Who else has straightened their I/C fins then?
 

I've just spent the last hour and a half painstakingly straightening EVERY SINGLE fin on my I/C! :rolleyes:

I collected the car on Friday and noticed that it was in a helluva state, vaguely resembling something that has been used for target practice with bricks!

Not exactly good airflow, so I've sorted it! ;)

Never again though!

Anyone else this sad or is it just me? :D

I'd complain to Elmer; he obviously spent more time polishing it ;)

I think you'd have to measure any reduction airflow and increase temps between to actually tell if it's worth.

And yes, it's very sad :p

Stefan

...what beats me is how an Mitsi evo I/C must look after ten minutes driving - placed unprotected at a right angle to the road under the front bumper ??? Are they screened in some way or something?

The intercooler fins get bent usually by mechanics resting tools on them,Which shows..There has been some activity happening in the engine compartment...For whatever reason.

I have received my car back with a big hand print on the intercooler - that took hours to straighten, best to use a cocktail stick :D

If a mechanic has done this he needs a good bo*****ing. There is NO excuse for a car to be returned in this condition.
I was always tweeking the fins on my 99my with a cocktail stick, but this was caused by the occasional fast moving bug etc. The fins on my 03STi are much tougher thankfully!
JohnD

Power engineering so a nice cover for these guys, I had one till i got a FMIC, Its a good bit of kit and looks pretty trick as well.

John

I dont' take my car there anymore - it now goes to PowerStation and is treated with the upmost care and respect :p :D

I check mine every week and straighten any bug damage........... took me ages first time but now it's just a 10 minute job! Even took the I/C off and did underneath - you'd be surprised (or maybe not) how much damage there can be where you can't see it.......

Still, your car has seen some major cleaning elsewhere ;)

Cheers

Greg :)

i noticed just how bad mine was at the weekend, i did strighten 1 or 2 but they were so soft, i left it incase i made it worse

I check mine regularly, those fins are just a magnet for fingers anywhere near them, a friend had one over the other day with what had to be tool resting damage.
Even an STI intercooler i got a few weeks ago, I sat downwith a toothbrush, garden hose and a toothpick and lovingly cleaned and straightened the fins as best I could.

my wife works in the QC dept for an air-con company and they have very small comb's to straighten out the fins on the heat exchangers.one day she forgot to leave the comb at work so now it only takes me 30 seconds to straighten the fins on my intercooler.

Can she "forget" a few more? We could have a group buy here!!
JohnD

sorry john, she is off work just now on maternity leave, i think she has 8 weeks left to go then i will see what i can do. Keep a lookout for an intercooler comb group buy LOL

stevie

Ah, I get it now - nicking the firms property is all down to "irrational behaviour due to pregnancy syndrome"
Hope everything's going OK - JohnD

cheers john,

every thing is OK with the baby, although, i didn't realise that i would get the most beautiful baby daughter in the world( and NO it is not because i am biased) she really is the MOST BEAUTIFUL baby girl in the world ( i would post pics if i knew how too)

cheers

stevie

:eek: Subaru driver in "beautiful baby" shock! If I were you Stevie, I'd be looking closely at the milkman! :D

No Talizman, you're far from sad. Measurable performance gains (or removal of performance impediment) to be had from doing this. If you ever have cause to take the I/C out of the car, it's worth putting it upside down and running a hose through it the "wrong" way round. You'd be surprised how much rubbish will come out!

GM - agree 100%! Hosing the matrix through really shifts the cr@p out (i/c off, wash through upside down), you can use air conditioning coil cleaners too if you want to go to town!

Greg

Hows about a group buy on cocktail sticks?! :-)

Hum, my IC is ok, but I jet washed my radiator last week, EEEEEEK

Several hours straightening rad fins, know how you feel.

As to the EVO i/c, I never had a problem with it, the fins seem to start further back between the tubes and so dont take the impact and fold over (as I recall)