Thought I'd share pics of my first TIG welding project. It's an AWIC for my 3rd gen Civic. The core is from a Saab 900, cut in half, with custom end tanks and a water jacket. I had been running the same IC core with a seriously ghetto JB welded water jacket on it, so this should be a lot more reliable.



Here it is on the floor, showing the water inlet&outlet, the BOV pipe and the main pipes.



Here it is under the hood all hooked up and waiting for the autocross season to start.

-Chris

 

that looks sweet dude, what kind of car is that on???not a 1st gen crx, is it?? what is the rest of your setup??

 

It's not a 1st gen CRX, but it is the same D15a3 motor, in an 86 Civic Si (the one in my avatar). The setup is pretty straightforeward, but very effective:

Garrett T3 .48/.45 A/R, ported (Saab 900)
Custom adaptor on D15 DX manifold
Custom 2 stage boost controller (5psi / 10psi)
AWIC as shown
Turbonetics BOV
240cc injectors (190 stock)
Vortech 12:1 FMU
MSD BTM and 6a, Crane coil

All on a stock motor of unknown mileage. The car is built for autocrossing, and I'm currently running in SM. I've never dyno'd it, but I did run 1/8th mile dragstrip once and ran a 8.2 on my autocross tires and with the autocross alignment. That was before the intercooler too.

-Chris

 

I know what car im getting for my drag car....whats it weigh, 1700 lbs stock?

 

i know, i want another 1st gen crx si to build up, crazy light weight, i had one before but it was so rusted out, so i got rid of it for $100

 

i forgot so say, "nice work."
Im still trying to learn aluminum. it isnt workin out too well for me. i think im just too dirty or something hehe

 

very nice; what do you use for the cooling part? more detail on the setup pls.

 

The rest of the water cooling system is very basic. It's a 2 gallon Igloo cooler bolted to the passenger floorboard with a $25 Wal Mart submersable bilge pump:




I don't run a front mounted 'radiator' for the AWIC, because I run ice water in the system, and it stays well below ambient temp. Basically, if I start a run with an ice/water mix at 40deg, it has only warmed to about 50-55 deg after a few minutes of idlings and a minute long autocross run. This is plenty cool to provide 20+ deg BELOW ambient charge temps. The system is a little heavier than a FMIC, at around 30 lbs including the water, but since I'm balasting to get to the 1900lb min weight for SM anyway, that's no big deal. I went this route mainly because I didn't want to have a mile of charge pipes and a bunch of bends.

-Chris

 

I was thinking of doing the same thing. Itd save me many hours of fabricating some kind of reseviour out of aluminum.

 

so if one wanted to add a radiator type heat exchanger into that exact AWIC setup, the "radiator" would go between the return line from the IC and the jug right?

btw DIY rules!

 

the radiator would go up front somewhere where cold air could reach it. Ideally, it would go between the pump and the intercooler...

 

ahh., i wasn't thinkin straight. cool. mahalos. IM u sometime later Tinker. I'm in no rush for the mani as it's for an upcoming proj. peace