Welcome to my digital home! There are lots of articles you might find helpful buried in this site on topics such as modifying an Alfa Romeo 159, rebuilding a Lotus 7 (Robin Hood 2B), not to mention a ton of stuff on technology in general. It’s all here somewhere, so use the search function or navigate using the menu structure. if you want to talk, reach out via the contact function, I usually do answer!
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InfoSecOpen post to see coverage:
Sheffield Star Business Monthly – July 2009 – HackingRelated Images: [...]
RH2B Build DiarySo after installing my lovely new OMP race wheel it was apparent that all was not well with the steering column! In fact, this was an understatement as there was a good 1-2″ of play side to side on the column whcih was just not going to do. a quick investigation identified the issue. A 30+ year old bush that had given up the ghost!
Sierra Steering Column bush from the donor car! probably 83-90 so quite old now!
After a bit of time on google I established that this was a standard Sierra steering column bush, and also that Kit Spares held them in stock (probably should have started there 🙂 ) £20 including shipping and a couple of days later it was time to pull the column apart and figure out how this all hangs together.
Fortunately, its as easy as you would expect. The column is hung on the original mount points at the top and passes through a 3mm steel holder at the bottom, so all that was needed was to loosen the joiner in the engine bay, remove the bolts off the column top and slide the whole thing out. Once out the old bush litter ally fell out into the foot well!
installing the new bush was a little more fiddly as it actually fitted snugly and needed some fettering with fairy liquid and some random tools. Once in, the column could be slid back into place and I could set about bolting the top half back in.
When i removed the top half I was less than impressed with the mounting solution. What is becoming a trend with this vehicle is the original builders approach to solving technical problems was, lets say, a bit garden shed; and I wanted to be a little more professional about it! So where the Sierra steering column mounts were 18mm open voids that clearly took a bush of some kind once upon a time, and instead had been friction mounted with an M10 and a large washer, I decided to pop along to my favourite hardware supplier, Stirling Nut and Bolt.
This is heaven for fasteners of any kind. They literally have everything you could ever want and at trade prices so you don’t spend an arm and a leg! A quick tour of the warehouse and 15 minutes later I had 2 x M10.9×50 High tensile bolts, 2 x M10x50 washers, 20x 18mm M10 spacer washers and an assortment of other similar things to work with just in case. A whole £7 later…… (i’ll let you stew on that), I was back home and assembling my newly acquired parts into an M10 spacer bolt arrangement that went, M10 Bolt, 50mm washer, 6 x 18mm spacer washers inside of the column mount, then the frame mount point, then a nylock high tensile nut.
This solution made the column extremely rigid and removed flex at the lower end where the bush took up the remaining pivot movement and the column was firm, central and more aligned that its previous installation!
Under side of steering column
Come the winter this is all coming apart again as part of the big rebuild, but for now, I have a safe, secure steering solution for this summers fun!
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3DWhy this Kit?
This kit is well built and well packaged which combined with the relative cost is absolute value for money for the print size. It does suffer a number of issues though and the “community guide” is an invaluable asset in the build of these printers.
The community around this printer is great and has many people both skilled and novice, all of whom seem happy to help. The community is mostly in the Facebook Group, or at least that is where I found them! There is an extremely detailed and maintained “Community Guide” that contains a wealth of information about the printer, its issues, its features and how to get the most out of it. This can be found linked from the Facebook Group or can be downloaded from this link.
One of the best features for a first time builder like me was the very extensive video build guides from:
ruiraptor. His 15 video series on the full build process took all the pain out of this for me. That said, It would have taken more pain out of it if I had watched all 15 videos before starting to build the printer as sometimes he will show you how to do something the “TEVO Way” and then his own way, which is often much better!
The community guide also holds some key information not covered in detail or at all in the videos such as the BL Touch installation.
TEVO Black Widow 3D printer – All assembly videos
Aside from the support. Guides and quality of this printer, the main reasoning behind the choice was the build area. A whopping 370mm x 250mm x 300mm build area was exactly what I needed to support some of the planned projects that I will use this for.
Where to buy it?
Do not buy this kit off ebay! Buy it direct from the manufacturer shop via AliExpress. This will ensure you get the latest version direct from the manufacturer stock rather than an old one that has been sat in someone’s stock room for a while. At the time of writing this, V3 was the latest.
A key reason for this is that early versions of this printer had some serious faults such as an earthing issue on the power switch that could electrocute you!
Additional Mandatory Parts:
12 x 28mm Cast Aluminium Corner Brackets
24 x 8mm M5 High Tensile Butten Flange Allen Bolts
24 x CNBTR M5 Thread T Spring Nut 20 Series EU
1 x Red Button 4 Pin DPST ON/OFF Illuminated Rocker Switch AC 250V 15A
1 x 2 metres of 10mm Expandable Braided Sleeving
1 x 1 roll of 9mm cloth wiring tape
1 x Standard Floated Glass 400mm x 250mm x 3mm with Polished edge (from local glazier)
1 x Right-Angle USB2.0 B Male to USB B Female Socket Panel Extension Cable Cord
Optional Parts:
7 x Solid V Xtreme Wheel
8 x Mini V Xtreme Wheel
1 x 24v 40mm Layer Fan
1 x 3m of 28 AWG red & black silicon wire for layer fan
2 x pair of 2 PIN JST SM Plug Socket Connectors – Soldered / Crimp
1 x 400mm x 250mm PrintBite+
Optional Tools
1 x 15 or 30cm metal ruler
1 x 8mm flexible head ratchet spanner
1 x 60 in 1 S2 Tool Steel Precision Screwdriver Nutdriver Bit Repair Tools Kit hv2n
Tools & Assembly
Although the kit comes with all the tools you need to build it, it does make it quite hard work if you only use them. The additional tools suggested make light work of the job and if you don’t have them, come in handy in many other places! The general assembly is straight forward, although if you are following the build videos, make sure you have watched them all first. I found that in certain videos, Rui would build something and take it apart then show you a better way to build it! If your following the video for the first time this can mean you build somethings twice or more.
Modifications
Let me fist answer the question of why modify? These kits are “Open Build” based which essentially means that they are based on 100% open sourced common components that have been pulled together to make this kit. TEVO have a number of custom parts size / length and manufactured their own versions to suit this kit perfectly which makes this kit very good.
That said, a number of parts in this kit such as wheels or angle brackets are not the absolute best that are available, and as with anything built to a market price point, some compromises exist. It is these compromises I am not willing to accept and that I wanted to tackle as part of the build process.
Joints
I was unhappy with the quality of the L brackets given the need for a true and non-flexing chassis and as such decided to opt for the 28mm cast aluminium brackets instead. These make a much stronger connection that is less likely to flex during use. For me this was key as a chassis of this size will likely have a lot of pressure put on the joints and any flex in a joint will lead to an inaccuracy in the layer.
Wheels
I was not initially going to replace the wheels despite hearing about the issue of some users reporting flat spots. Unfortunately, this turned out to be a bad decision and in fact I needed to replace the stock wheels straight away. Essentially, the stock wheels will deform if they are left in the same position for a period of time due to the malleable nature of the material used. What I was not expecting in my build was for the heat bed carriage wheels to do this within the first 24 hours! Some people suggested that this is simply because they were too tight, but personally I don’t think that they are as you need to have them tight enough to stop all lateral movement or “wobble” as this will effect print quality. For me, the wheels deformed very quickly so it was better to change them for a much harder polycarbonate compound that is less prone to deformation.
Rocker Switch
Although supposedly fixed in V3 with a new style toggle switch, the possibility of getting electrocuted didn’t appeal. Looking at the toggle switch that comes with the kit, its metal and rated at 12v /20a which just doesn’t sit right with me given its switching the mains live wire directly :/. Instead I opted for a much better quality 250VAC / 15A plastic illuminated switch to ensure that I am insulated from any potential shorts in the switch that could give me a nasty jolt.
Drag Chains
Each of the drag chains can cause the wires to rub and eventually fail unless they are put into nylon sleeving. This sleeving helps to prevent the rubbing and allows the chains to keep everything neat. It is also useful for hiding the mess of cables that connects the control box to the printer and keeping everything untangled.
Layer Fan
A Layer fan is option but seems to be quite a common modification. Even if you are not installing a layer fan on day 1, I do recommend running the cable for the fan through all of the sleeves and drag chains while you build it to save having to take it all apart at a later date when you decide you want one. Its worth running the wire (30 gauge red & black) from the control box to the print head and putting a 2 pin JST connector on it ready for the addition of a fan at a later date. You can also add a break where all of the other cables join from the control box to the printer and using a JST connector (male & female) to match the stock wiring setup
Wiring / Controller Box.
The way in which TEVO suggest to organise the controller box is flawed and Rui does a great job in showing you a much better way. Essentially you need to transpose the holes for the motherboard and mosfet from one side panel to the other, and then mark and drill holes on the original side where the motherboard and mosfet were to be located, in order to mount the PSU on its side. The result is much more space, much less cable mess, better airflow and room to work!
The other major change to the controller box is the power switch. If you use the power switch I suggested you are going to have to cut a square hole around the existing round one. A Dremil some painters tape and patients is all you need. And just remember if you make a total hash of it, you can always print a new one once your printer is up and running!
Firmware Upgrade
I’m a subscriber to “the latest version is best” way of life and as such, job one, even before an actual print, is to upgrade the firmware to the latest version. The printer I bought came with 1.1.0 RC7, while at the time of writing this, 1.1.8 (RC8 V4) was available. The best guide on how to perform the upgrade is here from Rui:
How to easily configure and flash firmware to a TEVO BlackWidow 3D printer
Calibration
This stage is key. Take your time on Video’s 13 & 14 and make sure your eSteps and extrusion is perfect. If you have opted for the BL Touch (recommended) then you do need to follow the community guide on how to calibrate it, but once done its ability to self level the bed before a print is so time saving.
First Print
The first print is always going to be nerve wracking but as long as you have taken your time with everything during the build process and especially the calibration, then it will come out just fine. Here we have my first print, a 20mm XZY Calibration cube printed at 0.2mm layer height:
Key Builds
Universal Spool Holder
Part Cooling Duct for Tevo Black Widow & 40mm Fan
Its best if you print the part cooler and one of the velocity stacks first. Then assemble that and fit it before printing the rest.
Overall the quality is very good though:
Build Gallery
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InfoSecIf your planning on using Linux in a hostile environment, i.e. the Internet! then its worth thinking about some simple little tweaks to the TCP/IP stack in conjunction with some funky firewall madness to keep your box your own, and not end up “owned” too quickly!
Lets start with the TCP/IP stack. There are a number of quick easy wins here that can help defend against attacks through making the default behaviours of the stack more in-line with what we would like:
echo "1" > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/conf/eth0/rp_filter
echo "0" > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/conf/lo/rp_filter
echo "1" > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/conf/all/log_martians
echo "0" > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/conf/lo/log_martians
echo "1" > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/icmp_ignore_bogus_error_responses
echo "1" > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/icmp_echo_ignore_broadcasts
echo "0" > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/icmp_echo_ignore_all
echo "0" > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/conf/all/accept_source_route
echo "0" > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/conf/all/send_redirects
echo "0" > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/conf/all/accept_redirects
echo "0" > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/conf/all/secure_redirects
echo "1" > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_dynaddr
echo "10" > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/tcp_fin_timeout
echo "1800" > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/tcp_keepalive_time
echo "15" > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ipfrag_time
echo "2048" > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/tcp_max_syn_backlog
echo "32768 61000" > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_local_port_range
echo "2" > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/tcp_synack_retries
Now, that little lot above needs some caveats. Firstly, use at your own risk! Secondly, As per usual, you often get a small performance hit when you start getting more secure, so test each tweak fully before you go into production. Once your happy with the ones you like, add then to your /etc/rc.local or other start up file of your choice.
The next step is to use iptables to help deal with dodgy looking traffic.
Step 1, set-up a bunch of new chains:
$IPTABLES -N CHECK_FLAGS
$IPTABLES -N ALLOW_ICMP
$IPTABLES -N SRC_EGRESS
$IPTABLES -N DST_EGRESS
Step 2, now lets get those chains to do something useful:
$IPTABLES -A CHECK_FLAGS -p tcp --tcp-flags ALL FIN,URG,PSH -m limit
--limit 5/minute -j LOG --log-level $LOG_LEVEL --log-prefix "NMAP-XMAS:"
$IPTABLES -A CHECK_FLAGS -p tcp --tcp-flags ALL FIN,URG,PSH -j DROP
$IPTABLES -A CHECK_FLAGS -p tcp --tcp-flags SYN,RST SYN,RST -m limit
--limit 5/minute -j LOG --log-level $LOG_LEVEL --log-prefix "SYN/RST:"
$IPTABLES -A CHECK_FLAGS -p tcp --tcp-flags SYN,RST SYN,RST -j DROP
$IPTABLES -A CHECK_FLAGS -p tcp --tcp-flags SYN,FIN SYN,FIN -m limit
--limit 5/minute -j LOG --log-level $LOG_LEVEL --log-prefix "SYN/FIN:"
$IPTABLES -A CHECK_FLAGS -p tcp --tcp-flags SYN,FIN SYN,FIN -j DROP
$IPTABLES -A ALLOW_ICMP -p icmp --icmp-type echo-reply -j ACCEPT
$IPTABLES -A ALLOW_ICMP -p icmp --icmp-type destination-unreachable
-j ACCEPT
$IPTABLES -A ALLOW_ICMP -p icmp --icmp-type echo-request -j ACCEPT
$IPTABLES -A ALLOW_ICMP -p icmp --icmp-type time-exceeded -j ACCEPT
for SRCNET in $EGRESS_NETS; do
$IPTABLES -A SRC_EGRESS -s $SRCNET -j DROP
done
for DSTNET in $EGRESS_NETS; do
$IPTABLES -A DST_EGRESS -d $DSTNET -j DROP
done
Step 3, Apply the prior two steps to your input, forward and output chains as needed:
$IPTABLES -A $CHAIN -i $EXT_INT -j SRC_EGRESS
$IPTABLES -A $CHAIN -i $EXT_INT -j DST_EGRESS
$IPTABLES -A $CHAIN -i $EXT_INT -p icmp -j ALLOW_ICMP
$IPTABLES -A $CHAIN -i $EXT_INT -p tcp -j CHECK_FLAGS
Variables. In all of the above, variables are used to save typing!, here are some of the important variables, the rest are fairly self explanatory:
EGRESS_NETS="
172.16.0.0/12
224.0.0.0/4
240.0.0.0/5
14.0.0.0/8
169.254.0.0/16
172.16.0.0/12
192.0.2.0/24
192.88.99.0/24
192.18.0.0/15
0.0.0.0/8
"
What we have just done is setup some new chains, apply some filters that can identify dodgy looking traffic and do something useful with it (limit it rather than drop it, as we don’t want to arouse suspicion with our attackers). Then apply all that nice Packet Mangling to each of our primary chains.
I provide all of this advice for free, with no guarantees, any use of the above code should be with full testing prior to its use in a production environment. Enjoy!
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InfoSecDani Web – February 2010 – Chip & Pin
Daily Telegraph – February 2010 – Chip & Pin
BCS Industry News – February 2010 – Fraud Rises
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ElectronicsWell I finally got round to purchasing an Arduino Uno Open Source Prototyping Platform and first impressions are !WOW. I am genuinely impressed with the overall package, its flexibility and quality of the hardware and software. First off, getting up and running on your favourite OS is a breeze, with detailed step by step instructions available on the Arduino site.
Aside from the basic Uno itself:
I invested in a few extras from a UK outfit called Cool Components that sell the Arduino and plenty of shields and extras. To give me enough to start with, I picked up:
140-Piece Wire Kit
Electronic Brick Kit
Generic Starter Kit
Jumper Wires – Female to Female
Jumper Wires – Male to Female
Although in hindsight, I should have bought a few more male to male jumper cables as these seem to be the primary cable type!
Getting up and running was a breeze, remembering my basic electronics from my childhood stood me in good stead to build a small circuit, and google/youtube filled in the blanks easily!
So what did I build?
Essentially its 5 LEDs running in a sequence, with the timing controlled by an analogue rotary switch or potentiometer, as I learned it was called. It actually took longer to figure out it wasn’t called a “rotary encoder” which is apparently something very different and digital, than it did to code the entire program and build the circuit!
The circuit is simple:
…and so is the program:
/*
Jabawoki Light tracer V1.0
22/07/2011
*/
int potpin = 0;
int val;
void setup() {
pinMode(12, OUTPUT);
pinMode(11, OUTPUT);
pinMode(10, OUTPUT);
pinMode(9, OUTPUT);
pinMode(8, OUTPUT);
}
void loop() {
// Read the Analog Pot
val = analogRead(potpin);
// Switch the LEDs on
digitalWrite(12, HIGH);
digitalWrite(8, HIGH);
delay(val);
digitalWrite(11, HIGH);
digitalWrite(9, HIGH);
delay(val);
digitalWrite(10, HIGH);
delay(val);
// Switch LEDs off
digitalWrite(12, LOW);
digitalWrite(8, LOW);
delay(val);
digitalWrite(11, LOW);
digitalWrite(9, LOW);
delay(val);
digitalWrite(10, LOW);
delay(val);
}
What more could you ask for in a prototyping platform?
You can download the code and schematics for this project from the downloads section
Watch this space, I have 5 key projects I am planning once I get my head properly around this, some of which will blow your mind.
Here is some video of the project working in all its glory!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9rIHjsyiUs
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LiveMixesSecond instalment of the multi-part Electro Pop Mix for the masses 🙂
01) Bingo Players – Tom Diner (Original Mix)
02) Roberto Bedross-Timbaland feat.Nelly Furtado and Justin Timberlake – Give It To Me (Roberto Bedross Club Remix)
03) Seductive – Discobuzz (Original Mix)-aSBo
04) Tecktologic – We Can Dance Tecktonik (Digital Creator Remix)
05) Alchemist Project – Love is Gone (Extended Mix)
06) Diplo, Tiesto – CMon (Original Mix)
07) Timbaland vs Nirvana – Smells Like Morning After Dark (Djs From Mars Bootleg)
08) Kaskade feat. Haley – Dynasty (Dada Life Remix)
09) Dirty South – Phazing feat. Rudy (Original Mix)
10) Alba – Bette Davis Eyes (Scotty Remix)
11) Timbaland feat. Katy Perry – If We Ever Meet Again (Chew Fu Remix)
12) Afrojack, Sidney Samson – Quacky (Original Mix)
13) Dirtyloud – Dirt (Original Mix)
14) Anthem – Move On Baby (Extended Mix)
15) Dada Life–Happy hands & happy feet (12 Edit)
16) Electronutz – Home With You (Original G-Clubber Mix)
17) Joan Reyes – Shakedown (Bass Kleph Remix)
18) Dennis Ferrer – Hey Hey (Vandalism Remix)
19) Danny Soundz – Jack It Up (Original Mix)
20) Movetown – Girl You Know It’s True 2010 (Instant Move Remix)
https://jabawoki.com/wp-content/mp3/Jabawoki_Electro_Pop_Part_2_27122010.mp3
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
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General…..put simply, because you have to!
Now, don’t get me wrong, there are a thousand reasons for the upgrade, but did you know about this one? There is actually a very serious and technical reason that you should upgrade. I’ll try and explain it to you in lay terms….
The current “2G” iphones operate on the GPRS/EDGE Networks (I won’t get into the technical stuff, use wikipedia for that). Now you will think that actually that’s a good thing, better data usage is good news surely? Well it would be if their was not one simple problem with the 2G network. That is that you cannot use voice and data to the same endpoint (i.e. iphone) at the same time!!! Yes, that’s right. You cannot surf and chat simultaneously! Now, this has never really been a problem before a device like the iphone, as most of use would use the data facilities on our nokia or sony so infrequently that we never noticed a problem, however the iphone, being a data hungry beast, is a regular user of data, without your permission!
What this all equates to is simple. If you iphone decides it needs a data connection, say to update its email or something else useful, and at the same time, someone tries to call you, guess what, they don’t get through! This kind of defeats the object of the iphone qualifying for the use of the word “phone” IMO!
So whats the answer? simple, upgrade to a 3G phone! this makes use of the new third generation network (HSPA/UTMS), which of course, being data centric, allows simultaneous use of voice and data from a single device.
What more of an excuse do you need to go and get that upgrade?
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RH2B Build DiaryIn the dash of the hoody was a previously installed large cubby holder. This had been damaged at some point and one of the previous owners had used a stick on faux leather pocket to hide the damage. As you can guess, this was not going to do for me and I thought I would put my 3d printer to good use and make something a little more useful!
Aside from the damaged cubby, I had a few cables dangling in the passenger foot well that I needed to do something with. Firstly I had the CTEK charge cable that I added for ease of keeping the battery tip top, then I had the ECU programming cable that I also needed to be able to easily access. Both of these needed a new home and they needed to be out of the way of a passengers feet!
CTEK Charge Point
The combination of broken plastic part + need to tidy cables & access to a 3D printer led me straight to Fusion 360 where I set about designing a new solution. The first design was an “all in one” unit that had to be printed with lots of supports and with the rear face on the bed. This left a less than desirable finish and was simply not going to do. This led me to my first “multi-part” design and print.
Utilizing Fusions component feature I was able to design the face and all parts that connect to it as separate objects that could then be printed individually. In total the final design had 4 parts. A face, a cubby, a light box and a lens. Yes, that’s right, I added LED’s 🙂 The idea was to have the Lotus Super 7 logo as well as the letters GBS (Great British Sportscars) cut through the face and an LED behind them so that it illuminated when the ignition was on.
Printed Parts for the final cubby
The face I decided to paint, which is a first for me, but I thought given it was on display and a large flat area, it could benefit from some paint. I used Plasti-Kote primer and black satin paint after some light sanding and the finish was truly impressive.
Once all the components were ready for assembly, I installed a small strip of 12v LED’s into the light box and painted the clear PLA diffuser lens in the same body paint that the car is painted in. This actually turned out better than I hoped for and was a very easy thing to do.
Light box and LEDs
The final product looks pretty cool and holds the parts I needed it to perfectly. Everything is neat and there is a more functional, better looking solution to a problem that was part my own doing and part legacy 🙂
Final Part Assembled
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Alfa 159Part of any major power upgrade includes a Front Mount Intercooler conversion to enable the maximum airflow through the compression system, while maximising the cooling opportunity.
The stock intercooler on the 159 is quite restrictive and behind several radiators limiting good airflow to it and also has very restrictive ports for the airflow in and out of it. All due to size and placement options at the factory.
The stock pipework has an ID of 60-63mm so isn’t exactly huge, but is good enough for 3.5-4bar. Its the intercooler that could use a bit of an upgrade!
Once the stock intercooler is removed, all of the other radiators can shuffle around so that it goes (from the engine to the front of the car) Water Rad > Air Con Rad > Oil Rad > Power Steering Rad. All of these items clip to each other so removing the stock intercooler just allows you to put them all back in a different order without any further mods. You will likely need to have the aircon re-gassed and refill the cooling system as doing this without disconnecting those systems is extremely difficult!
An optional upgrade is to remove the stock oil cooler and move that to a larger MOCAL unit located where the stock intake is, but this requires removal of the stock intake and all associated pipework and replacing with something like a BMC-CDA or Cone filter under the bonnet like I have done.
In terms of the parts needed for this conversion, it isn’t that many. Firstly, you need the right sort of intercooler, cheap and efficient! Fortunately, the JDM scene has us covered! They have a standard sized unit that has a 600x300x76mm core that is used in big power Supra and GTR upgrades. Its readily available on ebay for less than £100 delivered.
Make sure you buy the “bar and Plate” type rather than the “tube and fin” ones. The bar and plate type have additional internal structure designed to create turbulence in the airflow and maximise the cooling efficiency.
One thing I will say about these intercoolers; is they do not age well. While they turn up very shiny and polished, after about 2-3 months on the front of the car they go a horrible grey pitted colour that is quite unsightly! I therefore do recommend getting it painted black to help create the stealth look. Of course adding a layer of paint will reduce the efficiency slightly so make the layer as thin as possible.
There are arguments for and against painting the intercooler here:
For:
Against:
While the science is compelling, from experience of running the same setup painted and unpainted, there is nothing in it! I see extremely efficient cooling even with it painted black!
This unit, once bought, needs to be mounted. Fortunately, due to the shape of the 159/Brera there is a huge space up front where this can live with ease! I have designed some brackets that attach directly to the lower sub-frame and provide a mount for this, or any other intercooler. You can get these brackets made up at any local machine shop for £20-30.
The design can be downloaded free of charge:
Once its mounted on the lower sub frame its very solid, but you will need to make some custom tie bars for the top that secure it to the front crash bar. I used some 1mm steel I had lying around and just cut and bent it to shape:
The Intercooler has M8 sockets welded onto it so you will need 4 x M8 bolts @ 12-14mm long to mount it to the brackets and the brackets will need 4 x M8 @ 50-55mm long to go through the lower sub frame.
The pipework is custom, so while I can tell you what bits you need, its up to you to measure and cut them! I strongly recommend watching this video on how to cut silicon pipes before starting:
You are going to need the following bits:
Hot Side (pre cooler)
63mm Joiner (102mm long)
63 – 76 @90 degree reducer elbow
Cold Side (post cooler)
60mm Joiner (102mm long)
60 – 63 @45 degree reducer elbow
63 mm joiner (102mm long)
63 – 76 @90 degree reducer elbow
Mishimoto Constant Tension T-Bolt Clamps
6 x 2.75″ (for the 3 x joins)
2 x 3″ (for the FMIC)
Mikalor W2 Stainless Steel Clamps
1 x 49-63mm (Cold side metal intake pipe)
1 x 55-59mm (Hot side turbo connection)
I can recommend ASH in the UK for the pipes and the joiners, I used them and they are great quality. They are on ebay here: http://stores.ebay.co.uk/autosiliconehosesoutlet/
Do not underestimate the clamps or the joiners! I have tried several different types of both and have had reliability issues resulting in boost hoses popping off at the most inconvenient times! Spend the money, get the best possible parts.The Mishimoto clamps are the best I have seen and provide an extremely good clamp with a system that allows for heat expansion and contraction without sacrificing grip.They dont make constant tension clamps small enough for the connections on the turbo or metal intake so I suggest using Mikalor clamps instead. A very strong clamp just without the heat expansion capability.
You can buy the clamps direct from Mishimoto or the usual ebay sources.
The ASH joiners have very significant insertion into the pipes so you can get lots of grip with the clamps and minimise potential movement that can work a join loose over time!
I have used other joins in the past and they have failed repeatedly, to put that in perspective, take a look at the difference between a popular silicon joiner and the ASH one:
The hot side of the FMIC only needs a single 90 reducer and can be joined directly to the OE pipe with a 63mm joiner.
On the hot side you need to trim back the 90 reducer on the 63 side, and join that to the 63 side of the 45 reducer. This will also need to be cut back and the stock pipe will need to be cut back also. These are the only three cuts you need to make but measure twice and cut once! The 60 side joins to the stock pipe where you cut it as its slightly narrower in the middle than at the ends. I’ll caveat that the pipes I used here had already been previously cut. Its possible that the stock cold side pipe may join directly with the 90 and not need the 45 if not cut. Its something you are going to have to test fit yourself!
Make sure to place your clamps in such a way as they are easy to get to once the bumper is back on as they may need tightening in the future and this will make life much easier!
Make sure you do not have any pipes catching on anything sharp. If they do they can eventually fail through the vibrations from the engine. I had a previous OE hot side pipe fail as it was rubbing on the frame and it was £100 to be replaced!
Once you have the pipes all done, it should look a little like this.
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