Will Carrera Front Oil Cooler w/Fan Fit an '86 w/o Fan?

[RandalJ]

Just wondering if I could easily upgrade from the '86 stock front oil cooler that does not have the fan, to the 87 and later style with fan. Is there any cutting or bracket fabrication required, or will it bolt right in?

The articles and archives just discuss updating older 911s, where some things DO have to be moved around.

Thanks.

Randy

[vash]

you will have to move the horns. either the official way with the correct bracket, or the hacksaw and bending way. then install the wire harness to run the fan, but that is cake.

you dont want to intall just an aftermarket fan, that you turn on and off manually? way cheaper, (well maybe not, because you could sell the old one easy).

[RandalJ]

Well, I thought it might be easier to get the entire assembly from a salvage yard (20th St Auto is close), than it would be to find an aftermarket fan that first, I'd have to make sure would fit, and second, I'd have to figure out a way to mount.

Would your SC be different than my Carrera, in terms of what needs to be done (I THINK fro what I've read it is but am not certain)? Or are you basing that on other Carreras you've seen?

As for switching, I thought I'd use the lower than stock temp switch from Pelican, and have it automatically kick in.

[vash]

yea, your cooler wont have the threaded fitting to put a thermswitch. so if you want a automatic fan, you will need to do the full switch.

chuck at elephant racing has a fan that fits easy.
and i just used the 7.5 inch spal fan. and it also fit easy. my SC is the same as your carrera in that part of the car. the last cooler i got was from a car like yours, no switch, so i just bought a cheapo hella relay, and wired up a manual switch. i have been blasting around, and i have yet to turn the fan on.

[vash]

i mounted only at three locations. piece of cake!

[RandalJ]

Thanks a lot for the pics, vash. Is your fan set up to push or pull air through?

Will the correct horn bracket address all of the fitment issues? Or are there other mods that you had to make?

[vash]

only the push fan will work. the tire will destroy a pull. honestly i cheaped out and didnt want to spend the $80 or so for the correct bracket. lemme see if i can explain what i did

if you stick your head into your wheel well, with the cooler removed, you will see the stock horn mounting bracket. it is mounted in three places. (looking towards the front of car, going clockwise). point 1 is mount to a threaded tab on the truck side of the car. point 2 is mounted to the bottom of the headlight bucket, point 3 is mounted to a tab near the bellows. i basically hacked off point 1, just to the left of the headlight mounting point. therefore reducing the 3 points to simply two. then i bent the horn mounting straps. one i shared with the fastener on the headlight bucket hole, and the second one, i mounted right next to it on an existing hole, that is already on the bracket. the horns are different lengths, so you have to play with which horn fits better where. both horns end up in front of the bracket pointing perfectly straight to the ground. tab #1 hits the fan, so it had to go.

[RandalJ]

Not sure what you mean by the tire destroying the fan if the fan is pulling. Given that the fan has to go in front of the cooler, it won't come in contact with the tire. But from that position a fan could blow air through the cooler toward the rear (push), or suck air through the cooler toward the front (pull). Just wondering if one way is more efficient at heat removal than the other.

Thanks for the details on the mounting.

[vash]

push fan, in front

[kqw]

Give Frank Beck a call. I believe his shop is up off of Cave Creek. He installed a fan on my Carrera a few years ago.

[RandalJ]

Vash, thanks again. I checked out the Elephant site, and that looks to be the best route. Keep the original cooler, relocate horns, add thermoswitch and (stronger than stock) fan. I think I can tackle it.