Rear quarter mounted oil cooler?

[boyo]

Got a '72 911T that likes to overheat on 100F+ days. Planning to add an oil cooler soon (now that summer is over...), seen lots of discussion on front mounted coolers. But what about rear fender mounted coolers? After all, there's already an A/C condensor back there on the driver's side.

I scoured the archives, this is the only mention of a rear quarter mounted oil cooler:

History of Slant Nose 911s??


Due to space it seems one would have to mount the oil radiator so the air blows side to side instead of front to back. I imagine a fan is required for decent cooling (as mentioned by the post), but I had already been factoring that into the job it's required for stop-n-go traffic anyway.

That actually has an advantage - you don't have rocks being thrown up directly into the cooling fins. Simple rock guard to protect the side of the radiator, nothing fancy.

The rear mounted option seems like a better choice for the light track use, and primarily street use. You don't have to run the lines the whole length of the car. A racing or heavy track car would probably still want the front mounted cooler, maybe two.

Anyone tried this? Thoughts? I'm not opposed to the front mounted, but trying to simplify the job and minimize cost. Thanks...

-Boyo

[911pcars]

The best airflow is at the front of the car (front bumper that is). If you install under the rear fender you'll throw rocks, pebbles, slush and mud into the area, thus service life of a fan to assist air flow is going to be shorter. In addition, a fan (that can fit) won't produce as much air flow as a front-mount cooler (which doesn't need a fan). A minor benefit of a front mount is the added weight at the front (less at rear).

I would suggest going with the front route unless you care to experiment.

Sherwood Lee
http://members.rennlist.org/911pcars

[Early_S_Man]

Boyo,

Unless you happen to find a '72 system from Parts Heaven or a similar source ... you are going to have to do all of the design and fabrication, anyway, so you might as well experiment at the back end, first!

One thing I would recommend is the use of strictly AN-16 hose, as it is ID-compatible with the 30 mm metric fittings in the scavenge system and on the oil tank. The hose you use doesn't have to be the expensive stainless-braided stuff ... there are less expensive alternatives at a local industrial hydraulic supply, with many fabric or plastic covered hoses that are of the 1-wire or 2-wire reinforced variety from Goodrich, Aeroquip, etc. Steel fittings are available from Aeroquip, too, at a fraction of the anodized 'racer's' hardware prices, too! And, the metric fittings can be reused after cutting off the crimped/swaged rings ... by either using worm-gear clamps, or having new crimp rings installed at the hydraulic supply store! Your choice of a cooler should be limited to Carrera, 930S, or one equipped with AN-16-sized fittings from Earl's, etc., IMHO! Two 6.5" fans, side-by-side would not be out of the question for best cooling!