Scooby Top Mount IC Question....

[MrFlibbles]

Was a bit bored this afternoon, and having decided that the engine bay on my decidedly moon mileage Scoob was letting the side down, I set about giving it a bit of a tidy up.

As I was cleaning the IC, I noticed quite a few little stones and general detritus that had worked its way into the fins. a few of the fins are showing slight signs of impact damage, so there must be a fair old amount of shite getting funneled in there. Obviously unlike a FMIC the tendency is for the debris to stay in the top mount (as opposed to bouncing off I mean).

So the question is thus - whats the best way of cleaning the TMIC and keeping it at its best?

And before anyone pipes up, its staying standard, so a new FMIC isnt an option! (Although as an aside, does anyone do uprated TMICs?)

Flibbs

[DocJock]

A air of needle nosed pliers will straighten al the bent fins, then get an intercooler shield like the oine half way down this page www.powerengineering.co.uk/acatalog/subaru_products_advengine.htm

If you want to upgrade I'd suggest asking on http://bbs.22b.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb
What they don't know about modding Imprezas isn't worth knowing.

[GravelBen]

needle-nose pliers most common tool for straightening the little fin things.

re upgrades, I get the impression most top mount upgrades are just done by finding an STi IC at a wreckers (or a newer STi for those that already have one). If people are going the custom IC route they often convert to FMIC at the same time to get better flow.

[Deltafox]

Remove it and reverse jet it (from a distance) with a pressure washer using a wide fan.
Itll remove all the crap from the cooling air face and as long as you keep the lance a few feet away youll do no damage.

[rustybin]

because the fins zig zag you need a wedge to get them to stand upright. I found a swiss army knof blade fits perfectly. Do all the right hand facing ones first then the left or vicey versy. I found a hoover got most of the rubbish out.

There are other upgrades available other than going down the FMIC or STI route but they don't seem to get you much bang for your buck. I probably wouldn't bother unless the original knackered. Graham Goode, Scooby world and Revolution do them from memory.