Type RA/D25/VF52 Intercooler question.

[nebula72]

Hi,

After a turbo bearing to engine failure on our 2009 LGT,  we are slowly getting our Type RA engine assembled for installation.  During the process we we had our heads reconditioned by HeadGames and we purchased a rebuilt VF52 from a forum member.  Intake and TGVs were all deep cleaned by a professional.

As far as the intercooler goes, the original had a bunch of bearing juice go through it so I am not re using it.  I originally wanted to upgrade it but after seeing the price of the Grimspeed I decided that OEM is my only choice (about $350 new).

While searching I saw some ebay units for cheap but Im not sure if I should even try them as I did read about some fitment issues on older posts but I am not sure if anything has changed since then.

I would like to keep the budget under $500 so any advise would be appreciated.

Link to one example:  https://www.ebay.com/itm/166479867937

Thanks

Tom

 

 

[xt2005bonbon]

Infosecdad is selling a used Grimmspeed for 600$ I think. You should get it.

 

[KZJonny]

6 minutes ago, xt2005bonbon said:

Infosecdad is selling a used Grimmspeed for 600$ I think. You should get it.

 

+1 to that. Infosecdad is a legit great guy, and it's a damn shame that car had to be parted.

Someone else has an AVO for sale here for around your budget (in the classifieds), but they're not considered all that good by many. YMMV.

 

As far as Ebay intercoolers go, you're going to get what you pay for. I'm sure they work, but I looked at one for a minute then read a couple of stories about weld sugaring coming loose and there being machining swarf in a couple of them and walked away.

I ended up with a GS TMIC, since I didn't want to burn all the money I had already poured into the engine becuase I cheaped on the IC and got metal into the combustion chambers....

Honestly, for the money, and unless you're really hotting the car up, OE is likely all you'll need, tho you will definitely want to either 'bulletproof' it, or JB weld all the aluminum crimps to the plastic end tanks before install, just to be safe.

 

I have a 'bulletproofed' IC I'd let go for not much at all, if you're interested. Came off only to be replaced by the GS unit. 

[BoozeRS05]

Good advice here, and I also recommend buying the GS unit mentioned above. Hell I was thinking about buying it to replace my Perrin TMIC. And as Jonny mentioned, OEM is generally considered complete sufficient esp after BP treatment.