Repairing engine oil cooler pipe

[OSC911]

I have a 3.0 litre that I purchased to go into my ‘76 mid year. I removed the S pipe and found that the engine oil cooler outlet pipe is damaged. Is this repairable? I haven’t tried to tidy it up yet but as you can see in the photos is isn’t pretty. Would an option be to cut it off and get a new pipe section welded on or even a sleeve over the top and welded at each end. The rest of the cooler looks to be in great shape. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

[patkeefe]

I suggest you send it to Pacific, or at least a radiator shop who is equipped to fix it.

[Solamar]

That's ugly. Can't imagine what someone way trying to do that created that mess...

Id imagine a proper repair will cost more than finding a good used cooler.

But, if I had to fix it id cut off down to the bead then attempt to re roll a proper bead. I don't remember what the thread was, but someone recently on Pelican posted about a tool they had to roll that bead.

HTH
Matt

[OSC911]

It wasn’t leaking but had two clamps on it which I thought was unusual. Were they silver soldered or TIG welded. I guess either would work.

[MBAtarga]

Not sure what caused that damage - but if you are a DIY type, I've got a suggestion on how to fix it. First you need to return the opening to get it back to being as round as possible. Not sure what might work there - perhaps a trip to the HW store and purchase some increasing diameter pipe and just manually pry the opening to return the shape.



Then you take a pair of vise grips and mod them by grinding a recess to match the outer radius for retaining the hose and clamp, and take a washer and weld it to the other vise grip face to apply force on the inside of the pipe. I snagged these photos off a different forum - likely Garage Journal and have kept them if this method might ever come in handy. The bottom photo gives you and idea of how this works.

[dannobee]

If you want it to be usable but don't care about it winning a concourse, put a deep socket in the hole with an extension and start moving it around in a circular pattern until it's back to being round.
It seems that the oil feed pipe is the first thing bent when Porsche engines sit on the ground in storage.

[OSC911]

I will have a crack at it myself I think using the suggestions above. I think it probably was damaged sitting around prior to me purchasing it. Thanks for the ideas as I now have a great way forward.

[john walker's workshop]

Fixed lots of them with a deep socket and small ballpeen hammer.

[Walt Fricke]

The fact that double hose clamps kept it from leaking (the oil is only under gravity pressure) is a good sign that you can massage this and get a seal which won't leak.

[OSC911]

I’m going to get out my deep tube sockets and the smallest ball peen hammer I have tomorrow. Thanks for all the advice. Even had a couple of big guns chime in with help. This truly is a great place for advice and assistance.

[gomezoneill]

Possibly a exhaust pipe expander. 32 bucks?

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=11&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiezJnkmZjpAhXSG80KHTGVBvoQFjAKegQIBxAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FTail-Pipe-Expander-Muffler-1-1%2Fdp%2FB00X4UDQ9U&usg=AOvVaw0Ntka5QKjLdx1ut4241TUk

[ClickClickBoom]

Originally Posted by Solamar

That's ugly. Can't imagine what someone way trying to do that created that mess...

Id imagine a proper repair will cost more than finding a good used cooler.

But, if I had to fix it id cut off down to the bead then attempt to re roll a proper bead. I don't remember what the thread was, but someone recently on Pelican posted about a tool they had to roll that bead.

HTH
Matt

Me! Not sure of the alloy type. Anneal prior to any reworking. My concern would be the work hardening of the aluminum from the previous hammering. If you want a proper beading send me a section of tubing and I will bead it up for you, just send a return post label.

[OSC911]

Originally Posted by ClickClickBoom

Me! Not sure of the alloy type. Anneal prior to any reworking. My concern would be the work hardening of the aluminum from the previous hammering. If you want a proper beading send me a section of tubing and I will bead it up for you, just send a return post label.

I appreciate the offer. I am in Australia so it might get a bit hard to get sorted. I am going to make up a tool as suggested by MBAtarga. I had had a good go at it today and fairly happy with the results - a lot of work using tube sockets and a tiny ball peen hammer. It is almost usable now. If I can get a decent bead on the end I will be happy. I’ll buy a cheap pair of Vice grips and make up a tool.

[HaroldMHedge]

Nice work.

[OSC911]

Thanks. I’m surprised how well it turned out considering the mess I started with.

[MBAtarga]

This belongs in the before/after pic thread.

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by OSC911

I appreciate the offer. I am in Australia so it might get a bit hard to get sorted. I am going to make up a tool as suggested by MBAtarga. I had had a good go at it today and fairly happy with the results - a lot of work using tube sockets and a tiny ball peen hammer. It is almost usable now. If I can get a decent bead on the end I will be happy. I’ll buy a cheap pair of Vice grips and make up a tool.

That is kinda funny, You are in Australia and the photos are upside down.

[Walt Fricke]

I am astounded at how much you were able to improve this! Not realizing this could be done with some elbow grease and persistence, I'd have cut part of it off, cut off a good end from a leaky, throw away cooler, expanded its far end so it would slip over the rounder stub, and maybe just JB Weld epoxied the sleeve in place. What you did looks like a much better approach.

[OSC911]

I did remove a very small amount of material when i file finished it. Certainly won't be a problem with strength but some material had to be removed to get it to this point.
By the way, photos are the right way up on my Ipad but now that i am on a desktop PC they are upside down. Weird?

[911pcars]

Nice bodywork. However, it's now somewhat thinner, work-hardened and thus more brittle. Not sure how that shakes out after a few thousand miles. There's a fairly simple method to anneal aluminum.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=annealing+aluminum

Sherwood