Oil Cooler Installation Tips

[D7N7MASTER]

Hi All,
I'm gettin' ready to mount my 914's remote oil cooler. Unless somebody has some horror stories concerning problems encountered after installing the oil cooler in the rear trunk - that's where I'm going to install it. The idea being to install a sandwich plate @ the stock oil filter & route steel braided oil hoses into the rear trunk. The cooler has its own cooling fan, so I see no reason to put the oil cooler anywhere in the cars airstream. Oh yeah... I live in Orange County, Ca. - so I'm not installing a thermo switch. Your Thoughts? Suggestions? Will be appreciated.
Thanks, Gary
914's 4ever!!!

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

You do have a way for air to get into and out of the rear trunk, then? If not, all you'll do is heat up the trunk. After a little while of that, you won't cool the oil much at all!!

Note that having holes for air to get into and out of the trunk will allow tons of dirt to get into the trunk. Think about that the next time you actually take the roof out of the trunk and put it on right over your head...

--DD

[Jim Smolka]

What motor etc. do you have?
Are you going to track the car?
Not much cooling is going to be available in the rear trunk without fans.

IMHO, an oil coiling system is not an area to be cheap.

Side note, for 4 cyl motors, I have some very nice used AN-10 fittings.

[skline]

I would mount it in the rear by the transmission mount. Plenty of air flow back there. The fan would be on a switch and used when in heavy traffic. Just my opinion.

[campbellcj]

Yep, "in" the rear trunk would not seem like a great idea, unless you have some major ducting in the plans.

IME, "under" the rear trunk doesn't work all that great either. But it is probably fine for street use and in particular if you do the fan and/or tilt the cooler so it catches a decent amount of airflow. The cooler we did in my previous car was mounted horizontally, i.e. parallel to the trunk floor, and it just was "underwhelming".

The extra oil capacity is helpful in itself on the -4's, which have such teeny sumps from the factory. The more oil, the longer/harder it is to heat up. Even the trip back and forth to the cooler will shed some heat.

[D7N7MASTER]

That's what I'm lookin' 4!!! This is - without a doubt - the BEST BBS 4 914's I have found. A great a place to throw it against the wall & see if it sticks. The idea of installing the oil cooler in the trunk seemed simple. No FOD. The cooler has it's own fan, so I don't need forward movement of the car to help cool the oil. If you consider the extra amount of oil it will require to fill the system, plus the "extra" oil cooler doin' it's magic, I'm not to worried about a little "dust"on my targa top... & as far as the comment of "heating up my trunk" let's think about it for just a moment. I cut two holes in the rear trunk area to route the hoses...

[bander]

Think about the airflow of the fans. Thats how much air flow you need into and out of the trunk.

Are you seriously thinking about puting it inside the trunk?

Consider under the trunk. The downside is that the air is hot there 'cus it just came off the engine.
Consider inside the rear fender, forward of the wheel. Maybe a Boxter(or MR2) style duct.
Consider the front trunk.






Also, re-post from 914club.com:

I used mcmaster carr lines and fittings and cant see going any other way.

http://www.mcmaster.com/

The SAE hydrolic lines are high temp, high pressure, steel braid within Buna-N rubber and $2.50/ft for 1/2 inch or $4.00/ft for 3/4 inch. Read the specs and compare.

http://www.mcmaster.com/ Search for 5279k214

The fittings are barbs to NPT but use a nut which allows you to easily remove them like an fittings. $1.40ea for 1/2 hose x 3/8 NPT.

http://www.mcmaster.com/ Search for 5440k113

Why would I want anything else?

Race car stuff is highly priced because there is a relitavly small market for it. Some of the stuff we need is widly used in industry and can be found at a more reasonable price.

[Jim Smolka]

Instead of cutting holes in the trunk to route the lines, you can feed them through the plastic pieces for the roof to lay in...

[campbellcj]

Tom Woodford built a 914-6 2.0 race car with a unique rear trunk mounted cooler. I think this is about the only way a trunk (inside) installation would work! IIRC the lid had a duct for air exit and also check out the holes in the rear panel. There is also of course the intake side coming up through the trunk firewall. And a fan.

When I briefly asked Tom about this cooler setup at Dunkels earlier this year, the car had not even been run at the track yet!

So it sure seems like a helluva lot of work compared to the "known good" front installation. You're cutting metal and building mounts/shrouding either way. I have not been able to get my car past 200°F since the front cooler was installed -- even in 30 minute continuous track lapping sessions in 105° desert heat!

Tom's car sure looks sweet though. I wonder if it's been sold yet?

[SteveStromberg]

This is 36 in long you could mount this along front shelf.

[Jim Smolka]

Bander,

The McMaster stuff you listed is interesting, but there are some concerns.

The fittings you described are barbed type fittings. Would those fittings require a clamp? If so, IMHO, they may not be the best thing to have on a car. In some race / DE events, oil lines are not allowed to have hose clamps on oil lines.

The oil lines you described and the fittings they use appear to use the crimped on connector style. These are very good if you have the hydraulic crimping tool (most hydr shops have them). The lines listed also lack a SS braid.

IMHO, the Aeroquip and similar lines are used on most race / DE cars are the ones to install. Though some what expensive, they are designed for the average person to install using hand tools and they have a proven track record. Besides, the blue, red and silver coloring looks cool

[fetus]

IMHO if the factory thought the best place was the rear trunk that's where they would of put it. I bought a two piece fiberglass GT shroud replica and installed it in the front trunk. I also ran the lines exact to the GT.
I have had no problems with over heating since.

Steve

[Jeroen]

I don't get the whole fuss about placing the cooler in or under the rear trunk...
Is it really that much harder to put it up front (where it's supposed to be and works best)
Do it right the first time...

cheers,

Jeroen

[bander]

Jim,

Whats wrong with hose clamps. I used the standard all stainless heilical type but there are others which are more permanent.

As for the hose, it is available either as a crimped assembly or by the foot. The price I quoted is by the foot. It does have a steel braid within the rubber. It will not kink and is very hard to cut without a cutoff wheel. The internal braid should lessen the concern about the file effect often described with ss braid along side electrical wires. The crimped assembly would be a good choice if you knew your length ahead of time, Only about $10 plus the hose.

Anyway, to each there own.

[D7N7MASTER]

... I rec'd the cooler over the weekend. Read the directions - I mean suggestions...hehehe. They (Dee Engineering) recommend installing it to the left of the transaxle. So I'll take a good look at that location now that I can make a cardboard mock-up of the coolers envelope shape. The reasons I don't want to install it up front - as has been suggested is I don't want to cut my air dam - or my car. I've seen plenty of coolers mounted in the front. Everyone of them is asking for a big 'ol rock to hit the bullseye + there's this big cut out in the air dam/valance/fender well, etc. Looks like crap. I want the benefit of the cooler. I don't want it to be visible or susceptible to FOD.

[D7N7MASTER]

How do you guys get your pictures to display in your posts?
Thanks,
Gary

[D7N7MASTER]

A pic of my new air dam.