So some of you have expressed an interest in what I used to make my Chill Intercooler Cooler ( or beer cooler ) So I took some pictures and I will try to explain how to do it...well at least how I did it. Remember this cooler is good for 30-40 rwhp! This is completed and installed.

You will need these items to start with....

 

Of course you can have somebody cut and bend your aluminum sheet for you first. I cut all my own metals and had somebody break the corners for me. There are some parts not shown that you will need to hook up the tank...fittings and hoses but the major parts are there.
I use 1" alum pipe and thread my own nipples to cut and weld into the tank sides to hold the copper tubing. It is a closed loop tank meaning the intercooler water does not mix with the ice and the antifreeze stays a constant mixture.

Now the pipe nipples are welded into the side of the tank and the copper is coiled inside and I use copper 1/2" *** male fittings to the alum pipe nipples and then sweat the fitting to the copper. This gives me a leak proof seal through the tank wall and preserves the antifreeze from mixing. Once I test the tubing connections for leaks( pressure tested) I then lay off and cut the hole for the lid on the other half of the tank.Once the lid is attached I assemble the tank halves. You can use different designs to make the tank such as bending one sheet of metal and having a five sided box then welding the top on when complete...just easier with two sides and less distortion welding the aluminum the way I do it. Once the box is welded together and the test plugs inserted in the opening I test the whole tank for leaks with about 2 PSI of air...any more and you'll blow it up!!!!

 

Once tested it is ready to either install or cover. I covered mine with 1" thick closed cell sticky backed foam rubber hoping to make the ice last even longer.
of course with the Bed-rug all I use to secure the tank to the bed is some sticky backed Velcros strips on the bottom of the tank.

Any questions? Besides price??? LOL

 

That's sweet! Good Job man!

 

Nice. Where did you get the big lid??

 

Here's where I got mine...
deck plates

 

Excellent write up man.
Is there any way you can show how you routed those lines to the intercooler?
Thanks!!
Also can the pipe fittings be purchase like at Home Depot or the like??

 

What I did was take the bottom hose of the two lines on the engine's intercooler and connect it to one hose that comes from the top of the cooler tank with a 5/8" double hose barb connector. Then take the line that comes from the bottom of the chiller and hook it up to your engine's lower hose( the one you just removed from the intercooler). That way the coldest water goes directly to the intercooler and then goes to the reservoir then the heat exchanger and finally back to the chiller to start the cycle over again.
And yes you can get all the fittings from HD or Lowes...except the aluminum pipe nipples, those I made myself.

 

SAAWWEEET! When can you make me one.

 

I will be making a few extras for some of the local guys in my club, those of you who are interested can email me for more information at wjm5806@aol.com

 

Very nice, I like seeing members building their own mods
But looking at your materials, one question come to mind. How are you going to combat electrolysis?

 

Gator are you talking about the antifreeze to the copper or water to the aluminum or the copper to aluminum...what combo are you asking about? The only steel parts are the galvanized street elbows and I have actually replaced those with high strength plastic fittings.

 

The copper tubing/galv/brass setup.
You will have electrolysis anytime you have a fluid running thru dis-similar metals. Have you ever seen a refrigerator that loses the freon? 9 times out of 10 (If equipped with an icemaker) it's the coiled up copper tubing touching the aluminium coils in back. Electrolysis attacks the sofer metal.....the aluminium coils.
My thinking was the electric charge would attack the copper tubing. It might take awhile, or maybe nothing would happen at all. But have seen it many many times in the pipefitting industry. You might want to look at some sort of sacrificial metal in your tank. Look at water heaters for ideas

**after thought**

In our stock trucks, all we have is aluminium, rubber and plastic. You have introduced other metals into the system. Maybe one of our resident engineers can help out, but I was thinking of using aluminium tubing inside of an aluminium tank with pvc fitting on the tank. I have been giving thoughts to building a tank myself. But I figured with the larger HE and fans, I thought I had done enough........I dunno

 

I could add a zinc andode inside the tank under the hood to stop that. The chiller tank stays dry during normal everyday driving so I wouldn't think zinc would help it there. Thanks for the ideas!

 

EXCELLENT!

Your on the ball