Installing an Allisport full size intercooler to a 300tdi

This https://www.allisport.com/shop/perf.../land-rover-defender-300-tdi-intercooler-kit/

It's a tad complicated but the car was sold to me as a 300tdi but it is turning into a bit of a mongrel (which to be honest i'm mightily ****ed off about). The engine is (according to the plate) a genuine Service Exchange (model STC1736E) 300tdi engine which was placed on the galvanised chassis during the rebuild in 2015 (I was informed by James Lauchlan (ex-Hereford 4x4) - who has somewhat tarred his reputation with me as although that could well be true a lot of what he told about this Defender was a pack of lies...)
Anyway, here we see the area prepped and ready. The old intercooler was goosed, burst and oily so with that removed and the rad frame and slam panel cleaned up we were ready to fit...



The unit arrived well packed and includes some laser cut brackets and the associated hardware.



The angled brackets hold the mounting rubbers (that i removed from the old intercooler) and bolt onto where the 45 degree slam panel supports fit at the bottom corner brackets.
There was a bit of trial and error here before I found that they were best bolted to the back of the front bracket. I used an M8 x 30 but a 20mm bolt would have been fine.



Same the other side. These brackets are cut to accept the old intercooler/radiator mounting rubbers (part # PCG10017L or NRC5544). I needed 4 of these.

The other two supplied brackets bolt into the intercooler and point upwards and rest under the slam panel. You need to drill the panel to accept the M6 bolts that Allisport supply. These two fixings and the intercooler itself replace the slam panel supports.
In the pic below I haven't drilled these two holes yet...



When I initially put the intercooler and panel in situ I saw that the top brackets only just fitted behind the slam panel and the mounting holes were very close to the lower edge. To overcome that I cut two mounting rubbers in half and put them on the lower brackets, raising the intercooler by approx 6mm which pushed the mounting holes away from the edge.



With it all held tight the left chambers of the intercooler was just touching the radiator so I installed a strip of sticky-backed neoprene to act as a buffer/shield. The other end (nearside) makes no contact.

So for i'm impressed with the system although I will probably make up another bracket to support the lower brackets to the chassis as they can pivot on the single bolt. I think I will also make up a plate to fill in the gap on the nearside (between the intercooler and the inner wing).

Nice bit of kit you got there, I opted for the smaller intercooler but with the rad went straight in no hassle
apart from the hoses I had to mess about with as my engine sits further back as its not an
original 300tdi..

Look at the room behind the rad !!! that makes changing the snake belt easier
I have the larger allisport intercooler in my other 300tdi, it made a difference which is why I decided to go for the XL version this time around.

Yours looks ace
Why the earth tags on the rad-frame ?

miktdish said:

Look at the room behind the rad !!! that makes changing the snake belt easier
I have the larger allisport intercooler in my other 300tdi, it made a difference which is why I decided to go for the XL version this time around.

Yours looks ace
Why the earth tags on the rad-frame ?

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Ha I knew you were going to ask about the earths, its the for the lights, I have rewired the full thing as
I got sick of chasing faults from the lights so everything is high up & easy to get to.
Yup got loads of room to work on it as it has the lt77 box, I have bigger intercoolers on my other tuned motors
I didn't see any point putting the bigger one on as I only use it locally, I use my disco for longer trips also a 300
I must refrain on buying the bigger intercooler for it.

kevstar said:

I must refrain on buying the bigger intercooler for it.

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Nope, you must get one for it - transformed mine .....

Bit of a slowdown on the install as I discover that the PAS pipes installed are incorrect as they foul the intercooler pipe. When I took the old one off I wondered why it was fully insulated and without the bend/flat - its from a Disco (apparently). Not sure what the PAS pipes are off, but it's not a 300tdi. The depth and reach of the builders bodgery defies belief.....

Anyway, back to the intercooler fitting, part of the destructions say you need to cut the lip off the front panel. So I lined up a piece of steel bar and set about it with the grinder.



Rubbed doen with a file and some emery on a block of wood, quick etch prime and a coat of paint - job done )




I also made up a bar to fit across the two lower mounting points just to give a bit more strength (and painted it in the middle where you can see it through the hole in the panel).

I didn't fit the steering damper, however seeing as it's been on for 5 years I am pleasantly surprised that it's still yellow and not a pile of rust...

The intercooler perches nicely on the front brackets and so now to work on the fan cowl .
"A small section of the upper and lower corners of the fan cowl may need to be removed to allow the new intercooler pipes clearance." it says in the destructions.
They're not wrong. I spend the next couple of hours putting the cowl in, offering up the intercooler, taking the cowl out, chopping a few bits off, offering up the intercooler, chopping more of, trying not to scratch anything or damage the fins, so here's the result ...




The pipes are hot so there is around 20mm of clearance.
There ids quite a gap now, between the radiator and the frame and around the pipes.

Out comes the trusty cereals packet and scissors, two sections to fill the rear sections and then trimmed to allow the pipes to fit...





There is still a huge gap at the front though so (my logic) says that the fan will just take air from around the side so it needs to be filled in ..... more cereal packet required



Not sure what the final material is going to be. Maybe some Nylon6 sheet, or aluminium ???

Excuse my ignorance, but if you don’t ask you don’t learn, why doesn’t the inter cooler sat in front of the rad affect engine cooling. Thanks.

Landy_Ben said:

Excuse my ignorance, but if you don’t ask you don’t learn, why doesn’t the inter cooler sat in front of the rad affect engine cooling. Thanks.

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It possibly does but not to a detrimental level, the engine may heat up a little quicker (ie the cab gets warm half way to the job rather than just as you get there), should you find yourself in low ratio climbing an enormous sand dune in 45C temperatures then possibly ... or if you have fitted a Radiator Muff/ Grill Cover and the ambient temps are above 30C and your running the engine without much forward motion ..... but in general driving about the UK it won't harm at all.

Landy_Ben said:

Excuse my ignorance, but if you don’t ask you don’t learn, why doesn’t the inter cooler sat in front of the rad affect engine cooling. Thanks.

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IMO, the cooling system is over specced to cope with use in the sahara - thus the relatively minor interruption in air flow caused by the FWIC, and in my case, the much larger ATF cooler* behind that and in front of the radiator doesn't bother anything - even during heavy towing - and my 300 is tuned to 145HP, so it would show any weaknesses, if they were there...

* = it's about four times the surface area of the original, so about half the height of the FWIC, and the same depth

miktdish said:

The intercooler perches nicely on the front brackets and so now to work on the fan cowl .
"A small section of the upper and lower corners of the fan cowl may need to be removed to allow the new intercooler pipes clearance." it says in the destructions.
They're not wrong. I spend the next couple of hours putting the cowl in, offering up the intercooler, taking the cowl out, chopping a few bits off, offering up the intercooler, chopping more of, trying not to scratch anything or damage the fins, so here's the result ...

View attachment 214035


The pipes are hot so there is around 20mm of clearance.
There ids quite a gap now, between the radiator and the frame and around the pipes.

Out comes the trusty cereals packet and scissors, two sections to fill the rear sections and then trimmed to allow the pipes to fit...

View attachment 214036

View attachment 214037

There is still a huge gap at the front though so (my logic) says that the fan will just take air from around the side so it needs to be filled in ..... more cereal packet required

View attachment 214038

Not sure what the final material is going to be. Maybe some Nylon6 sheet, or aluminium ???

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Been buying cereal from aldi then

Vital roughage, necessary at my age, especially when her'indoors keeps making bread ....

miktdish said:

Vital roughage, necessary at my age, especially when her'indoors keeps making bread ....

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Hame made bread yasssss

Landy_Ben said:

Excuse my ignorance, but if you don’t ask you don’t learn, why doesn’t the inter cooler sat in front of the rad affect engine cooling. Thanks.

Click to expand...

It will.
I ran a td5 for 5 years, and never heard the vicous fan cut in, then fitted a large full width/height intercooler, and for the first time heard the fan cut in after a long hill climb, same hill I hade been driivng up every day for them 5 years.

I think vehicle makers try and avoid it, but space restricts what options they have, its is not unsuaul to have a/c rad, then i/c rad then the engine rad in apck of three.

miktdish said:

The intercooler perches nicely on the front brackets and so now to work on the fan cowl .
"A small section of the upper and lower corners of the fan cowl may need to be removed to allow the new intercooler pipes clearance." it says in the destructions.
They're not wrong. I spend the next couple of hours putting the cowl in, offering up the intercooler, taking the cowl out, chopping a few bits off, offering up the intercooler, chopping more of, trying not to scratch anything or damage the fins, so here's the result ...

View attachment 214035


The pipes are hot so there is around 20mm of clearance.
There ids quite a gap now, between the radiator and the frame and around the pipes.

Out comes the trusty cereals packet and scissors, two sections to fill the rear sections and then trimmed to allow the pipes to fit...

View attachment 214036

View attachment 214037

There is still a huge gap at the front though so (my logic) says that the fan will just take air from around the side so it needs to be filled in ..... more cereal packet required

View attachment 214038

Not sure what the final material is going to be. Maybe some Nylon6 sheet, or aluminium ???

Click to expand...

I lke that bracket/flat bar, as my first thought when I saw the initial pic was, that bracket is going to work its way down and the a/c will end up fouling something.

lynall said:

It will.
I ran a td5 for 5 years, and never heard the vicous fan cut in, then fitted a large full width/height intercooler, and for the first time heard the fan cut in after a long hill climb, same hill I hade been driivng up every day for them 5 years.
<snip>.

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The viscous fan is running/spinning all the time, when the body get hots the liquid thickens up and it spins quicker (overcoming the air resistance) to spin the same speed as the engine, but it doesn't "kick in" like an electric fan.
If you spin it by hand when the engines cold it'll move but not spin freely, when the engines hot it has a bit more resistance - if it spins freely (hot or cold) or is very stiff when cold, then you need a new one.

miktdish said:

The viscous fan is running/spinning all the time, when the body get hots the liquid thickens up and it spins quicker (overcoming the air resistance) to spin the same speed as the engine, but it doesn't "kick in" like an electric fan.
If you spin it by hand when the engines cold it'll move but not spin freely, when the engines hot it has a bit more resistance - if it spins freely (hot or cold) or is very stiff when cold, then you need a new one.

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Cut in is a loose mechs term for the viscous coupling engaging, something the car had not done in the 5 yeasr I had owned it.

Back on the case I purloined some aluminium sheet and cut it to match the 'soggies box' template, painted it black and fitted it inside the radiator surround.
i did the same at the back and it blocks the gaps nicely.



Next job is to refit the slam panel and connect the mounts to the intercooler...



Fitting the front panel was a bit of a beech, the two brackets connecting the intercooler to the slam panel interfere with the front panel and stop it seating fully back.
I cut out a small section to get the correct alignment of the top 4 fixing screws and also changed the (Allisport supplied) M6 bolts with some button heads (which have a lower profile). You can just see the cut-outs above the plastic grill in the picture below. A touch up of Squirrel grey and they'll disappear.
I also fitted plate under the bonnet catch to spread the load.

With that all connected, all that's left is to fit the bonnet catch spring (which I need to take the slam panel out to do ....)
Well I say that's all, but the PAS pipes are wrong so that needs sorting before I can fit the intercooler pipes etc and the 20 million other repairs and fixes I need to do courtesy of the bodge artist that 'built' this car before.

Here I am., still at it.
Now at the bonnet fitting stage. Relatively straight forwards I expected ..... (hoho)

The bonnet catch/safety hook in it's standard length hits the intercooler. This was mentioned in the fitting instructions and this is how i sorted it out ...
First I held it in the vice and marked a point to cut where the bit I cut off slid inside the main body ...



I used a grinder so the alloy sheet was just to protect the vice,




Then I wrapped a bit of tape around it and put it on the bonnet.
I put a piece of wood on top of the intercooler and 'gently' closed the bonnet (and forgot to take a picture)..



This allowed me to find the correct length so it missed the intercooler by around 10mm.
I marked this up and clamped it on the bench.