Bongo Fury

I needed to replace the intercooler on the Wasp as the cooling fins had suffered from corrosion and were turning to powder as they were touched . I bought a couple of secondhand units from breakers but these were returned as they were not much better than the one they were replacing.
The options were either have one made or look for a suitable replacement from another vehicle.
The logical place for me to start was the Ford Ranger that uses the same engine type on some years and looking at the images on Fleabay seemed to be the closest in design.
I found a new one for 139.00 ukp from Discount Rads on Ebay very reasonable price when you consider that a S/H one was around 60.00 ukp.
You can see in this image the size difference between the old and new.
https://goo.gl/photos/wH3sWNES1v3XSuR87
The extra area should give a cooler charge to the motor and help reduce head temps as well but it was not chosen because of that although I will be tweaking the turbo a bit so this will be helpful. I will quickly mention that another way to reduce charge temps on a turbo is water injection so if any out there are thinking of tweaking your lump then this is something you may want to consider.
As you will see the swap out was really quite straightforward helped by the fact that there are no radiators in the Wasp at the moment.
Here are some images of the old unit in position and then the new to establish the best route to take regarding mounting and checking for any obstructions, pipe runs etc.
https://goo.gl/photos/NsnbSoysXkRV3S4k7

The original lugs would be adapted to take the new cooler and would position the base of the cooler about a half inch lower than stock. The turbo pipes would need to be raised and the end shortened to allow for the increase in height of the new cooler and the left hand one swung further to the left. All this would mean making up some mounts and an extension to the rubber mounting where it attaches to the cross-member.
These images show the brackets needed and how they were formed.The brackets use the original isolators taken from the old cooler. The original centre top mount was straightened to form an upright fixing for the new top bracket.
In these images you can see how the cuts were made to accommodate the isolators using a cone cutter and snips. The work should be self explanatory.
https://goo.gl/photos/6hSfSea8P7noT2Dv9
On final fitting I realised the lower angled bracket obscured the rear of the cooler so vent holes were made with the cone drill bit in the bracket to ease this.
The IC pipes were cut just below the upper rib this gives sufficient space between the rad spigots and the IC pipes to allow for some movement. You need to do this else the vibration could fracture the rad spigots where it meets the rad top plate.
https://goo.gl/photos/dcdAGfcS9YtjiLcK7
After a bit of tidying and paint here is the rad mounted in position. I have left the Ranger rads brackets in place and the top two bolts extended as they may be useful to mount other things later on. You can see in this image, not very clearly , the new support bracket on the upper left holding the IC pipe.
https://goo.gl/photos/efMAPZ4tXAvguMqc7

Here is are the stub pieces removed from the IC pipes and a better shot of the left IC support that needed to be extended.
https://goo.gl/photos/BM7TmncuNYpWwgw79

It remains to be seen if this has produced any increase or decrease in performance and whether there is a need to modify the lower under-shield and ducting but I need to get the lump back together and in before I can establish that.

P.S. The box arrived back from the overhaul and looks resplendent in its coat of silver and black paint. Big thanks to James and crew at KSM autos in Carshalton for this. Luvly
https://goo.gl/photos/Whs8wXQq6dSvtSvN6

Another great update. I'm very interested in simple ways to improve the fuel charge by making tbe air cooler and thus denser. It'll be interesting to see if Helen joins this conversation with her experinces with a DIY water/methanol (i think) injection system on her Bulgarian Bongo.

Yes agree I would be very interested in that too.

Hi
Charge cooling by water injection is most likely to be considered a tuning modification by insurance companies, bearing in mind hat it is banned in some states in America. To get the best from water injection , you will need to run methanol in it, and that'll take some experimenting, as I posted on here before, I started lower than the recommended level and later raised it to the 50/ 50 mix, and the knocking was more than a bit dire....nearly destroyed the motor. As regards the intercooler, with all the pipework on the Bongo, the intercooler is a bit of a chocolate fireguard in some folks opinion (those who use and tune turbocharged engines in racing), and , frankly, I don't have a lot of experience other than what I've researched, and one very knowledgeable owner suggested to dump it altogether when I fitted the water injection. My plan was to re-position the intercooler and fit it elsewhere , and fit a larger cooler with forced air, and water-spray, and fit a secondary switched system of nitrous oxide (which I have a fair bit of experience of), so that the nitrous feeds in from starting, and reverts to water injection after a given manifold pressure is reached. Nitrous oxide is another superb charge cooler, which also adds more oxygen to the charge, as with water/ methanol injection. Also, I prefer supercharging to turbocharging, and the eventual plan was to have the engine out, and tune it in favour of supercharging, but I'm afraid that I rather lost interest , and my disabilities are catching up, but then again, work is cheaper at garages here. Finally, the Bongo is a great van, but too small for myself and the dogs, so maybe a motorhome instead of the Bongo. A large motorhome and use the Bongo as a shopping trolley?...but that means a yard full of cars...too much maintenance!
My opinion?.....insurance premium increases will be too steep to consider water injection, and you'll need a fair bit of extra instrumentation to monitor the system, and the instruments aren't cheap....I can't see many folks wanting to spend the cash....only really if you like hobby tinkering.
Cheers
Helen

Out of interest Helen, why is the Bongo intercooler considered a chocolate fireguard. And does the water spraying involve spraying water on the intercooler to cool it (and air going through it) via evaporative cooling?

Edit: found the answer to q2 here:

https://www.enginebasics.com/Advanced%2 ... ayers.html

My question then is does it require a massive supply of cooling fluid to keep intercooler wetted?

Hi Mike
As with a lot of tuning bits, it probably is fair to say that they are designed to operate when using "bursts" of necessary power, so if the water is permanently spraying , then you will need large amounts, but if you rig the system on the Bongo, for instance, then you'll need to rig it for spraying such that when cruising, it switches off...easily done!...same applies to the water injection. I have rigged mine as such, but that deviates from the intended installation.
The intercooler in the standard Bongo doesn't really cool that much, as it's fairly small, and with all the associated pipework, which runs all round the houses before it gets to the inlet manifold, it warms up nicely again as it runs near the engine, and sits in warm air....According to my inlet manifold temperature readings, it's pretty warm in summer
Give me a message to remind me after tomorrow, and I'll have more time...guests go tomorrow
Cheers
Helen

Thanks Helen. I'd imagined that the most important thing was to remove the heat (and resulting decreased air density) caused by adiabatic heating, so that whilst having a larger intercooler (and/or providing extra cooling through evaporative cooling via water spraying) might matter, long plumbing runs would not be crucially detrimental. Also, i wonder what the interval between spraying and seeing an increase in power might be if, for example, the aim was to get extra power for overtaking or starting up an incline.

I love talking about stuff like this

Hi Mike
The purpose of water injection is to provide a denser charge. The cooling is to implement that, as cold air is denser. In a hot environ , the molecular excitation means that the number of molecules is less, as they are all pushing and shoving each other to occupy a given space, therefore pushing some of the "throng" out of that given area. You need more molecules crammed into the same box in order to increase the number being shoved into the cylinder for burning. With the addition of the water / methanol, the THEORY is that the mix of water / methanol expands rapidly at a THEORETICAL expansion rate of 1000 times, producing an increase in efficiency of available oxygen as the charge hits the hot cylinder, and thus more power. From a practical user feel, "it don't 'arf go". You really feel a very noticeable increase in the " GO" department, as methanol is a fuel, plus it's very smooth....and it really feels that it "ain't going to stop" ...Whether it's worth adding is entirely dependent on how your vehicle performs, or whether what you already have is sufficient for your requirements. The Bongo is a bit of a reticent old tub from design , as it's an old vehicle, and today's vehicles are a fair bit quicker. In UK conditions, where the traffic is denser , it might not be quite as essential as over here, where they drive like crazy bats
Cheers
Helen

Hi
Intercooler...Why put it at the front?....Oh, because that's where the radiator is....Well, so goes the thought of the "powers that be"...BUT...there's cold air round the vehicle EVERYWHERE...so, why not move the thing nearer the engine...at the side, and with an air scoop by the side, (you can fashion something with a bit of sheet metal and a couple of rivets), the pipework TO the intercooler can nip round in front of the engine and a short bit of piping FROM the cooler has not so far to go.
Cheers
Helen

Hi Helen
I thought your refering to the intecooler as a chocolate fire guard was because the length of pipe work, I would guess 2.5mtrs at least, cooled the air sufficiently anyway without the need for the rad, I hadnt thought of it warming back up on its way back to the intake!
I had thought about moving the rad into cooler air and possibly fitting a fan to assist further with the cooling but having found what is an almost direct replacement for the original I shelved that idea life is too short and getting shorter.
I also wondered whether there would be problems with the induction side caused by shortening the turbo pipe work?
The bongos intake has two resonators and I wondered if their function was more than just silencing the intake.
Do you run the methanol independantly to the water injection or is it mixed before squirting it in?
I have a mental image of the cab of your Bongo looking like the "Back to the Future" Delorean bristleing with gauges and injector buttons.

No worries Helen i understand (i think!) the physics of improving charge density which is why i suggested removing the heat from adiabatic compression heating might be a consideration. In fairness to the poor old Bongo does it not attempt to ram feed air via a scoop, i think to the intercooler? And the front positioning of the intercooler should stop it being heated by proximity to the engine, though it is near the radiator i think? (not sure of my Bongo anatomy hence the ? marks)

Hi
Absolutely...my plan was to use water or fan cooling to the intercooler...but in consideration of how the turbo works, it's interesting to watch the boost gauge ...it only boosts when you get throttling, and when you watch the exhaust temperature climb like a rocket so fast you can see the numbers rise like watching a clock registering tenths of a second, you get to realise that an intercooler works when moving forward enough to ram the air through, and a side-mount would work a treat with a bit of jiggling...you probably wouldn't need to add fans, as at low traffic creeping speeds the turbo is hardly working, but I might add the fans anyway
The advantage of water-injection is also that THEORETICALLY, it also reduces exhaust temperature, and thus turbo temperature...note THEORETICALLY, as I can't see a massive reduction, but it's something that's always stated. Purely a personal viewpoint, but anything making it a more efficient burn is pretty good...I can't see that REPLACING an original intercooler with a larger side-mounted one would constitute as tuning, but it would really improve the standard setup, and water-cooling the unit could also be construed as keeping the cooler clean ...but try justifying water / methanol injection to an insurance company....mmmm....most folk scrabble around trying to reduce insurance costs...Personally, it's not an issue, as I prefer to be up front and pay the difference!
Yes...the "cockpit" of the Bongo looks like a flight deck with switches and dials EVERYWHERE, as I like to see what's going on....The co-pilot sometimes assists with reading the overhead dials alongside the forward view-screen.
Cheers
Helen