About Pratt Performance Design

We offer fabrication for all of your intake parts wether that is a simple intake, some upgraded intercooler piping, an air to air intercooler, or an air to water intercooler system. 

Let’s take a look at some key features of our intake products. 

An intake is a simple upgrade to increase looks and performance on any vehicle. 

We offer intakes in both aluminum and titanium.  

We can build intakes that increase flow, use factory or aftermarket sensors, match up to factory air boxes, or build a custom air box to fit your vehicle. 

Since intakes are so simple there are only a few important features. You want to be taking in cold air, not hot air, your sensors need to be in the correct location, and you need to choose the correct material to dissipate heat. 

Here’s a common mistake: Many people buy or build stainless steel intakes, but this hurts performance. Stainless steel is a great exhaust material be it keeps heat inside instead of shedding it off into he engine bay but for an intake that’s a bad thing. You want your intake air temps as cold as possible which is why you need to choose a material like aluminum or titanium that dissipate heat quickly. 

We offer fabrication for all kinds of heat exchangers and coolers. That means, radiators, air to air intercoolers, air to water intercoolers, and more. But for right now let’s stick to intercoolers. 

Intercoolers can be a huge performance gain if done right or leave a lot on the table if done incorrectly.

We build intercoolers from high quality aluminum, we use the best aluminum welding practices, and design them to maximize flow and cooling. 

First we buy a high quality intercooler core that will fit your application and is rated for your vehicles horsepower (with room to grow). Then we build end tanks for air to air intercoolers or have billet end tanks made for air to water intercoolers and weld them onto the cores. 

For air to water intercooler systems we can also build the ice box and pump system, install heat exchangers to cool the water, and run the plumbing for your system. 

Aluminum welding can be a challenge and if not done correctly or to a high standard can easily leave behind pin holes that cause leaks or future failure of parts. We pressure test every intercooler we build to a higher pressure than they will ever see in your vehicle so you can be confident in their quality. 

Intercooler piping is similar to intake piping. It requires the correct material (aluminum or titanium for the same reasons stated in the intake section). Intercooler piping also requires loose radius bends wherever possible to decrease restriction. 

Intercooler piping sizing is very important. Too small and it will be a restriction, too large and your turbo will struggle to fill the volume as fast as it could with the proper size piping which causes turbo lag. Most engines will perform well with 2.5” intercooler piping, high hp/ high boost engines can benefit from going to 3”, and in some cases extremely high hp applications can go up to 3.5”. 

Blow off or recirculation valves are very important for the health of your turbo. If you like the turbo flutter sound you’re not required to run one but every time your turbo flutters it spins the wheel rapidly in the wrong direction and damages the turbo causing premature failure. A blow off valve dumps the air to atmosphere instead of allowing it to flow back to the turbo. A recirculation valve dumps the air off into the intake box to send it back into the intake and improve spool up on shifts. It is important that the valve you choose is placed as close as possible to the intake of the engine for efficient venting. 

The final consideration for intercooler piping is attachment points where your piping connects to your engine and your intercooler. You can use silicone couplers and clamps which are effective and affordable but prone to leaking and can be a pain to install and remove or you can use quick disconnects which are very reliable and easier to service although they are more expensive. 

Here are a few tips for using silicone couplers and clamps to prevent leaks. 

1. Make sure your piping is clean and dry

2. Make sure the inside and outside of your couplers are clean and dry

3. Make sure your couplers aren’t kinked and don’t have holes or cracks.

4. Make sure your clamps are clean and not broken or nearly broken.

5. If you’re still having issues with leaks spray some hairspray inside your couplers where they slide over your piping before installing them and clamping them. It acts like glue. 

All of our intercooler piping systems are built to support your power level, be serviceable, and look great doing it!