intercooling a hot air

[garrett]

A couple of months ago I posted a thread about how I was going to attempt to use a 87 stock GN intercooler on my 84 T-type. Now I don't want to get into a arguement with anyone about why I'm posting this on a hot air forum. I figure others with hot air cars might like to improve the performance of their TRs with an intercooler. For me, my hot air car is my daily driver and the car I tinker with. It's also my test car where I try things. I have a highly modified 87 GN that is my pride and joy. So getting back to the thread; I put on 2.5 inch aluminum intercooler pipes that I fashioned from a universal kit. The intercooler was in the stock 87 location. I re-clocked the turbo and routed the return pipe between the intake manifold and to driver's side valve cover. Once it was completed, I noticed that above 7lbs of boost, the engine would bog down and lose power. I have plenty of fuel pressure and fat o2 numbers/ no knock. I have heard that other people who tried this have had the same problem. It has something to do with the throttle body not being on the post boost side of the set-up. Also, the hot air intake manifold is, in my opinion, horrible compared to the 86-87 intake. So now I'm going to put a 87 intake/ throttle body on the engine. I'm going to re-clock the turbo downward to it's original position and reverse the air flow through the pipes and intercooler. I have found, that in order to accomplish this and keep the turbo in the stock hot air location, I will have to modify the back part of the upper plenum/doghouse to make room. I will also tap my oil pan for a oil return. I have a few minor details to work out, like which tps sensor to use, 84 or 87. I'm sure there are things that I haven't thought of. I invite anyone who would like to offer advice or has concerns to chime in on the subject. I still think that if it works like I think it will in the end, it will be much cheaper than trying to do a full 84-87 conversion with all the brackets and pulleys.