Thoughts on supporting cross over oil line with headers

wprater · 08-13-2017, 08:28 PM

Using the '74 cross over and flexible lines, Im having a bit of trouble getting everything line up nicely. The crossover line gets really close to hitting the headers or shock tower. I need to pull tightly to get a proper orientation. Upon pulling things into place, it seems to pinch the flexible hose near the S hose, slightly.

Since I have no oil cooler on the engine to support the cross over pipe, do you have any thoughts on where/how to support it? The fiberglass tin isn't strong enough, and its not centered on the support bracket.

Should I just create a new support bracket and secure to the tin, anyhow?

Maybe Im doing something incorrect here? If so, would love to hear a few words from the wise!

boyt911sc · boyt911sc's Garage

WPrater,

The new cross over oil lines available now come with a slight misalignment when installed. I had to order several cross-over oil lines to determine the problem. My old cross-over oil line sits with no problem until I put a new one. With some persuasion you could correct this problem. As you could see from your picture, you have about 1.0 inches or more for good clearance.

You need to bend the metal oil line at the bottom of the curve towards the rear bumper. It is now more difficult to align this oil line with the engine installed. I did this with the engine still on the engine stand. The bracket of the oil line should line up with the backside of the engine oil cooler (yours is removed).

A picture with a view from the bottom would give better perspectives and you will get more helpful advises.

Tony

wprater · 08-14-2017, 07:32 PM

Hi Tony,

I had no idea about needing to bend these lines, nor install them before putting the motor in.. learning so much! Was quite a chore to get the motor in for my first time, so Im tempted to leave it and try to fix what I have..

Here are some better pics from the bottom.

You can see the clearance from the bracket, but also note that I don't have a suitable place to support/secure it with the oil cooler removed. Thoughts?

wprater · 08-14-2017, 07:43 PM

prschmn · 08-15-2017, 03:45 AM

Looking at your last pic that joint isnt seated squarely either-likely to have a leak there.
You should be able to apply some pressure to bend the hard line a bit.
A conduit bender would be easiest.

panzerfaust · 08-15-2017, 05:38 AM

who makes or what kind of headers are those? george european?

boyt911sc · boyt911sc's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by wprater

The connection between the cross-over pipe underneath the transmission bell housing seems to be "cocked". It would take a lot of force to bend or tweak or align this metal oil line and should not be done with it installed on the engine. This could be a source of problem for oil leak.

Like I mentioned earlier, I purchased from our host three (3) cross-over oil lines that look exactly like yours. And an old stock cross-over oil line does not have this problem. The best I could do was to remove the new cross-over oil line and tweaked it to reduce the misalignment.

This is a decision you have to make. Leave it as it is now and wait what the future would gives you or do something now.

Tony

wprater · 08-15-2017, 09:08 AM

Thanks for noticing. I actually had all the lines loose in an effort to get them into place and aligned correctly.

Quote:

Originally Posted by prschmn

Looking at your last pic that joint isnt seated squarely either-likely to have a leak there.
You should be able to apply some pressure to bend the hard line a bit.
A conduit bender would be easiest.

KTL · 08-23-2017, 11:33 AM

Will,

I have the Elephant line that goes over the top of the trans. I'll show you how far back it is compared to yours. Tony's right that your crossover under the trans is skewed by a lot. It should go across the trans in a somewhat perpendicular fashion. That is, perpendicular to the centerline of the trans or chassis.

Funny thing though, with my crossover line that sits further back like it should, it severely kinks the hose from the crossover to the t-stat. Not impressed whatsoever with the fitment of the two lines in the wheel well of my car.

I decided to take out the t-stat and the oil cooler hard lines going forward, to re-orient the angle of the t-stat. Plus I had to make some new mounting brackets for the hard lines since they'd fallen victim to rust.

Trackrash · Trackrash's Garage

On my car my under the trans factory oil line is bolted to the sheet metal shroud.

It is about 2 inches behind my shock. It seems to me that you should somehow reinforce the area around that bolt on your glass shroud and bolt it there.

safe · safe's Garage

This crossover line.. On both by cars (much more on my 3.6) I had to bend it to shape to get it to fit properly.

This can be done pretty easy with a good propane torch, obviously of the car... In the heated areas it will not have the pretty finish it had before, but I think its just cosmetic.

wprater · 08-24-2017, 07:51 AM

Thanks for the input! Looks like I got some bending to to.

I will work to reinforce the support bracket after as well.

Kevin, did you have a photo of yours that you were planning to show, or just mentioning it?

al lkosmal · 08-28-2017, 08:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trackrash

on my car my under the trans factory oil line is bolted to the sheet metal shroud.

It is about 2 inches behind my shock. It seems to me that you should somehow reinforce the area around that bolt on your glass shroud and bolt it there.

+1....

wprater · 08-28-2017, 08:45 AM

yeah, I cannot bolt it there directly, I'll need a bridge, since its so misaligned.

wprater · 10-24-2017, 11:33 AM

I was finally able to heat the cross over pipe in a few places and bend it to fit perfect! however, after I got that in, I realized that it was not blocking the oil filter at the on engine oil filter console. so I went ahead and got the up and over piece from Elephant Racing. fits nice and no clearance issues now.