Oil cooler in ducktail?

[RallyJon]

I was looking at an early Group B Quattro with the oil cooler under the rear spoiler and I got to thinking:



Seems to me that would be an area of pretty high pressure, otherwise there wouldn't be much point in a spoiler there, right?

Sure, it's a little bit more weight out back. But the 20 or so feet of -12 or -16 Aeroquip to get the oil to the front bumper and back must weigh quite a bit, too.

Any thoughts? Has anyone done something like this?

[michigan]

A great idea as long as there's enough room to put one in. What say you other's?

[Chuck Moreland]

The weight in that configuration is both high and in the rear. Allowing air through the cooler would diminish the effectiveness of the tail.

Plus the 20 or so feet of brass oil line (not Aeroquip) actually provides a substantial portion of the cooling system capacity by dissipating a great deal of heat by itself.

[Phoenix-MN]

I put my cooler in the tail (whale tail), works great. A freind of mine put his in a Duck tail as you have drawn in the attachment, work great also.

[pwd72s]

Originally posted by Chuck Moreland
The weight in that configuration is both high and in the rear. Allowing air through the cooler would diminish the effectiveness of the tail.

Plus the 20 or so feet of brass oil line (not Aeroquip) actually provides a substantial portion of the cooling system capacity by dissipating a great deal of heat by itself.

I agree...plus, after looking at Chuck's elephant lines installed on Evren's car? Well, they look cool! (pun intended)..

[Jack Olsen]

Are you talking about putting it in the leading edge of the ducktail (front), or the rear, as you're showing. On the back, like that, it's facing a low pressure area -- except that you've now opened up a route for air to come into the engine compartment from behind.

In any case, using the main engine blower to pull air through it is also going to mean pre-heating the air that's supposed to cool the engine -- kind of a borrowing from Peter to pay Paul approach.

As others have pointed out, it's weight up high and in the back, where you don't want it.

And finally, it's introducing movement (to the flexi lines that lead to the cooler) where you don't want it. Oil leaks are certainly more likely over time.

What's wrong with the front?

[RallyJon]

I was thinking the duct for the cooler would pass through the ducktail, completely separate from the engine compartment.

The weight issue is certainly the best argument against, but I wonder how much some extra 'glass, a cooler and a short length of hose (and, of course, the oil inside) would actually weigh. 10-15lbs at the most I would guess. Probably less than the fiberglass tail saves over the steel original.

Hadn't thought about the movement causing leaks. Since the hose is protected and completely inside the car, perhaps you could use a more flexible hose.

My front bumper oil cooler is fed by two huge stainless braid hoses. They hang down--due to their size, not faulty mounting--and get in the way of floor jacks and lifts. Its seems kind of kludgy to move the oil 10 feet and back just to cool it off.

[Targa Dude]

Sounds like you need to visit ELEPHANT RACING, and check out their hard oil lines.. nothing worse than tring to secure druping oil lines especialy underneath your car.


Jorge (Targa Dude)

[Jack Olsen]

If you're allowing air to pass through both sides of the ducktail, then you're reducing the ducktail's effectiveness proportionate to the amount of air passing through it. You're also producing more drag up there, I would guess. I'm not sure that either of those things would produce a significant problem, though.

You could run the flexi lines through the body, instead of under it. That's where the dealer-installed AC lines went on my 72, and my plan is to use the same route for my flexible oil lines. (It'll reduce the cooling ability that Chuck mentions, but I've got two coolers to make up for that.)

The Elephant Racing lines are the best improvement on the factory cooling scheme that I've seen.

[ZAMIRZ]

Originally posted by Phoenix-MN
I put my cooler in the tail (whale tail), works great. A freind of mine put his in a Duck tail as you have drawn in the attachment, work great also.

I'm VERY interested in seeing pictures, if you have any I can host them and post.

thanks,

amir