Front Oil Cooler Mounting

[IROC]

OK, so I have this oil cooler that was originally intended to go in the right front fender, but I decided to modify it slightly and mount it in the front bumper since I have an IROC bumper...

Is it just me, or do other people have relatively simple jobs turn into nightmares?!?!? It seems that everything I do on my car starts out great and then ends up with "compromises" when things don't turn out exactly right.

Anyway, I spent a lot of time trying to determine the best position for the oil cooler taking into account cooler position relative to the opening in the bumper, cooler position relative to where the oil lines need to be, etc. I measured twice and cut once, so to speak. I temporarily mount the cooler and then set the bumper in place and it looks great. I get everything permanently mounted and all of the oil lines hooked up and I stand back and admire how neat everything looks.

Then I go to install the bumper. It won't go on!! I finally figure out that the bumper is hitting the lower oil line where it exits the cooler. After a small amount of profanity and a couple of beers, I decide that I need to move the cooler more to the driver's side to enable the oil line clearance. So...I re-do all of my mounting and get the oil cooler over (and pretty much centered) and...the bumper still doesn't want to go on. I finally adjust the cooler mounting slightly and get the bumper installed, but the oil line exiting the cooler still hits the bumper. It's not like it is "kinking" the massive oil line, but it is touching for sure. Too bad. It appears that is going to be one of those "compromises"...

A couple of pictures:

Cooler installed, bumper on (I haven't made the close-outs to block off the air flow from the sides of the cooler yet):



The spot where the oil line is contacting the bumper:



Does this kind of crap happen to anyone else, or is it just me?

[dad911]

Put a 45 degree fitting on the lower line, problem solved......

[Chuck Moreland]

This

Originally Posted by dad911

Put a 45 degree fitting on the lower line, problem solved......

Since you bought those hoses and the mounting brackets from me, I think I can speak with authority here

You have that hose in backwards. The other end has a 45 hose end on it.

[IROC]

Originally Posted by Chuck Moreland

Since you bought those hoses and the mounting brackets from me, I think I can speak with authority here

You have that hose in backwards. The other end has a 45 hose end on it.

I actually tried that first, but couldn't get it to work. The hose with the 45 is shorter than the hose with straight fittings on the ends and when I took them off and tried to switch them, it just wasn't working out. Maybe I need to look at that again.

[stownsen914]

Originally Posted by IROC

I actually tried that first, but couldn't get it to work. The hose with the 45 is shorter than the hose with straight fittings on the ends and when I took them off and tried to switch them, it just wasn't working out. Maybe I need to look at that again.

I've read that you should have the "in" oil line on the lower fitting on your cooler. This is supposed to ensure no dead air pockets or reduced oil flow zones inside the cooler. I mention this also because I wonder if swapping the lines could fix the "too short" issue.

Scott

[shadowjack1]

This kind of schitz happens to me all the time, I plan, replan, rethink, mind f&$k it to death, then something jumps up bites me in the a$$. I knowyour pain.

[IROC]

Originally Posted by stownsen914

I've read that you should have the "in" oil line on the lower fitting on your cooler. This is supposed to ensure no dead air pockets or reduced oil flow zones inside the cooler. I mention this also because I wonder if swapping the lines could fix the "too short" issue.

Scott

You may have a good point. There were no instructions with the lines or on Elephant's web site (that I could find) so I simply installed the lines in what seemed like a logical manner. Length-wise they fit perfectly until I tried putting the bumper on. Here's what it looked like at that point:



I actually took them back off and tried to swap them, but that seems to make the length issue worse, so I put them back the way I had them to begin with and moved the cooler over. Moving the cooler over enable the bumper to go on and I had lost about 3 lbs due to sweat at that point, so I said to heck with it.

[zippy_gg]

Originally Posted by Chuck Moreland View Post
Since you bought those hoses and the mounting brackets from me, I think I can speak with authority here

You have that hose in backwards. The other end has a 45 hose end on it.

Originally Posted by IROC

I actually tried that first, but couldn't get it to work. The hose with the 45 is shorter than the hose with straight fittings on the ends and when I took them off and tried to switch them, it just wasn't working out. Maybe I need to look at that again.

What I think Chuck is saying is not that you need to swap the hoses, but that you need to take that one troublesome hose and flip it around.
I hope you get this resolved. That front bumper with the cooler in it looks awesome!

[juanbenae]

my install of a front cooler had the same issue regarding conflict between the lower part of the bumper and oil line. the pressure against the bumper looked to be about as much as you are experiencing, not enough to kink the line, or put undo pressure on the cooler out fittings. i ended up putting some soft, high density foam rubber wrapped in old motorcycle inter tube to prevent chaffing holding it in place with zip ties an inch or two from the contact spot. Monitored it over the 1st year, and glance at it whenever im dickin around down there with no ill effects.

i used the inter tube scrap at a couple points were it made contact with the other oil line and the body in a few spots.

[IROC]

Originally Posted by zippy_gg

You have that hose in backwards. The other end has a 45 hose end on it.What I think Chuck is saying is not that you need to swap the hoses, but that you need to take that one troublesome hose and flip it around.
I hope you get this resolved. That front bumper with the cooler in it looks awesome!

I tried this also. For some unknown reason, the threaded collar on the 45 degree fitting would not thread onto the adapter screwed into the oil cooler. I don't know if it is a slightly damaged thread or what. I could get it started but then it was taking entirely too much torque so I abandoned it before I screwed up $300 worth of hoses and fittings. It threads onto the factory oil line in the front fender fine...

It seems that all of my car projects end up this way...

[polizei]

Hey Mike - cool project. Sorry for the bumps you've been hitting. What are the dimensions of that cooler? You mentioned that it was intended to be a fender-mounted cooler, but It doesn't look like a Carrera cooler - looks larger. Where did you pick that up? I'm curious because I'm thinking about putting a radiator in my driver's side fender for a water to air intercooler. Trying to figure out how big the radiator can be...

Thanks and good luck!

[IROC]

Originally Posted by polizei

Hey Mike - cool project. Sorry for the bumps you've been hitting. What are the dimensions of that cooler? You mentioned that it was intended to be a fender-mounted cooler, but It doesn't look like a Carrera cooler - looks larger. Where did you pick that up? I'm curious because I'm thinking about putting a radiator in my driver's side fender for a water to air intercooler. Trying to figure out how big the radiator can be...

Thanks and good luck!

The cooler I used is a "150" Setrab cooler (roughly 15" x 5.5") that was part of a kit that BAT sells to go in the right front fender. I figured out that the cooler is actually the exact same as the nominal "172" 21" Setrab cooler that Elephant sells for the front bumper mount (only 15" instead of 21"), so I decided to mount it there instead. Elephant Racing has the exact dimensions for the "150" cooler on their website.

The car originally had one of the Mocal coolers in the front fender with a fan (the standard kit they sell to replace the trombone cooler). That cooler had essentially 50 sq inches of area and this Setrab has around 75, so it should work better. The Mocal filled the fender area pretty well, so I had reservations about how easy it would be to fit this Setrab which also made the front bumper mount an easier decision.

[tkosier]

Hers's what worked for me:



Turned out pretty nice in the end (yes, I struggled a bit too!)

[wildcat077]

That front bumper looks really good on your 88 ... Who makes it ?
Did you retain your fender mounted cooler as well or is it removed alltogether !

Cheers !
Phil

[tkosier]

TRE motorsports. Talk to Dave. I did keep the fender mounted cooler - have a 3.6 to install and needed the extra capacity.
Tom

[wildcat077]

Thank you Tom !
I agree,TRE makes nice stuff ...

A 3.6,now that would be the ticket to keeping those annoying GT3's and Carerra 4's off my butt at the track

Cheers !
Phil

[IROC]

I've been traveling on business, it's been hot and I have plenty of other excuses , but I finally got a chance to fit a screen into my bumper opening for my oil cooler mounting and made some block-off plates to route all of the air through the cooler.



I went out and had a good shake-down run today and the cooler works fantastic. Outside temps were only in the low 70s, but with a mixture of street, interstate and stop and go traffic, the temps never got above about 75C (~170F) once the thermostat opened. I probably drove it for 40 miles. Coming off the interstate, I got stuck in some stop and go traffic through a small town and the temp climbed to about 75C, but once I got moving again, the temp dropped right away. In fact, it was odd as the temps seemed to hover around 70C most of the time and only moved up if I stopped at a light for a minute or so. In this same situation previously, the temps would have been over 80C for sure.

The real test will be the track, but so far the results are very encouraging.

[JasonArms]

I'm planning on doing this to my '75 but im going to modify and use a 944 intercooler. Looks like it will fit behind the RS look bumper and hold much more oil than some of the oil coolers ment for oil and hopfully better cooling.

[Flieger]

Are you sure the intercooler can handle the pressure of the oil? Why do you want a large volume of oil? The surface area exposed to the fins is what matters. You need small diameter tubes and lots of them for better cooling.

[JeremyD]

Looks good Mike - kinda what I did on mine