My intercooler was originally located right against the engine cooling radiator - right where the air conditioning heat exchanger had previously been. When I fitted the oil cooler the only place I could find for it was in front of the intercooler as there was not enough room to get the oil cooler where it should really go up against the radiator as the intercooler was in the way. I was hoping that by fixing it as high as possible the heat would flow over the top of the intercooler but it didn't work out that way. During the summer I was keeping the oil temp below 100*C but the intake air temps were getting up to 60*C on occasions and that's bad for your engine.
The choices were to do without the oil cooler altogether or move the intercooler. I temporarily removed the oil cooler but left the sandwich plate in place with a loop of hose so that I could leave the pressure and temperature sensors in place to monitor what was happening with the oil cooler removed. It wasn't long before I realised that the oil cooler had to go back on. I was getting temps in excess of 120*C and that not good either. At these sorts of temperatures the oil breaks down more quickly and does not maintain its cooling and lubricating properties so you can get more wear and tear on the engine components.
I spoke to Kevin several times about moving the intercooler but he was not very enthusiastic about doing the job. He had had problems fitting the intercooler when he had transplanted the 2 litre turbo 3s-gte engine into his AE111 Corolla. One day while he was doing something else to my Rolla I asked him about moving the intercooler move and it turned out that the intercooler he used was bigger than the one that I had. When he had a good look he reckoned that it as doable with not too many problems. I booked that car in for a couple of weeks later and that was it.
The pipework had to be altered where it was routed from behind the radiator to the intercooler; some modification to the front cross member was required; the TTE fog lights had to be removed so they did not foul the hard pipes; new brackets for the intercooler had to be fabricated; and the stay for the bonnet catch had to be slimmed down. That was about it - not too difficult just fiddly. The pipework still needs sorting because it rattles and knocks in one or two places but from the gauge readings I've been getting the intake air is now a lot cooler in this position than it was with the intercooler against the radiator. It might have been getting heat soak from the rad when it was stationary or moving slowly in traffic - especially the stop/start stuff. Now being directly behind the front bumper grille it's getting more cold air and doesn't appear to heat soak at all. So now I can put the oil cooler back on when I get a dry weekend to have a go at it.