1:24 Intercoolers Set

Why compressed air has to be cooled

A turbocharger and a mechanical supercharger do essentially the same thing: they force more air into a cylinder than the engine would draw in by itself. Compression, however, heats the air sharply, and hot air is thinner, so part of the gain disappears at once. The solution is a heat exchanger placed between the blower and the intake, through which ram air from outside flows. On the circuit and rally specials of the 1970s it hid above the engine under a bulge in the hood; later it moved forward behind the bumper, where it has better access to cold air. And because it is visible from there, a technical component became a mark of a modified car as well.

Several installations in one package

The plural in the name is no accident: the contents are several pieces, so that the builder can choose the size and shape according to the subject he is building. A small heat exchanger suits a period installation under the hood, while a massive block with dense finning belongs to the later conversions, where it looks out of the nose of the car through the radiator grille.

Finning, hoses and seating

The finning itself is the most demanding part. It pays to spray it in an aluminum shade, let it dry and then go over it with a dark wash, which settles between the fins and gives it depth. The end tanks on the real subjects tend to be of a coarser casting, so feel free to leave them more matte than the rest. The pipes to the blower and to the intake can be made up from thin copper wire or from the insulation of a cable; the mounting then looks more convincing than a blunt butt joint. The model of the car itself is bought separately.