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This is a great modification and well worth thinking about if you drive your landrover a lot, fitting one will make driving so much more relaxed and safe. Having a little extra grunt under you really does make all the difference when overtaking, towing, driving up long hills and may also increase your mpg!

There are a number of companies selling replacement full sized intercoolers and direct replacement intercoolers, some will fit them for you, some won't. I personally like modifying my truck as then I know how it was done and that no corners were cut.

I bought and fitted a full sized intercooler from Straight Forward Supplies (SFS) (or horseclub on Ebay), there are other companies (Allisport and Allard) however SFS at the time sold the cheaper product.

Don't be worried though as upon close inspection the SFS intercooler has been manafactured to a very high standard and is one strong bit of kit!

Fitting a Straight Forward Supplies full width intercooler

This is a modification that can be done with a simple toolkit, having said that an amateur will find this quite a challenge, although not impossible! If you really have no idea then get someone to help or do it for you.

The Intercooler

Tools needed

Socket set
Spanners
Drill and bits (10mm and 8mm)
Barsstard file
Stick file
Grinder or Hacksaw
Medium crosshead screwdriver
Marker pen

Extra bits needed

4x M10x15mm bolts
4x M10 washers
4x M10 spring locking washers
4x M8x25mm bolts
4x M8 washers
4x M8 spring locking washers
2x Galvanised perforated 90 degree roof brackets. Approx. 25cm long.

Ok that's it! All the above come to under a ten pounds, probably under 5 actually.

Method

Time: Approximately 2 hours.

1) Bonnet up, front grill off.

2) Remove slam panel stays, attached to underneath of bonnet catch and radiator/intercooler cradle.

3) In Picture 1 remove bolts coloured in yellow, this will release the horn (you will have to find somewhere new for this to go) and radiator/intercooler top panel brackets.

4) Remove bolts coloured in blue and lift off radiator/intercooler top panel.

5) Remove pipe work to intercooler and lift intercooler out.

6) In Picture 2 there is a yellow line, this represents the only bit of trimming you are going to have to do. In a standard Defender the front panel is bent over back towards the radiator, this ledge needs to be trimmed off flush with the front of the panel. If you do not you will not be able to fit the intercooler in place. It is possible to cut the ledge off with a hacksaw, but a lot quicker with a grinder, which I used. Once flush file down the panel to remove any sharp burrs.

7) The new intercooler will not fit in through the front panel so you have to lift the radiator out of its rubber bushes and angle the top of it backwards towards the bulkhead. It is helpful to have a second pair of hands for this bit, but not impossible on your own.

BE CAREFUL NOW

Push back radiator and slip the intercooler down in front of it. Replace radiator.

9) Check Twice, Drill Once - Holding the intercooler in place slot the roof brackets in to place, measure up and mark where the holes need to be drilled for both the intercooler captive nuts and radiator bracket bolts. Mark the brackets L and R so as not to confuse them.

10) Take brackets out and drill them. 10mm for the intercooler bolts and 8mm for the radiator bracket bolts. You will have to file out the holes as an M10 bolt is slightly bigger than 10mm, use the stick file for this. You will probably need to file more of the bracket away to get a good fit later on.

11) Using the M10 bolts, spring washers and washers attach the brackets to the intercoolers captive nuts. The order should go bolt, spring washer, washer and then captive nut. Do not do these up super tight now.

12) Line up the brackets with the holes for the radiator bracket bolt holes, if they line up, Ace, if they don't file away a little material until they do.

13) Replace radiator/intercooler top panel and bolt back in place.

14) Place radiator brackets on their pegs and using the M8 bolts and washers line up the holes of the radiator bracket, slam panel and intercooler brackets. This bit is a little bit of a fiddle but using the M8 washers, spring washers and nuts tighten up the brackets.

15) Once the radiator bracket bolts are tight, tighten up the M10 bolts on the intercooler.

16) Replace front grill.

17) Remove safety catch on bonnet as it no longer fits – DO NOT try to shut the bonnet with it still in place as you WILL damage your intercooler!

1 Replace intercooler pipe work – I found that the pipe work has been pushed closer to the air filter in Eva (200TDI) so am going to fabricate a couple of new pipes to resolve this – coming later.

19) Re-fit horn under the nearside wing.

20) Ok that's it for the installation – Check over the engine bay carefully and remove all tools and make sure everything is connected up properly.

21) Once you are happy start up the engine and take it for a spin, if you hear a loud whistle then you have not attached the pipe work properly. Stop realign rubber pipes and clamps and try again.

Further notes;

As well as replacing the intercooler it is a good idea to fit a performance air filter, K&N, ITG or alike. I have had both and they are as good as each other, I personally prefer the ITG filter as it is much easier to clean and maintain.

Replace your old rubber hoses with silicon ones, they are much better with higher pressures.

You are also going to have to fettle with the boost pressure and injection pump setup too in order to get the most out of your new intercooler. There are instructions on how to adjust your pump and turbo on almost every forum, just ask.

First experiences;

I have tweaked the pump and upped the boost pressure (not running a performance filter at the minute as I am cleaning it - Running standard paper) and on my last tank of fuel I returned 20 miles more than before this mod and that was with alot of playing during and after the tweaking! Whether this conitnues I do not know but early signs are promising.

Trust me it is really worth it! I am still grinning!!

TomB8 wrote:

Dave, thank you. That's useful to know. I wonder why the airtech requires less modification than the others. i.e. cutting back the grille surround. The airtech is still quite expensive, almost as much as allisport.