CVF Intercooler Install and Review

[Dhouse]

Just watched the video shown linked on the CVF site as RC Customes installs the intercooler. He mentioned a lot of trimming was involved. However, Mrmonk stated it fell right in. The guy from RC Customes said it was a real pain to get it to fit. I recently received mine and plan to install it soon. Will this drop in following Mrmonk detailed instructions, or will I have to do some trimming of a lot of plastic? I'm a bit nervous about jumping into this.

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[Justamessenger]

Just watched the video shown linked on the CVF site as RC Customes installs the intercooler. He mentioned a lot of trimming was involved. However, Mrmonk stated it fell right in. The guy from RC Customes said it was a real pain to get it to fit. I recently received mine and plan to install it soon. Will this drop in following Mrmonk detailed instructions, or will I have to do some trimming of a lot of plastic? I'm a bit nervous about jumping into this.

Please keep us informed. I’ve only watched RC Customs, and the guy can’t stop walking around his shop as he talks making his long and jumpy selfie video… nothing was planned, he just jumps in until he runs into trouble.

 

[Dhouse]

Please keep us informed. I’ve only watched RC Customs, and the guy can’t stop walking around his shop as he talks making his long and jumpy selfie video… nothing was planned, he just jumps in until he runs into trouble.

I got it done. It takes some patience. I did it over a weekend. One thing I didn't do that would have probably made it easier, is remove one of the head light assemblies. But not doing that, it would not go in without some slight trimming of some plastic at the bottom of the headlight assembly. Not much but some.

One thing I would do differently is install the hot and cold charge pipes before I put in the intercooler. I had a hell of a time installing them with the intercooler already in.
All in all, it wasn't really that bad. I just took my time and had some patience. I did take most of the day Saturday, & Sunday to get it done. I know some people say a few hours, but that I'm sure is some of the guys on this forum that are good wrench men. I like a lot.

I think the best thing to do is follow Mrmonk's directions. That would probably make it easier.

 

[MistaBiz]

Installed this intercooler and CVF charge pipes this past weekend and I wish I had just followed these instructions to begin with, I think it would have saved me a lot of time. I was able to get the stock intercooler out without removing the front fascia, but getting the new one in definitely was not going to work without cutting/trimming.

I wasn't able to get the cold side charge pipe to fully seat in the "clipped in" position. I think the dimensions don't accommodate for the supplied O ring. What I ended up doing is tightening up the top of the intercooler last to help it press into the charge pipe as much as possible. I recorded a data log on my Livernois tuner today and was getting around the same amount of peak boost at WOT as before I installed the intercooler and charge pipes, so hopefully that means there aren't any leaks with this new setup. Going to do some more observation and data gathering before finally putting the front fascia back on.

Edit: said hot side when I meant cold side.

 

[Dhouse]

Installed this intercooler and CVF charge pipes this past weekend and I wish I had just followed these instructions to begin with, I think it would have saved me a lot of time. I was able to get the stock intercooler out without removing the front fascia, but getting the new one in definitely was not going to work without cutting/trimming.

I wasn't able to get the hot side charge pipe to fully seat in the "clipped in" position. I think the dimensions don't accommodate for the supplied O ring. What I ended up doing is tightening up the top of the intercooler last to help it press into the charge pipe as much as possible. I recorded a data log on my Livernois tuner today and was getting around the same amount of peak boost at WOT as before I installed the intercooler and charge pipes, so hopefully that means there aren't any leaks with this new setup. Going to do some more observation and data gathering before finally putting the front fascia back on.

So, I have had mine in for quite a while. One thing I noticed is that when the turbo kicks in, I get a high pitched whistling or humming sound. I'm wondering if this is normal, or if that means I have a leak. It has done it from the start. Hope I don't have a leak. I also installed the plum back blow off valve at the same time. Just curious if you hear that sound with yours.

 

[MistaBiz]

So, I have had mine in for quite a while. One thing I noticed is that when the turbo kicks in, I get a high pitched whistling or humming sound. I'm wondering if this is normal, or if that means I have a leak. It has done it from the start. Hope I don't have a leak. I also installed the plum back blow off valve at the same time. Just curious if you hear that sound with yours.

I also installed the plumb back blow off valve, and I have not observed that with mine. Did you install the two O rings that came in the box? They didn't seem to want to stay on the BOV during installation, they kept falling out. I was eventually able to get the larger o ring to stay in place, but I had to put the smaller diameter one onto the charge pipe and put the BOV on top of it. I was in a hurry to finish up the install, and I'm probably going to take it off this weekend and find a way to get them to adhere to the BOV to ensure it is properly placed. In my experience, the entire setup is no louder than it was when it was stock. If your BOV is properly installed, may be helpful to use an OBD2 scanner to check your boost pressure. I'm maxing out at around 23 psi, but that is with the Livernois performance tune.

 

[Dhouse]

I also installed the plumb back blow off valve, and I have not observed that with mine. Did you install the two O rings that came in the box? They didn't seem to want to stay on the BOV during installation, they kept falling out. I was eventually able to get the larger o ring to stay in place, but I had to put the smaller diameter one onto the charge pipe and put the BOV on top of it. I was in a hurry to finish up the install, and I'm probably going to take it off this weekend and find a way to get them to adhere to the BOV to ensure it is properly placed. In my experience, the entire setup is no louder than it was when it was stock. If your BOV is properly installed, may be helpful to use an OBD2 scanner to check your boost pressure. I'm maxing out at around 23 psi, but that is with the Livernois performance tune.

I did get the O rings in, but might be worth checking it again. It is a fairly audible whistle. I have SCT tuner. I'm not sure if I can check the boost with that or not, but I'll investigate. Thanks for your input.

 

[MistaBiz]

I did get the O rings in, but might be worth checking it again. It is a fairly audible whistle. I have SCT tuner. I'm not sure if I can check the boost with that or not, but I'll investigate. Thanks for your input.

No problem, let us know how it goes.

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