In the process of making a homemade intercooler diverter for the oversized intercoolers not the gp ones though it would work on those too but there's better aftermarket options for that....
lets hope it's a success . Either way I will post back tomorrow when it's finished . It will be just a start and will be subject to criticism for perfection of the process and materials used...

 

Let the dice roll 👍Look forward to seeing how you make out.

 

It worked ..and it's working AMAZING , the numbers are there !
befor the diverter it would run avg 15-20 degrees above outside temp and when I shut the car off and let it sit to heat soak my iat to 90ish degrees it took about 10min to being it back down to 15-20 above outside temp
NOW it runs 5-9 only above out side temp . And today was about 15,degrees warmer with sun out as compared to when I tested it without the diverter. also after letting the intake heatsoak again to 90ish degrees it took not even 5 min to bring it back down to 5-8 above outside temp and that was driving in 25mph zones with frequent stop signs . Also running it hard I didn't see temps above 20more than outside no matter how hard I pushed it but I couldn't go to hard as there's speed limits but I got upto them fast !
i think I would chalk this up as a success . I also seem mini used the almost exact same kinda foam between the radiator and ac condenser .
I also met my neighbor who will join soon . He has a 07 S with just catback ..cool dude ,I made a new friend .lol

 

have a larger intercooler and couldn't seem to find anything that works as an air diverter and seals it to the hood so.....
Now, this is just a temporary until I find better materials .
so I bought some gap filler for ac's and some painters tape because it's strong but yet easy to remove and some adhesive at a hardware store after searching every parts store by me and browsing alot of isles in the HomeGoods store . I then stacked the 2 filler strips on top of each other and glued them together . I used the tape to hold them evenly together while they dried . After 24 hours I carefully removed the tape .
Then I removed the under hood lining and the underscoop was gone since I got the car .
Then I lined the filler around the intercooler and cut it to length . Then I put it around the edges of the intercooler not covering any fins and carefully taped it into spot on just the inside so the tape can be removed through the scoop prior to lifting back up the hood. After it's all lined up use a generous amount of adhesive on the top of the filler and let it stand for a few min, then shut the hood onto and wait 24hours and remove the tape through the hood scoop I found using long needle nose plyers to peel off the tape worked perfect then open your hood and make sure it adhered correctly . Then open and shut your hood a few times making sure it's stays lined up.

Iat temp

Outside temp

How to line up the foam diverter

The hood after removing the underscoop and hood lining.

With the hood shut and adhesive drying .

What it looks like finished !

i rolled up the edges of the tape strands to make removing it through the scoop easier ..

I used 2 of these and stacked them..



​​​​​​​

 

Non invasive and works. Win Win in my book.

 

So far no issues .. just much colder iat 😜

 

Looks like a simple and effective solution!

As a suggestion - if you curve the front inlet area to match the hood scoop, you'll funnel / force the air that the scoop picks up to the IC. Right now it looks like there's some air let to escape. You might see even better results!

 

I don't get what you mean .
But it does fully seal around the intercooler. Only part that it's not is the front of the ic that faces towards the inlet of the airscoop ..
are you saying like....build something off the front of the ic to help funnel air up rather than onto the flat front facing edge ? Like where I circled .

 

Whew hopefully that resizes...

I figured there would be some confusion. I meant for the hood scoop. :thumbup:

 

I see what your saying .. it will look into doing it that way if I can get things to line up correctly . The way I did it just made it so easy to line up..but you are correct, it would funnel the air much better. Buuut it would stop that air from going back onto the intake which gets air from there that useless scoop under the hood above the radiator and from the cowl ,which I hogged out too already
And when I'm on the track every little bit is going to help it..I'm going to be making a bump stop for the clutch too next or buy one if they are made.

 

Clutch stops exist. They're like $15.

I follow. Either way, some effect is better than no effect! Do you have a larger scoop on there yet? The OE scoop doesn't grab much air due to aerodynamics / physics. Without a disruption in the laminar air flow, most bypasses the scoop entirely.

 

No, not yet....I havent found one yet with reviews or test results .. just those carbon fiber looking eBay ones and I wondered if those even were tall enough to justify the price ...I wondered if the scoop even made it out of the airstream ,lol good ole gas mileage bs..

 

Leap / Omicron and Atomspeed are the two that I've seen available for this chassis still. Others used to exist, but limited now. Atomspeed IMO looks like 3% better, but is hardly ever available. Plus they're both $200 and some, which is a bit silly. However low volume = high unit pricing. Such is the life of Mini ownership...

 

You could add a 2 inch wide* (or so You would have to measure the gap between the forward lower lip of the air intake and the leading edge of the intercooler)1/8 inch thick by the length of the scoop air inlet ABS plastic flat stock to the lower leading edge of your scoop to better channelize the air directly to the intercooler and isolate the gap you indicated in the photo. We can call it an "Inlet Extension" similar to the Heat Shield available here ..
https://www.detroittuned.com/mini-co...p-heat-shield/
and just fitting it to increase the air flow directly to the intercooler while filling the open gap between the Air inlet and the leading adge of the intercooler.


Best of Luck.

Motor On!

 

I will work on an inlet extension and possibly reposition the diverter better as advised above...
that atoms intake scoop is exactly what I've been looking for since the day I got the car..I could just tell by looking the stock scoop doesn't grab much air . I wonder how tall the eBay one is in comparison because that's all I seem to be able to find..
i read that scoops are not interchangeable from like r56 to r53s without modifications . BUT it never says what needs to be modded ? If it's as simple as removing the under cowl n scoop thing ,fine . Mines already gone . I see r56 scoops alot but not many if any r53s

 

My hood was not sealing well on my track car, I have a carbon fiber hood

, I tried the door foam but the air pressure just pushed it off and it can end up down on your header. I bolted that **** down so it does not move, much better seal now

 

What kind of adhesive did you use, I used wetherstrip seal I believe .

 

whatever it came with and is sold at lowes

 

yea . I'm sure with the heat and stuff under the hood it would need something stronger that that factory press n stick.

 

Cool beanz!

 

Go back to the store and get a thin aluminum for the front. I added thermal heat adhesive behind it.

 

I thought about that actually but I didnt have to do it. Exp now since my new scoop changed the angle in which the air hits the intercooler. The new scoop is the carbon fiber but you can see how the stock scoop angled the air at the front flat face of the intercooler(exactly where your plate would redirect it from) and across it , now the new scoop angles it down rite into the intercooler