Thoughts on retrofitting HCR exchanger on PC?

WYOF7EXT · Jul 25, 2012

Has anyone thought about doing this? I would love to get rid of that block of ice in my rear tunnel and running boards plus save a little dry weight? I thought my old Firecat EXT was bad until I bought this one...

Looks like $300 for the HCR exchanger, $85 for the rear tunnel but I have not dug out my '12 yet to even see if it's feasable without tearing the sled down to the last nut/bolt.

My questions:
Difficulty?
Other parts?
Weight savings?
The cooling debate seems to be that the HCR cooling is enough if you are mindfull of the temp light?

Thanks in advance on any input!

BTW:'12 PC Sno-pro, 153", Speedwerx can, geared down, 38" arms, SLP skis. Hot belt but never lost one last season!!

Hoping for more snow this year!

backcountryislife · Jul 25, 2012

If this was a reasonable amount of work I'd be all for it.

IMO, it's not.

full cooler on snopro

cooler on the hcr

you've really got to dig into the thing imo, to swap coolers.

If someone proves us wrong & it's easier than I think, I'll be doing this sled as well.

Turbo11T · Jul 25, 2012

That bottom cooler is actually incorrect. That is the cooler for the 1100.

here is a pic of the m800 hcr intercooler.

You could just pull your old one off and have it shortened too. If you know a good welding shop.

backcountryislife · Jul 25, 2012

Cooler is the same as far as this conversation is concerned. Only difference is the plumbing.

Pulled it from a thread where a guy was asking about the 11... the only difference is the fittings. The attachment points, which is what matters here, are the same.

Daltech · Jul 25, 2012

I did cut down the cooler and velded back the rear part of the cooler. So it is a little bit bigger then the HCR cooler, but much smaller then the Sno Pro cooler. It is a bit of work to get it out, but I think you should be able to do it without rearing down the whole sled like I did. Cooler mod is not the only reason my sled looks like this

Behind the cooler I have made a new plate that will cover the holes in the tunnel. Mounted from the underside. Don't have a picture of that.

WYOF7EXT · Jul 25, 2012

Guys,
These ideas have me thinking more about this. Does anyone know for sure if the HCR and the PC (front cooler section)are the same for sure?
Thanks! Gary

Daltech · Jul 25, 2012

WYOF7EXT said:
Guys,
These ideas have me thinking more about this. Does anyone know for sure if the HCR and the PC (front cooler section)are the same for sure?
Thanks! Gary

There is no reason it should not be. It is the same chassie front to back.

WYOF7EXT · Jul 25, 2012

That is what I am thinking too. Thanks again...

backcountryislife · Jul 25, 2012

How long would you guess it took you to get out?

yes btw, only differences are in the back, the "front" cooler is the same.

Daltech · Jul 25, 2012

backcountryislife said:
How long would you guess it took you to get out?

yes btw, only differences are in the back, the "front" cooler is the same.

Driveshaft has to come out, and maybe tha chain case aswell. Loking at a days work out/in inc welding i guess.

Sent from my GT-P7510 using Tapatalk

backcountryislife · Jul 25, 2012

I don't insult aluminum with my Pigeon SH** version of welding.

So you're saying 3 hrs+ to remove? I must now weight my desire to be lazy against my desire to not ride a heavy turd.... life is full of choices...

CatRpillar · Jul 25, 2012

Good excuse to go to the 2.6 track while you're at it, as well as rubber band chaincase and racing brake disc. Do the oil delete while you're in there.

backcountryislife · Jul 25, 2012

CatRpillar said:
Good excuse to go to the 2.6 track while you're at it, as well as rubber band chaincase and racing brake disc. Do the oil delete while you're in there.

I'd go to the CE 2.5 myself, better braking which will help with downhill handling.

Curious to see a belt drive once they actually hit the snow though!

chuff26 · Jul 27, 2012

Daltech said:
I did cut down the cooler and velded back the rear part of the cooler. So it is a little bit bigger then the HCR cooler, but much smaller then the Sno Pro cooler. It is a bit of work to get it out, but I think you should be able to do it without rearing down the whole sled like I did. Cooler mod is not the only reason my sled looks like this
Behind the cooler I have made a new plate that will cover the holes in the tunnel. Mounted from the underside. Don't have a picture of that.

Dang... I wanted to do the same thing until I started looking at it and thought it was a bit more work than I wanted. I thought I might possibly be able to cut it and weld it back together while still on the sled once you drilled out most all the rivets and maybe gently maybe not so gently pulled the tubes away from the tunnel several inches hopefully without cracking it near the front cooler.
I was planning on getting a thin sheet of carbon fiber to rivet back on under the triangles out back.

Did you happen to weigh it before and after? Just curious how much weight it lost in aluminum nevermind the less coolant.

Daltech · Jul 28, 2012

chuff26 said:
Dang... I wanted to do the same thing until I started looking at it and thought it was a bit more work than I wanted. I thought I might possibly be able to cut it and weld it back together while still on the sled once you drilled out most all the rivets and maybe gently maybe not so gently pulled the tubes away from the tunnel several inches hopefully without cracking it near the front cooler.
I was planning on getting a thin sheet of carbon fiber to rivet back on under the triangles out back.

Did you happen to weigh it before and after? Just curious how much weight it lost in aluminum nevermind the less coolant.

Weight loss is minimal I would say. Those alu "tubes don't weight much. But I guess close to 1 liter of coolant less. So maybe 1,3-4 kilos saved.
But riding wheight should be much more less, since I should get rid of alot of snow and ice on the tunnel.

CatRpillar · Jul 28, 2012

Daltech said:
Weight loss is minimal I would say. Those alu "tubes don't weight much. But I guess close to 1 liter of coolant less. So maybe 1,3-4 kilos saved.
But riding wheight should be much more less, since I should get rid of alot of snow and ice on the tunnel.

If I remember correctly the actual weight loss is 6lbs, or roughly 2.5 kg.

Was thinking, can a guy just drop the track, loosen up the exchanger in the tunnel and do it without actually taking the exchanger right out?

Daltech · Jul 28, 2012

CatRpillar said:
If I remember correctly the actual weight loss is 6lbs, or roughly 2.5 kg.

Was thinking, can a guy just drop the track, loosen up the exchanger in the tunnel and do it without actually taking the exchanger right out?

Pherhaps possible, but it will be difficult to get it welded back in place when you are gonna weld on the upside of the cooler. I guess you will end up using the same amount of time as you would do if you take out the cooler.

geo · Jul 29, 2012

Shouda bought a HCR to begin with LOL. What were you thinking! More cooling is better????

Poo reduced their cooler volume for 2013 (it's lighter this year if you didn't know) to allow more coolant flow ( I repeat m o r e c o o l a n t f l o w for the engineers out there) past the heat sink aluminum coolers at any given point of time at lower rpm (you know like when your going through the trees while mountain riding instead of trail riding at higher rpm.

I wonder,, was it Poo copying Cat or both copying the high end cars. Hmm.

You don't really have to care if just being able to ride is the main objective. But darn,,, the ultimate is so desirable, eh!

knifedge · Jul 29, 2012

--HCR cooler size would seem about right for all round use / weight

--More volume coolant will absorb more heat - using bigger coolers to dissipate --works better less than optimum snow conditions

--Smaller volume system with smaller cooler should be ok -- assuming optimum conditions with good snow for it to work

--It takes a given amount of snow to absorb a given amount of heat -- a larger cooler will collect that given amount of snow alot easier in less than optimum snow conditions than a smaller cooler will

Turbo11T · Jul 29, 2012

The reality is the cooler should be in the rear of the tunnel as that's were it can cool the most. They should have done like skidoo rev.

Thoughts on retrofitting HCR exchanger on PC?

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