Thread: Fitting ASE inter-cooler into Defender

Originally Posted by CraigE

Guys,
thought I may post a couple of tips for fitting an intercooler into a Defender. Now I am not sure that this will apply for all Defeneders but is apparent for my 2000 model.
First when fitted the bonnet latch will make contact with the top of the intercooler as it usually just sits in front of the original intercooler. I basically trimmed off about 15mm of the tip of the latch point that would make contact. Bonnet now closes better than ever, must also have been fowling on the original somewhere.
Secondly with mine it has the support braces that connect under the striker spring mechanism (not all Defender have this). Basically to clear the front of the intercooler, for the Passenger side support I drilled a new hole above the existing lower mount hole and then trimmed back. I then relocated the top mount point about 5.9cm at the top towards the guard and drilled a hole to suit more forward. Had to also trim the shield under the cross member to allow strut to fit.This still allowed support and clears the inter cooler. I have not done the drivers side yet and may not as I plan on fitting thermo fans.
Also be aware the hose pipes are longer than the standard cooler and your hoses will not fit all the way to the tanks. Took me a couple of goes. The passenger side hose is a real tight fit and it is much easier to fit the hose clamp on the hose pipe and then slide on the hose.
Hope this may be of some use.
Craig

Thanks Craig,

I am pleased that the PUMA was no where near that difficult.....

Cheers

Hhmmm the TDi 300 took all of 20 mins to fit and now it gets to 100 km/hr 20 mins faster !.

Originally Posted by Sly

Hhmmm the TDi 300 took all of 20 mins to fit and now it gets to 100 km/hr 20 mins faster !.

The fitting of the inter cooler itself did not take long as such, just a bit longer to do some modifications.
All good now fitted.
There does appear to be differences in models. Some have the support struts across the intercooler in an A shape, some seem to have a frame around.
The biggest problem is that in standard form the supports would be really hard up against the core of the cooler and would eventually result in damage. As it is they were really close to the original cooler.
At this point have only put one of the support struts back in.
Knowing this probablly would have saved me about 2hrs, contemplating and going WTF. Hopefully it may assist some one else.

Did I miss a thread somewhere?
Sly do you have details of the intercooler you fitted?
Anything to make a 300tdi better has got to be a good thing.

Yes - getting the bonnet to close after fitting the ASE Intercooler was a problem on my 2006 Defender - so I would hazard a guess that this is a problem for all Defender TD5s - not just your 2000 model

I guess I must have missed something in the reply I received from the suppliers

I asked: Does it go straight in, no problems?
Answer: Yes, although you may need to trim one of the supports by a ml or two.

Like I said - I must have missed the bit about the bonnet etc.

On a better note - the bloody thing flys

When I get home I will get the pictures showing the fitting set-up..

Dont leave the supports out, the bonnet will buckle the latching frame.

Oh yes, and there are no changes to the body panels, just the supports themselves.

Originally Posted by Tombie

When I get home I will get the pictures showing the fitting set-up..

Dont leave the supports out, the bonnet will buckle the latching frame.

Mike,
I have moved mine across a little with some mods so it keeps it off the cooler core. In stock position was going to be hard up agains cooler core.
That was for the passenger side.
The drivers side is going to take a little more thought and will probablly do similar so I can get either 2 x 12" or 2 x 10" thermo fans in.
I looked at mine and found the latch point itself has plenty of room to trim down without affecting the latch stability or operation.