On a positive note, my silly-cone I/C piping from FM showed up yesterday.

I'm using this with a larger ~28" end to end china-cooler, BEGI Manifold (and DP), and a used GT2554R. So far everything looks like it is going to fit. Little bit of a pain in the *** on the hotside, the PS plumbing is in the way.

I'm going to post up pictures of the TB pipe I received. This is the same pipe that was posted up earlier in this thread (or was it the other one?) that looked like ***. I'm glad to say mine, while not perfect, looks good. There are three "bungs" welded on it: BOV, IAT, and IAC Valve. The welds range from, acceptable to excellent. The threaded bung for the IAT is exceptional, I think this was TIG welded. On par with my BEGI stainless DP and aluminum heatshield. The other welds are not nearly as pretty, but I'm sure are structurally sound.

The rest of the parts are what you'd expect out of a silly-cone coupler. I have zero fear that they will balloon under boost, they are quite sturdy.

For the record they are made in Mexico, at least that's what the customs declaration says. In the box was a free copy of GRM. I also got a call from FM as a follow up to my order.

Pictures to follow.

 

piktchuas, yes puhlease!

 

Here are the pictures as promised. Does this represent the typical parts coming from FM? Don't know. I'm happy.

 

Yes, I'd call those typical.

 

Nice stuff. Is there any advantage/disadvantage of using all silicone piping?
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Not telling you to search, i just don't want the argument coming up in here. It has been beat to death elsewhere, i guarantee that info isn't hard to find.
I'll even help find it.
https://www.miataturbo.net/forum/sho...ht=fm+silicone
https://www.miataturbo.net/forum/sho...ht=fm+silicone

 

Np problem dude, I dont want an argument coming up either. I was just curious.
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Why is this forum so angry? It's such a contentious place.

We use silicone pipes for a number of reasons.
1. they are easier to install
2. they have fewer failure points - every silicone coupler has two potential places where it can slip and blow off, so the fewer joints there are the better
3. they're lighter
4. they don't rust
5. we can squeeze them through spaces that are difficult or impossible to reach with hard pipes
6. they have smoother internal airflow.

The downside is that they only work for a particular turbo/IC placement. With steel pipes, you can cut and hack and weld and adapt them to a different layout.

I must admit I didn't know they were made in Mexico, that's the decision of Thermalflex I guess. We went to them because we've dealt with them for years for silicone on all of our kits, and they make good parts.

 

That possible "anger" was the only reason I linked him to those threads instead of someone else coming in and saying "OMFGZ they retain heat like crazy and look like snakes on a MFn plane."

I personally like the idea.

 

I like tham also. As long as they dont have swelling issues I think there great. I just received t-bolt hose clamps to replace the worm clamps and the first thing I thought to myself was how nice it would be to only have to replace 6 clamps. I have to replace 14, lol...
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There haven't been any problems with swelling so far, and the engineers at Thermalflex knew the application when we developed the parts so they took this into account in the specification. There's even Nomex in the one closest to the turbo, I think.

They will collapse under vacuum, but that's not a concern unless you have the throttle body upstream of the turbo or possibly a really restrictive air filter.

 

Keith do you guys offer them for us guys with the charge outlet facing up and using an old style Fm intercooler?
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Keith, do you guys have any good pictures of the hotside pipe installed in a 1.6 NA car with PS and no AC? The hostside fits, but is rests against some of the power steering hoses. Will this be a problem?

 

levnubhin, we don't have pipes that are a direct replacement for the old setup. If you have a functional steel setup, the advantages of the silicone pipes aren't big enough to warrant the change.

We have an upgrade kit that will give you the new IC, which is actually a better upgrade than just the pipes - but obviously it's more expensive than just the pipes. The intent of that kit is to provide the new IC, the pipes are just a bonus.
IC/piping upgrade

We don't have any pictures of them half-installed, as far as I know. It all ends up looking like a mass of black rubber. There shouldn't be any relative movement between them and the PS lines, but if there is you can use zip-ties to restrict it. If you're seeing silicone vs rubber, I wouldn't be concerned.

 

How much for just the pipes? Considering a similar IC can be had for like $100 online I'm going to assume $650? This is a legitimate question because I have never seen pricing on "parts" of your kits.

 

Im not lookin to replace my setup but if I ever had to it would be nice to know your setup would work.
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Price breakdown from the IC upgrade kit:
IC mounting brackets: $25.95 (stainless, I included this because you'd need them or an equivalent with an eBay IC)
IC: $395 (with brackets included)
TB junction pipe: $55-65 (depends on year)
turbo-IC hose: $105.95
IC outlet hose: $110.95
silicone throttle inlet elbow: $34.95
wastegate bracket: $19.95 (because the turbo is reclocked)

There are various clamps in there as well.

 

Cool, thanks for the info Keith. Alot of people piece their own kits together here from bell/fm manifolds using standard garrett turbos so your IC pipes could possibly make some peoples project a little easier.

 

Thats actually pretty good pricing for the IC pipes. My steel pipes with clamps and couplers wasnt much cheaper.

Is the TB junction pipe for the BOV?
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Looks like it's for the BOV, IAT, and IAC.