Trust V-SPL Front Mount Intercooler Installation

These instructions are specifically for this intercooler, but will help you have a better understanding of any intercooler installation, as they are almost all the same.

Before you get started, you will need some sort of drill, an 80mm hole saw if you can get it (not cheap), or a saber saw or something you can cut the sheet metal with. You will also need a small battery, or a trunk mounted battery, and possibly some vacuum caps. (more about this later)

Here in the first pic, you can see that we actually read the instructions. When you are playing with stuff that cost a lot of money and you want it to look pretty, sometimes its a good idea to read the instructions over once or twice before you start.

Here's the intercooler we're about to put in. It's a Trust V-SPL. This kits comes with all aluminum piping and supposedly flows up to 400hp.

This car did not have the 5mph bumper support behind the front bumper. If it were in there, we would have to cut out the middle of it for the intercooler to fit there. You can easily figure this out if you have this problem. In the photo, you can see how the lower mounting brackets are placed on the front of the radiator lower support. We put them on but didn't tighten everything down just yet, because it may need a little adjustment when the intercooler goes in. (especially if the support is bent like this one is.)

Meanwhile, we got the intercooler out of the area while cutting an 80mm hole through the battery box for the 70mm intercooler cold pipe to come through. Now, you must have either a little battery or a trunk mounted battery for this to work. To make the hole, we used a large drill bit and made several holes in the sheet metal. Then using an air powered saber saw, we connected the dots. Of course it needed a little cleaning up... but not bad in the end. They supply some vacuum hose which you use to slit and wrap the inside of the hole with. (protects your pipe and your fingers)

Here we are hanging the intercooler. I took this close up photo to demonstrate how the brackets on the bottom go together. We actually installed the top bracket first, then lined up the bottom ones.

Here's a nice angle where you can see the installation of the top bracket. It's nothing but a spacer and a longer bolt. (very simple) You may have to move your horns or any other BS you have up front here to make room for the core.

A nice front view - Notice the plastic still on the end tanks until completion of the install. You really don't want any foreign objects in your intercooler.

Here's half the piping installed. Take note of the positioning of the elbow on the cold side. (this can be confusing) Another note is this: The lower hot pipe has a place for the stock blow off valve to mount. If you don't have the stock BOV or don't want to use it anymore, you will need a very large cap to cover this hole (~40mm?) You can just barely see the piece on the hot side up high. You will also need to remove the vacuum line for the stock BOV and plug the hole in the stock intake hose behind the air flow meter. (about halfway down the rubber hose)

Here is the installation of the cold pipe to the throttle body. It's tricky to get it in the hole you made, but just take your time and don't scratch your pipe up. It would be a nice investment to get a cushion type grommet for the throttle body here. The kit came with a straight grommet. If you don't have any cushion from your intercooler to engine, you could make the motor torque very hard and move, while the intercooler sits still. Of course while this is happening, there's a lot of boost inside the piping... and something will give. If you find that you're blowing grommets and tightening them doesn't help, try getting a cushion grommet or two. (they bulge in the middle to flex)

This is how you put in the hot pipe. The stock hot pipe can be used, and the kit comes with adapter grommets to accomidate that. If you have any sort of aftermarket hot pipe or homemade, this part will be up to you to figure out. If you're wondering why the intercooler kits never include a hot pipe from the turbo, its just because there is no one pipe that could work with every possible turbo setup. (and the stock pipe works fine for the stock turbo - as on this car)

This is the finished product. Looks pretty mean hangin out front there... The last issue you may have to deal with will be cutting the front bumper to allow room for the intercooler. I don't know if it clears the stock bumper, but every aftermarket bumper we've done this with required cutting. I like to use a side cutter with a cutting wheel to modify the fiberglass bumpers. The cutting wheel is much faster and easier to get straight than say a saw would be.