I am running a FMIC, and I was out looking for muffler shops to day that could bend up some 3" for my ductwork. A guy at one place says that he has used pvc pipe on the pressurized side of the intake. He says that he even used pvc couplings that held up with pvc glue! I have never heard of this, so i am calling to the masses to let me know the scoop on this.

I have seen pvc used for the filter, but i dont see anything about pvc pipe being used after the s'charger. Is it possible, and will the glued joints hold up? I am only pushing 3 lbs right now, but i only plan on pushing 8lbs in the future, so what am i looking at here?

 

The white PVC is rated to burst at 330 psi with room temp water and goes down to high 200 something when 90'C water is in there.
It should hold, people do it some time don't usaly admit to it.

 

We did this on my car.

The PVC is on the top side of the intercooler. There is a Metal tube on the bottom of the intercooler, where boost travels from the blower directly to the intercooler. Then on top is the PVC tubing after the air has been cooled by the 2 core. I personally thinks it looks pretty decent and so far with 10# of boost from my combo (see sig for more details) I have no problems. We (my friend Maldo and I) did used the PVC glue and once the glue cures, it real freakin hard to seperate the pipes. I think the PVC has some benefits: Its cheaper than steel tubing, its lighter, does not retain heat like steel tubing and its easy to find 45 and 90 degree bends to create the desired effect you want. We orginally did for my 4.5# setup on the stock motor and decided to see how well it would work with my new 383 set up (so far about 7,500 miles with the new 10# set up and everyday driving with no problems). However, if I pulley up later and get more boost, I will take off the PVC take it to Mufflex and have them duplicate it with steel tubing with mandel bends.

http://images.cardomain.com/member_i...629_8_full.jpg

In the pic below you can actually see where the PVC is routing too.
http://images.cardomain.com/member_i...29_49_full.jpg

Then it routes to this
http://images.cardomain.com/member_i...29_51_full.jpg



Hope that helps,

 

What sucks is pvc measurments are i.d. They take up so much room. I feel better knowing that the pipe would hold, its opens a door or two. But i have very limited room, and even the 3" steel is gonna be tricky. You had a little more room being that you removed the bumper. I still have mine intact. The more i sit out there and look at it, the more i think i am gonna have to wait for the muffler shop. But, i will take a ride to home depot this weekend and check some stuff out. I agree with your pros on the pvc, i just hope the girth of the unions dont create problems. Thanks for the info, keep in touch...

john

 

If you go with the PVC and angle it correctly, and test fit it before you apply the glue, you will have no problems with the PVC hitting anything. I dont have any clearance issues but when My friend was hooking everything up, I would stand back and tell him to rotate the pipes one way and another. Then we would double and triple check the clearance by putting the nose back on the car without bolting it down to see if anything hits. Finally when we got the desired look, we etched the ends of the PVC and took them apart and glued it using the etching we made and it came out good (no clearance issues anywhere).

Hope that helps and let me know what you end up doing and how it works out for you.

Claude

 

Only issue with the PVC pipe is after several years and many heat cycles it could become brittel(SP?). I would wonder with the vibration for a car and stuff that over time it could cause the seams or joints to come loose. This is all a guess, and I have no facts to back up what I am saying, but rather just a thought. In any case good luck.

 

claude, i will let you know, i will know by the end of next week.

And thank you guys again for responding, i appreciate your help. I will keep you guys posted on the progress of this m'er f'er. later

john