Center mounted oil cooler project, part 3

[Chuck Moreland]

Finally found some time to finish this up. Let's not waste time, cut to the money shot:



Here is a link to the previous thread

The hood was cleaned up and painted to match. The underside required fabbing a snorkel to connect the hood vent and the tub-mounted airbox. The snorkel is aluminum and is bonded to the bood. A peice of weatherstrip on the hood underside seals to the top of the airbox.



The snorkel drops right into the finished airbox. Everything fits tight and allows water to flow right through, without getting into the trunk.

The aluminum airbox is bolted in place and has some rubber isolators to quite noise and vibration.



Here is a full-frontal-nude shot showing the hose routing:



All the fittings are 30mm metric, AN adaptors need not apply.

With the fittings on opposite ends, this cooler is a VERY tight squeeze behind an RS bumper. I used a lathe to modify the cooler fittings, taking about 1/4 inch off the length of each. The passenger side hose-end was also modified to pull off another 3/8 inch of width.

The driver side hose-end was custom fabricated to follow the tub contour. It had to be a hard pipe, the hose was too thick to fit in the limited space.

All the customization of the hose-ends and fittings was necessary to squeeze the width down to the minimum. The cooler is also mounted all the back against the tub to get the max width available from the RS bumper.

It is much easier to fit the cooler behind an RS bumper if both fittings are on the same side. But I never take the easy route and I wanted to see if it was possible to squeeze this crossflow cooler behing an RS bumper. Well, it is possible. But it isn't easy.

I also made it especially challenging because of the way I mounted the bumper using 1/4 turn fasteners. The hoses couldn't interfere with the fasteners. I chose to put the fasteners in the stock mounting position, stealth mode.. I will say that modifying for 1/4 turn fastener mounting of the bumper was one of the smartest mods I've ever made. I must of have had the bumper on and off 30 times while installing this cooler. It would have been insane with normal bolts.

Here are a couple shots showing the hoses and how they tuck up under the bumper:





And the results....... Don't know yet. I took it for a test drive but it was too cool outside and the thermostat didn't even open. This cooler is really for hot track days anyway, I never push it that hard on the street.

As far as the appearance, I am pleased. I was apprehensive about making this mod because I really like the clean lines of the long hood car. But now that it's done, the car looks very purposeful in a way it never did before. Now, an RS bumper without a center mount cooler looks like it's missing something.

Before:


After:

[DW SD]

WOW very nice, clean install! Great work! From the front pics, the mod is hardly obvious. Could you provide some pictures from the side and the rear, looking forward?

Where did you buy the material for the rock mesh on the bumper opening? Did you make it?

Doug

[Chuck Moreland]

Thanks for the comments. The visibility of the vent really depends on the angle. Anything from the front is discrete, from the rear it is much more obvious. But I can't see it from the driver's seat. Here are a few more shots:







The mesh is stainless woven mesh that I obtained from McMaster Carr. It is a 3 holes per inch and rated for about 75% open area. Not obvious in the picture, but it is unpainted bright stainless.

[Jeff Alton]

Very cool Chuck, nice job!!

Jeff

[911teo]

Chuck
I have been following the project since it started... Great job!

The cooling properties of the air flowing through the cooler and out of the snorkel are clear... but are there any aerodynamic advantages/drawbacks?

Also could have you reached the same cooling results adding a fender mounted Carrera style cooler? I realize there would have been added weight...

Anyway fantastic looking car!

[Chuck Moreland]

This was the starting point of the project and had an excellent discussion on the aero benefits.

The car did have a fender mounted cooler, which I removed to do this. Or perhaps you meant a fender mount in series? That would have been an option, but I didn't feel it was needed with this big center mount cooler and my 2.7 liter.

[911teo]

I meant in series... thanks for the link!

[rattlsnak]

Wow, that came out nice!
Mine is much further forward. I had to lose the hood latch.

I also had to make a hood prop bar, because the shocks wont hold up weight of the hood now!

[Chuck Moreland]

I wanted the vent further up on the hood to reduce the visual impact.

I took a look at your pics. Seems you cut your opening higher up on the front panel of the tub. Is that why it interfered with the hood latch?

My hood didn't gain much weight, 1-2 lbs. The Al airbox weighs about 3 lbs. The hoses and cooler added most of the weight, probably 8-9 lbs total. But I also cut away a couple pounds from the front of the tub, and of course removed the fender mounted cooler. So all in I probably gained 4-5 lbs.

I hate to gain weight, but this is good weight. Kinda like good cholesterol. This motor will never overheat.

[rlh930]

Very nice! Looks like it came out great. From the pictures, looks like the oil line across the bottom of the cooler is a little vulnerable to road debris or the odd parking lot curb. Is that just an optical illusion?

[Brother]

Chuck,

Nice work. Thanks for the help on the phone the other day.

Paul

[makaio]

As always, simply awesome Chuck!

[Chuck Moreland]

Originally posted by rlh930
Very nice! Looks like it came out great. From the pictures, looks like the oil line across the bottom of the cooler is a little vulnerable to road debris or the odd parking lot curb. Is that just an optical illusion?

Mostly illusion. The line actually sits on top of the orange valence and behind the bottom of the cooler, both of which would be impacted first. It sits higher than the tub front crossmember/control arm mounts.

Before the hose gets damaged, I've got a much bigger repair bill on my hands!

[MichiganMat]

who crimped your hoses for you?

[Paulporsche]

Great job. It "looks right".

[ted]

Very nice Chuck, gave me some good ideas.
Very clean I like the Dzus hardware too.
Thanks for sharing.

[74911s]

looks awesome! hope to see you on the track soon!

[afterburn 549]

nice job-was tring to see it in my mind but in real life looks "cool" good enugh for GT40 good enogh for anyone!!

[bigchillcar]

chuck,
are those plastic ties temporary or will they remain okay to support the lines?
ryan

[mjshira]

Chuck, enjoyed the beers at the gathering a few months back. that is really cool!!!!!!!!!!!! why no finned oil lines?