you don't get what you don't pay for. The installation that should have taken 4.5 minutes is now taking me to the hardware store to source some bolts that actually clear the intercooler. I'll also be driving around town with a 1000 yard stare until a temple finds me in which I can seek atonement from the gods of thermodynamics for transgressions against mechanical engineering.

Might post update eventually!

You bought a cheap Chinese knock off of a Perrin. It came with all the original Perrin issues and more. Like always. I have warned against these parts for years.

Did you even inspect inside the cooler? They are known to cut the core with a chop saw and weld the tanks on without cleaning up the mess. You usually get a sh#t load of debris and slag falling out if you wash them in a tank. Your engine enjoys eating aluminum bits. No?

Sorry. You get what you pay for and there are more than a few honest reviews out there.

You bought a cheap Chinese knock off of a Perrin. It came with all the original Perrin issues and more. Like always. I have warned against these parts for years.

 

Did you even inspect inside the cooler? They are known to cut the core with a chop saw and weld the tanks on without cleaning up the mess. You usually get a sh#t load of debris and slag falling out if you wash them in a tank. Your engine enjoys eating aluminum bits. No?

 

Sorry. You get what you pay for and there are more than a few honest reviews out there.

is there a best practice on how to bathe your CNT intercooler prior to install?

I use an automotive parts washer. Then compressed air.

But I do like SCASEYS idea. LOL.

alright, so I threw that POS in a swamp.

any thoughts on the grimmspeed kit?

alright, so I threw that POS in a swamp.

 

 

any thoughts on the grimmspeed kit?

I have the grimmspeed. It takes a bit of convincing, but as long as you tighten down the hoses MORE than you think you should, it's all good.

At first, I was hesitant to REALLY clamp them down, and both sides (mostly throttle body side) popped off several times under full boost. Which left the car BARELY LIMPEABLE, but just enough to pull over and fix it.. Also, get a really long, thin screwdriver for the clamp to the throttle body.. You'll thank me later

Bathe it in a septic tank so you are constantly reminded of the piece of shit you have under the hood now.

Does that improve heat transfer?

No. But it does cause the stink to increase with high boost/temp situations.

Best laugh I had all week. Thank you for the post.

alright, so I threw that POS in a swamp.

 

 

any thoughts on the grimmspeed kit?

They are so good, I have two of them,

They are so good, I have two of them,

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Why did you choose to upgrade intercoolers? from what ive read the ic is not a bottleneck.

For the easy removal in install, I even replaced the IRP tmic which was a Perrin knock off, because these are much easier to work with.

Another reason is because GS came on here and asked what we wanted in a tmic back when they were designing these. They listened what we said.

Why did you choose to upgrade intercoolers? from what ive read the ic is not a bottleneck.

It depends how far you are going and what your tuner is willing to put up with. Also it opens up sti style turbos to the Legacy gt platform.

For my VF52 set-up I got more power out of it because my tuner was willing to push the boost higher with the GS TMIC.

I have the PW TMIC, upgraded from an AVO

Kinda want the Grimspeed myself

Another reason is because GS came on here and asked what we wanted in a tmic back when they were designing these. They listened what we said.

AND I still come on here nearly every single day and make sure that what we've delivered is still what you want.

Chase

Engineering

Sweet, look at what showed up

I have the grimmspeed. It takes a bit of convincing, but as long as you tighten down the hoses MORE than you think you should, it's all good.

 

 

 

At first, I was hesitant to REALLY clamp them down, and both sides (mostly throttle body side) popped off several times under full boost. Which left the car BARELY LIMPEABLE, but just enough to pull over and fix it.. Also, get a really long, thin screwdriver for the clamp to the throttle body.. You'll thank me later

Do yourself a bigger favor and tighten those clamps with a 5/16" (or 8mm) socket. (with long extension for TB clamp) Much more torque with a ratchet than a screwdriver.

AND I still come on here nearly every single day and make sure that what we've delivered is still what you want.

 

 

Chase

Engineering

Nice to hear you still keep in touch. Thanks for making great products.

What are the chances of getting single tips mufflers with long tips for the few of us with wagons. Yea, I thought so, I'd assume the price would make them hard to sell. Not a great number for sales volume.

 

 

Sweet, look at what showed up

Hey, not a bad choice right there bud I was away for a week, so I'm just seeing this, but feel free to ask if you have any questions.

Do yourself a bigger favor and tighten those clamps with a 5/16" (or 8mm) socket. (with long extension for TB clamp) Much more torque with a ratchet than a screwdriver.

But don't go crazy with them either! While they are super nice Breeze liner clamps you can still over tighten them and strip the perforation if you get too nuts with it.

More often than not when people have issues with clamps popping off it's just because they haven't put the clamp behind the bead. It's impossible to see once the silicone is on (especially in throttle body), so I usually just make sure I have the silicone on as far as it goes, and then I bring the clamp just to the edge of the silicone. That way I know for a fact it's clamping behind the bead.

I've never had any pop-offs so I just always use a screwdriver. With that said though: any time I install any parts in the boost tract I always keep the tools I need to reattach that part with me until I've boosted the car several times.

Nice to hear you still keep in touch. Thanks for making great products.

 

What are the chances of getting single tips mufflers with long tips for the few of us with wagons. Yea, I thought so, I'd assume the price would make them hard to sell. Not a great number for sales volume.

 

Thank you very much for the kind words! I dunno, anything is possible honestly. I'm getting to the point where I'm starting to plan for next year, and while I don't entirely know what's in the cards yet I'll certainly keep it as a consideration. But yes, you're right the low volume makes them more difficult to sell, and the price would definitely be higher than what you'd expect to pay for something like an Invidia, but we also recognize that LGT folks really like to buy quality. And we certainly think these cars are cool enough to deserve it.

No promises, but I'm always thinking

Chase

Engineering