Oil line upgrades - Classic 911

[Sparky73]

I have a 1973 911 that I am rebuilding. My motor is a 1976 2.7L

I have to run new oli lines, the originals were removed. Planning on doing an oil coolor in the front bumper, RS style.

I am looking for options on how to run the oil lines. Can I run new braided hose with 6AN fittings ?

Are there any newer oil line options than doing the standard metal lines?

Any insight would be great

[H-viken]

You can run braided lines

Elephant Racing also make some aftermarket hard lines

[Sparky73]

thanks, I have looked at Elephant racing lines. Pretty expensive for a full new set up.

Can braided lines be run from front to back, meaning no hard lines at all ??

[phunt]

I used braided hose. It is a lot easier. The turn into and out of the fender wells is tight. The hose doesn’t make those 90* turns as nice and tight as the hard lines. So I made new lines with tubing. And do you mean 16an? 6an is not big enough. I used 12an. 14an - 16 an would probably be better.

[Sparky73]

thanks for the heads up on the 16an. I wasn't focused on that.
Did you run the braided line under the car or did you route through the tunnel ?

Do you have any pics of what you ran for braided lines ?

Is there a pump or anything needed to get the oil to the front and back ?

[Sparky73]

Does anyone have advise on an RS style radiator for the front bumper. OEM is one way to go. I have been looking at Setrab. I have also read about using a Mazda RX7 cooler.

Any thoughts here ?

[HarryD]

The advantage of using factory style hard lines is that they are provide a significant part of the cooling. Braided lines are essentially insulated and do not lose much heat.

Unless you are going to track the car in a high heat situations and/or you want the RS look, it turns out that the hard lines with a trombone cooler in the fender is more than adequate. For street driven cars, there is a reason Porsche did not go to a Carrera Cooler until the 3.2L cars.

What is your intent for use of the car?

[Sparky73]

Street car, weekend driver. I am upgrading my 2.7 to an EFI system. No racing at all.

Finding replacements for these hard lines has been challenging. I haven't been able to find them used. Used they are $500 per line, need two

I wanted to put the cooler in the RS bumper but I am being told that is not adequate and I would need a fender mounted cooler with a fan. Thoughts ?

[HarryD]

Originally Posted by Sparky73

Street car, weekend driver. I am upgrading my 2.7 to an EFI system. No racing at all.

Finding replacements for these hard lines has been challenging. I haven't been able to find them used. Used they are $500 per line, need two

I wanted to put the cooler in the RS bumper but I am being told that is not adequate and I would need a fender mounted cooler with a fan. Thoughts ?

Just a keyboard warrior but ….

How much hp is your motor? Stock is around 175.

If street driven, hard lines with a trombone in the right fender well should be adequate. If not, upgrade to Carrera Cooler is straight forward as it would just “drop in” after you remove the trombone. As a Trombone cooler can be had for less that $100 you are not out a lot of money.

[Sparky73]

It's a stock motor. I am adding an EFI and new stainless steel heat exchangers. It should add some horsepower but not a major upgrade

I will look into a carerra cooler. As I mentioned, I am starting from scratch. When I got this car, it had no motor or oli cooling lines.

Do you know what year carerra cooler to look at ? Is I am assuming 80's ?

[HarryD]

Originally Posted by Sparky73

It's a stock motor. I am adding an EFI and new stainless steel heat exchangers. It should add some horsepower but not a major upgrade

I will look into a carerra cooler. As I mentioned, I am starting from scratch. When I got this car, it had no motor or oli cooling lines.

Do you know what year carerra cooler to look at ? Is I am assuming 80's ?

Any unit that fits an Aircooled Carrera (up to 1989) would fit as they are the same. But again, save your dough and get a trombone. Lots of them for sale here for $50-100. It will be good enough.

[nickelplated5s]

https://www.early911sregistry.org/forums/showthread.php?165262-Behr-2-8-RSR-Oil-Cooler/page4

There's another thread here on PP. It mentions mounted fan coolers. I would suggest hard lines and trombone as Harry said.

[blucille]

Hey Jared, I sent you a message, I have trombone cooler, oil lines and a thermostat, I'm within driving distance from Andover.

[E Sully]

Back when I had a stock '86 3.2 with SSI's in my '73 I installed an SC set of lines and trombone cooler. I do mainly street with occasional spirited driving. I never had an issue with temperature even during the summer.
I would seriously consider looking into blucille's offer. You will have to pick up a couple of lines to connect it.

[Sparky73]

thanks everyone. Blucille I will reach via private message.

Sound like the trombone is the way to go with the hard lines.

thanks all

[3literpwr]

Sorry folks, I installed braided on my rally car with fender mounted cooler and mocal thermostat. There is NO NO NO problem with braided lines.

[HarryD]

Originally Posted by 3literpwr

Sorry folks, I installed braided on my rally car with fender mounted cooler and mocal thermostat. There is NO NO NO problem with braided lines.

Never said braided lines are a problem only that the rigid lines add a meaningful amount of surface area to enhance the cooling. In cases of lower hp motors, the hard lines with a trombone gets you there.

I will add that the hard lines are, IMHO, more esthetically pleasing since they are not drooping as they go along the exterior of the rocker panel.

Note the droopy line on this car:



But that’s just my opinion.

[john walker's workshop]

Is your right battery box still there?

[Ian Comerford]

I’m with Harry on this but would add that I upgraded my SC to the 28 row brass cooler from the later car. I really like this cooler as it’s a true radiator, it loses heat even whilst sitting there unlike the later Carrera type. It’s also brass and endlessly repairable in the event of leaks

[chrismorse]

Mazda RX7 cooler. I used one in my flared 2.5 four cylinder 72-914,, never had a problem, even tracking and long auto-Xs. Used -12 aeroquip through the cabin, worked well. It has a built in thermostat, BUT the inlet and outlet fittings and passages are quite small and i would be concerned about restricting the volume flow.

When my dad passed, he left me his 74 coupe, totally stock, with dealer installed AC and NO front fender cooler. When i rode with him to a local santa barbara PCA event, we were seeing 250-260 oil temps, going through the mountains, with AC on - SCARY.

When i got the car home, (Humboldt county, coast), i pulled the ac, so i could install an 85 carrera fender cooler. The AC lines had been routed along the right side of the car, in the original oilline mounts. I sourced the used hard lines from Chuck, at Elephand for a couple of hundred, (10 years ago). I bought a new Porsche thermostat, because i wanted known reliability and the built in pressure relief to protect the cooler from overpressure damage.

Given the critical nature of our oil cooling, i would suggest sending any used cooler to Pacific Oil Coolers for a thorough cleaning and testing. Since my car has sat for 12 years, during the restomod, I had then do the cooler and the sump tank.

I am a cautious guy, (particularly given the cost of going through a mag case engine), and i would feel better going with a bigger cooler, because, you may decide to do a Drivers Ed track event, or travel through hot country, or get more aggressive in your driving, or put cams and higher compression pistons. The thermostat will keep the oil at proper temps, with margin to spare.

If I find the temps getting a bit too high, i may cut some "fog light" holes in the front valence for more air to the cooler, or reinstall the auxiliary fan, or put some aluminum sheeting from valence to cooler, to duct all the air to the cooler. Not sure how much heat the "improved" engine will generate on the track: 2.8 twin plug, 10.5 c/r, DC 43 cams, Al's PMO/MS EFI, light flywheel and PP.
chris