Lets talk about the pro's and cons of adding a superchiller to my new engine package. This will be my third boat with a blower engine and the other two didn't have intercoolers of any kind on them. I certainly see where it would be beneficial in a bigger boat that can handle some rough water, where the potential for having the throttles pinned to the dash for longer periods of time is greater. This engine, however, is going in a 28' cat and I doubt that it would see max boost for over a minute or two.

Here is what is going through my head. I doubt that I will need the extra power. The restriction under the blower. The potential for bad idle characteristics from the chiller. The potential for catastrophic engine damage from it leaking internally. Cost

So here is my question. Is it worth it to add a superchiller on a setup like this just to lower the intake charge a few degrees and make a few more HP? And if so, does anyone have one that they would like so sell? A new one from Teague is $1500 and probably a couple hundred more to plumb it.

555 CID
Brodix Alum Heads
8.5-1 compression
Heavy ass 28' Advantage cat

Thanks, Joe

Joe, I was asking the same questions in the past. I searched and searched and searched, and could never get any data on air temps, from adding the intercooler under a blower like ours (420 B&M).

I ran without them, but added them last winter. Heres what I have found.

No idling issues.

Plumbing, was very simple. (using an IMCO adjustable transom mount pickup)

Performance wise.

Getting up on plane, before water starts flowing to the chiller, I can watch the air intake temp rise to the 140's on my dash gauge. Once she lays over, the intake temps, drop rapidily, down to the 100-110 range usually. The intake temps seem to stay around 105-120 no matter how hard I run it, or for how long.

Before the intercooler installation, the top speed, on a really hot summer day, would be down a decent amount. With the intercooler, even at loto with a heat index of 105* (very humid), she still ran great and the power was there. Intake temps still never really went past 120, even holding it close to 6000rpm for a decent amount of time.

Iddeppl has 10-71 on his 540s'. His temps, without an intercooler, are around 135ish running. Hes underdriving his blowers. Mine are 16% over. Without the intercooler, I could slow the blower down a bit, since the restricton isn't there. However, even at 8% over, I don't think thats slowing it enough to do any cooling.

Generally speaking, I think the superchillers are reducing the intake temps, 20 to 40 degrees depending on the ambient air temp, and water temp (lake michigan water is colder, and does a little better job at cooling things down). Might not sound like alot, but it kinda is.

Hope that info helps your decision. Is the intercooler needed? Certainly not. They are a nice option though, and certainly do help.

I'm a neophyte regarding boosted engines, but doesn't plumbing the chiller with a transom mount pretty much leave it inactive and not affecting idle quality much at all?

Pretty much bajachicken. With no water at idle, the temps arent so cool, and reduces fuel puddling

bajachicken,lmao!

Is a 250 chiller the same as a 420? I see on Teague's website that their 250 superchiller uses the same bolt pattern as a 420 and the 250 manifold has to be drilled for it, but they have different part #s. Or is the core larger in the 420? Seams to be lots of 250's chillers for sale.

The 250 chiller will work. Youll just have to drill new mountng holes. The 250 uses the narrower set of holes. Your intake manifold should have both sets of holes.

Kinda hard to explain. Ill try to dig up some pics when i get home

My manifold has both sets of holes, but according to Teague, their 250 chiller uses the wider 420 mounting holes. May just be on the newer ones though. So if I found one with the narrow bolt pattern to the intake, would it have the wider pattern for the blower to bolt to it? I just assumed that they would be thru bolted from the blower, through the chiller into the intake?

Sorry for all of the questions. I don't have any experience with the B&M style chillers, just the 71 series

The 250 gets bolted to the intake using the 420 intake mounting holes. Then the 250 blower gets bolted to the chiller. The 420, simply gets thru bolted, all the way thru to the intake, using the 420 holes in the intake. The first pic, is the 250 chiller.

Just by looking at the pictures, it looks like the 420 holes could be drilled completely through a 250 chiller and thru bolt it just like a 420 chiller. Maybe put a spacer between the upper and lower mounting flange? Or drill and tap the wider holes in the top of the 250 chiller. I am assuming there is no water right there. Of course, the smart thing to do would be to just buy the correct one, but I can do a lot of drilling and tapping for $1000