Add-on Oil Cooler and Filter Project

Yup, that's right, I'm finally getting around to adding an external, full-flow oil cooler and filter to my 2,110 engine. The criteria I wanted to achieve are:

1. Ease of filter replacement
2. Reasonable placement of cooler (avoid long lines, really hot spaces and spinning things like wheels and road debris)
3. Use a Derale 16-pass cooler with thermostat
4. Use a Gene Berg 30mm full flow oil pump and filter attachment but not Berg lines as I'll be mounting the filter in a different place and adding a cooler.
5. Use a Berg Full-Flow addition kit (Drill, Reamer and tap for the oil gallery return "Done with the engine in the car" per Berg instructions.
6. I'm also using a Berg pressure limiting oil pump cover to keep everything under 125 PSI in the system (along with a Fram HP-1 filter).
7. All lines will be stainless braided teflon professionally terminated and procured locally (got a guy 10 minutes away - that's his business)
8. The finished system will come on at 180 degrees (F) and should hold the oil temp at 200 (F) or so under hard turnpike or stop and go driving.

I'll be documenting this with text and pictures for the Knowlege Section of the forum, and should have the first installment in a day or so and expect to have it all done by this weekend.

Now for my first question: All of the Berg literature warns me against using ANY teflon tape for the threaded joints on ANY oil lines, for fear of getting minute teflon bits floating around in the stream and clogging the pressure regulator in the pump cover. I've seen this warning on three sets of instructions and am beginning to believe it is valid. However, I also want to position the threaded parts (all are 1/2" pipe thread fittings, and not the hose terminations) just so and was relying on the teflon tape for a tight fit AND a little flexibility on final position.
Berg recommends reaming and tapping the hole such that the part fits as desired and then sealing it with Locktite or equivalent. The reaming and tapping part doesn't always give you the final part position as you want, so which locktite have you other folks been using and how well does it hold? Can I get up to 90 degrees of turn on a threaded part and still have it seal and lock the part in place or do I have to be a stickler with my tap to get the part placement just so and then locktite it and thread it on?

Also, I have a Berg extractor exhaust with Dual Quiet Pack mufflers, which doesn't leave a whole lot of room back there for the cooler and filter. I'm hoping that having the filter 1" in front of the muffler won't be a problem with oil flowing through it and air normally flowing around it and THEN back past the muffler. I'll also be heat shielding the hoses to and from the engine as best I can - we'll see how well all of this works.

Anybody have suggestions?

I'll be getting "before" pictures posted tomorrow and maybe the rough positioning pictures of the filter and cooler, then on to the thermostat and relay wiring, the drilling and tapping of the case, installation of the new pump, installing the hoses, filling the system with oil and then the initial start-up.

Sounds like fun, eh?

Suggestions from anyone who's done this will be appreciated!!

Thanks, Gordon
(Finally finished the wife's greenhouse and needed something else to do before the Volks/Vair show in August)

Gordon,

I'm a refrigeration mechanic, and a card-carrying, dues-paying union pipefitter (local 353). If you don't want to use teflon on the threads, and want a hard set on the threads- don't use lock-tight, use a "locking" type pipe dope. Gasolia makes the most commonly used one, but there is also a product called "Leak-Lock" sold in refrigeration supply houses that sets hard, but lubricates the threads for as tight fit during assembly. Gasolia would be fine for what you are doing, but it comes in containers that are bigger than what you are after- the Leak-Lock comes in small tubes for about $6. Leak-Lock comes in blue (original) or mustard yellow (teflon). Get the original.

Gordon,
A couple of years ago, I did a Raby Aircooled Type IV into a Speedster , Jake recommended a Mesa oil cooler. I mounted the cooler verticle in the left center of the wheel well area and also a remote oil filter mounted in the rear of the inner wheel well on the driver's side .
Fabricated a sheet metal half round heat/rock shield for the remote HP 1 filter set up and screened the oil cooler with 1/4" square holed stainless steel hardware cloth.
Pipe thread fittings with some blue (removable) Loc-Tite does the trick for secure sealing of the fittings.

Stan and Al:

Thanks for the advice. I'll look for the locking goop later today while running errands. Worse to worse I can get some from the guys who recently installed my central air (they really liked the Speedster).
I was surprised at how adamant Berg was about not using teflon tape, but I suspect that his pressure regulator design (spring loaded ball into a concave seat) is really sensitive to particles that might stick to the valve assy and keep it open (poof! - no pressure) It's a design that makes a really good filter mandatory.

I already made up a 1/2" heavy wire mesh shield for the cooler (had some left from the greenhouse), and will be mounting the cooler just to the rear of center in the left rear wheel well, with the filter just behind the cooler and a little more down and inboard so it tucks in just behind the valve cover (so nothing gets in the way of valve adjustments) and ahead of the muffler. Only have about an inch of clearance 'tween the muffler and filter, but the filter is in front so I think air flow will be OK. Hadn't thought of a stone shield (did consider a heat shield) and will look into that today. Placement had to consider where the hoses route to minimize heat from the exhaust so I did the best I could. Biggest problem back there is the 225 X 16 tire taking up most of the space so cooler/filter/line placement was a challenge to avoid exhaust heat but they should be OK where I have them.

Once I get everything mounted I can make a schematic of it and figure out hose lengths and terminations and a local hose guy will be making up the hoses slightly long, terminating one end and then I'll come back and fit them for final length and last end orientation to the hose, get'em finished and installed.

Still waiting for the case drilling and tapping instructions from Berg (they left them out of the order) and will report on that once I get to that part.

That's it for now.....stay tuned......gn

Gordon,

Following this with interest ahead of my engine swap this winter - certainly adding a filter and probably an oil cooler as well.

Simon

I wanted to use a 16-pass Derale cooler with an integral fan (which I already had invested in, picture 1) which has dimensions of 10

The existing oil gallery hole (behind the aluminum plug in picture 1) is about 3/8

Gorden....I'm relocating my cooler (or coolers) to both the left and right wheel wells also. Originally I had plans to move everything up front but then relized that it would take about 22' of line to get the oil there and back...too far. I'm running into the same things you are...no space and difficulty with the lines. I'm running teflon lines just to the first union then rubber lines for the rest. My idea is to get past the header with the high temp./high pressure expensive lines then I'm in the clear for using rubber line, helps keep the cost down. I'm getting my fitting/lines from
Bakers Precision, (www.bakerprecision.com/)a great place to go for this stuff. The rubber lines they have are really high quality.

I'll be taking footnotes on your setup, the mesh over the oil cooler is a good tip. One thing I'm doing that's a little different is shimming the cooler assembly off the mounting suface by one inch in hopes of pushing cool air through the cooler. Anyway looking forward to the results.

J-P

I spaced mine off too JP. On the top I used 1x1 square tubing on end with the mounting bolts running up the tube, to space the fan off the inner fender liner. On the bottom I used 6" of 1x1 square to allow me to bolt the cooler below the bottom of the fender liner. I didn't bother with a screen. I'm running the fan so it draws throught the cooler. I can't quite understand your problems with the oil lines. I just ran mine from the pump to the filter, which is just on the other side of the fender from the cooler, then from the filter to the cooler and back to the engine. It was all pretty straight forward. If you can't get the lines to clear the header, maybe put a bracket in there to hold the lines away from the header?

So your pulling air through the cooler instead of pushing? Does this make a differance? I'm curious on that one. As for the header...I'm using a very tight to the body header/muffler from CSP, not much room for anything but I'll make it work.

Before I had the cooler up above the trans. This is great for getting the cooler out of the way but not much air gets up there. My suspicions were confirmed when I made a temp. duct that fed air up in that area, oil temps went down by about 10 deg. I think that the cooler above the trans works well until all the air up there start recirculating, no new cool air just heated air from the cooler getting pushed back over the hot cooler. I bet it's like a little convection oven up there after a long drive.

How long have you had that setup with the cooler in the fender? Did you try the cooler in other places before? Any problems from road debris getting at the cooler. Lastly does the fan still work after driving in the rain. Sorry for all the questions...just trying to see what pitfalls if any are coming my way.

Thanks, J-P

My set-up sounds like Ron's for closeness to each other and the pump. I figure I'll have, at most, about six feet of hose needed. I went with the stainless braided everywhere for three reasons: Solidly crimped ends (I'm not doing them!), better resistance to heat from the headers and better resistance to road debris. Oh yeah, and I didn't think that the rubber hose was as good at containing 125 lbs. of oil pressure, especially after reading several times on here about blown hoses, fittings or oil filters due to high pressure.

My cooler has a mounting bracket on each end that spaces it away from the mounting surface by about 5/8" and Derale says this is enough space for adequate flow for the fan to pull air through it. Good thing, too, cause there isn't a lot of room between the top of the fan housing and the wheel when everyhting's installed - maybe 4 inches.

Weather has cooled here so I'll be out there today plugging along - hope to get the engine cleaned up and re-assembled and get everything else mounted in final trim, then to the Hose Guy tomorrow with my list of hoses.

gn

Gordon,

I mounted mine in front of the rear wheel. Even though there is more room behind the wheel I thought it would get cooler air in front of the wheel away from the exhaust. I would also guess it would see less debris in front.

I can snap some pics if you would like.

Just my $.02,

Jerome

Road debri is also a concern of mine too. Mounting the cooler in front of the wheel is not a bad way to go...the cooler will keep away from the heads and exhaust there. I'm gambling that there is enough air flow behind the rear wheels so it won't be a problem. We will see.

As for the hose...doing stainless everywhere is just too difficult for me to get the hose just the right length as it requires a shop to assemble the hoses for you. You have to know exactly what size you need before installing. If you can do it more power to you but....you've got to see this hose I bought.

www.bakerprecision.com/aqp1.htm

It's got an extra heavy duty sheild around it for high pressure and durability. My plan is to use teflon steel braded hose around the header where the heat is (normal steel braded line is just rubber hose with a stainless sleave..might not take the heat) to the first union then use the Aeroquip every where else. I'll also use both
mechanical and electrical thermostats to control the oil temp.

Anyway..this is my plan. I'm hoping this system will keep the car nice and cool through 100 deg. temps. Anyone else have experiance with mounting the coolers in this local?

J-P

JP and Jerome:

I found a local hose guy who will be making up the hoses to the length I give him, which should be, at first, an inch or two too long with only one end crimped. Then I bring them home and connect the finished end, run to the next location, measure the exact length I need AND mark the orientation of the second end if necessary, then run them back to the hose guy for the final crimp and they're done.

Cost quoted was $6.18/foot for teflon/Stainless braided hose, and $10.50 per end (crimped) so I figured the cost wasn't too bad.

I'll be running just a fan thermostat (not mechanical) so it may warm up slowly, but that's probably OK.

gn

I hear ya....The teflon stuff is the best. One thing you might want to try is buying cheap hose (even garden hose) at a hardware store and mock up each section so you know the exact length. Every bend in the line will add to the length. This may end up reducing the # of trips to the hose assembly guy. Maybe the key with the stainless stuff is to really know each length of hose so you can find a nice routing for each peice of line.

Just a thought....J-P

I went with pulling air instead of pushing as I figured I didn't want to have the fan pushing air into the restricted space between the cooler and the fender liner. It probably doesn't matter, but I like the idea of pulling better.

The tire path clears the cooler, but not the fan. If it throws a rock it will miss the cooler for sure, and likely miss the fan as well. There is not too much clearance between the tire and the corner of the cooler, so if I shred a tire I might be in trouble. As for water, I used heat shrink on all connections so they will stay dry. I generally don't drive the car in the rain anyways, but if I get caught out, it will be OK.

My exhaust runs out the other side of the car so I don't have that heat source near the cooler.

You guys worry too much! I used 250psi rubber 'insta-grip' hose that doesn't need clamps or connectors when used with the matching hose barb fittings. I have one line coming within about 1/2" of a header pipe. Not even a hint of overheating the hose. As a further example, I have a rubber sealing/gasket that I use to seal the engine tin to the car and it touches up against a header tube in one spot and has yet to melt the rubber. I must admit I am a bit surprised about that!

"I generally don't drive in the rain anyways." For a guy that lives in the Vancouver area....that's FUNNY!
Ron

Your right Ron...I'm making this much more of an issue than it really is. I guess I'm taking it a little too far. So how does your car perform with the added cooler?

J-P

My max temp is much lower, and the operating temp is also more consistent. I definitely needed to install the cooler.

Not much danger of rain these days Ron...

Ah-ha! Something I can really offer some advice on which I really know what I am talking about (seeing as how I am paid a somewhat meagre number of your American Dollars to know this sort of thing for the likes of the Big Three (capitals intentional), Europeans and Transplants.

Regarding the question of whether the fan should push or pull air through the cooler; the location of the fan does not matter so much as the absence of any serious blockage of the airflow both upstream and downstream of the cooler/fan module. Unless a fan is specifically designed for a precise application and location on a vehicle then it will be equally efficient if placed either upstream or downstream of the heat exchanger.

The critical things to be aware of in any system are, firstly, avoiding any blockages in the airflow. Obviously, in the case of any vehicle the best place to put any type of heat exchanger is right at the front where all the 'wind' is found. However, evidently it is not practical in a rear engined vehicle. (Although if you ever get the change to look at a Porsche Boxster you will see not one but two heat exchangers located just forward of the front wheel wells; a lot of tubing on that car I can tell you!) Aside from fashioning a rather nifty piece of headgear on which to place the oil cooler (avoid sudden head movements - you could throttle yourself - NOT cool (pun intended)) the next best location is the rear wheel well as discussed above, and in this case the back of the wheel well is better and mounting the cooler as vertical as possible so that the airflow into the module does not have to perform convoluted manoeuvres (yes, that's how I spell it) to travel into and across the fins of the cooler. Therefore, always try to ensure that there is as unrestricted airflow as possible both upstream and downstream of the module. In this case mounting the cooler off of the wheel well with spacers is a v. good thing, but I would try to increase the space as much as possible without causing any issues with clearance to other items (wheel obviously, suspension, etc.).

The second critical thing to try to achieve when mounting the cooler is to avoid any recirculation of air around and through the cooler. Any heat exchanger is only as efficient as the temperature of the air it is using to dissipate heat. If the air travelling through the cooler has already been raised in temperature, then the efficiency drops right off. If it is possible, you could try constructing some sort of ducting to direct downstream air out of the wheel well and under the vehicle. This would also have the added benefit of dumping out the air in to a low pressure area and in turn would 'pull' more air through the upstream cooler.

I am not familiar with the oil cooler and fan module setup for air cooled VW's per se, but I would assume that there is a thermostat that determines the oil temp and then calls for the fan to increase airflow when a set point os reached. The biggest complaint I hear about from engineers and moanagers (as they are known) at car companies is fan noise. You'd think with a great lump of metal between them and the fan there would be nothing to hear, but you would be wrong. Placing a fan literally 1 metre from your left ear with nothing between you and it but a couple of sheets of fibreglass may be worse, especially if the fan is constantly cycling on and off in an effort to maintain oil temps. Therefore, if ever I were to install an oil cooler myself the main focus would be to maximise unassisted airflow as much as possible so that the fan would rarely, if ever, be used and then only when driving hard.

The engine cooling fan on even the most basic vehicles today is used for perhaps only 5-10% of the time the engine is running to lower the coolant temperature. Mostly it is used when you turn on the AC.

Apologies, for the long post but it's a bit slow here this morning!

Jim.

I've always thought that an oil cooler mounted closer to the front of the vehicle would be the best solution. Below is a picture of a 911S cooler mounted by the front beam on my single cab, to help cool the 911 motor. Note that the oil lines have been in the vehicle since 1988 (68,000 miles) and there are no leaks. With this cooler the temperatures never go over 200 degrees while on the freeway, even when the outside temperatures reach the mid 80's.
Ron

I'd have to agree with you Ron but I always wonder about the oil pressure and the drop in HP to push that much oil there and back. I think I'd go that way if I had a dry sump system with a pump that pulled and pushed the oil there and back. I took a measurement on how far the lines would have to go and that's 22'....too long for the pump I'm using. What size line are you using Ron? What's your oil pressure.

Also thanks for the input Jim. I share many of the same thoughts.

J-P

You have a point JP. Since the 911 in my single cab is a dry sump I never gave it much thought, but it could be a problem for a type one motor.
Ron

I went over to a local Harley motorcycle builder yesterday to get my O2 sensor welded onto my header. While there, I was admiring one of his choppers - looked like one of those that you see on the Chopper Build shows on TV - super nice and super clean.

We got talking about the oil cooler I'm adding, and he showed me that he (and, I guess, a large number of other chopper builders) use the bike frame as an oil sump/tank, which also means he uses the frame as an oil cooler - typically gets 2 - 4 US quarts in there, depending on the frame, and that usually keeps the oil temp with Harley specs, although some bikes may run warmer than others.

I was amazed (shows how much I know!) and wondered how well it REALLY cooled. He told me that, after the rings and bearings are seated in, he switches over to full synthetic oil and typically sees a 20 to 30 degree temp drop with synthetics (!!!!) which usually brings things well within Harley operating specs.

I have to get out more to these places - I learn something good each time I visit one of these places.

FYI - Remembered from programme on Discovery channel about this bike builder who has a patent covering the use of the frame as an oil cooler.

Jim.

patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=/netahtml/srchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=5,975,230.WKU.&OS=PN/5,975,230&RS=PN/5,975,230

Jim, you made a good point also about not having to rely on the fan to get engine temps down, only occasionally when driving demands. Also....yes I'll be running both a mechanical thermostat (to control oil to the coolers) and an electrical thermostat (to control the fans). Right now the electrical thermo is set too low I think...I'd rather have it kick on when the engine needs it. Currently the electrical themo is set around 70C...to low.

J-P

J-P: Yeah, that sounds like a tad low. Took a look at mine (then had to chase my dog around after he stole the box) and it is stamped "82C" on the side which, I guess, is about 180F. If this set-up can keep everything down under 93C (200F) when running on a hot day I'll be thrilled.

gn

I thought of a couple of things that might make this easier in the future (sorry, Dad :)).

1. I don't know what kinds of materials the case is made out of, but having a few magnets stuck right near where you're drilling / tapping / reaming help out tremendously if you're working with something you can stick a magnet to.

2. Everyone should invest in a magnetic oil drain plug. In this case, you may pick up a few filings in the pan that you wouldn't have normally, but it's good for just normal engine operation anyway. Your local auto parts store should have them.

3. The last time I drilled a hole like this when the motor was still assembled and in the car (turbocharging a non-turbo car), I also made up a plastic "bubble" around the drill. I had the shop vac hose duct taped into that bubble too, and it worked awesome for picking up a lot of the metal dust that usually gets all over the place.

Hope this helps!!

Chris

Well, the case is aluminum, hence no magnatic help there, but the magnetic drain plug is a darn good idea..

Berg (and others on here) have recommended a "Cow Magnet" attached to the sump tube with a small hose clamp. A Cow Magnet is available from either a farm supply store (Agway or Farm Bureau Feeds in the Northeast) or you can get them from Gene Berg. They're about 1/2" diameter and 2" long and are meant to be fed to a cow to pick up metal things that a cow inadvertantly eats (like nails, fence staples and wire barbs), to be passed out with normal digestion.

Clamped onto the sump inlet tube inside the engine, they pick up anything magnetic and hold onto it until the magnet is removed, cleaned of what it picked up and replaced - usually during an oil change. The Berg guys highly recommend them, and I got one at Agway yesterday - what the heck, it's only $1.50 USD.

The continuing saga of the External Oil Cooler installation

Everything was securely mounted, and all of the NPT fittings were gooped up with hydraulic sealer and installed to the proper depths and orientations. Then, all of the hoses (each one made to a custom length) were installed and tightened EXCEPT for the pump fitting which was left off for now. The pump outlet and the case return hoses were routed in the middle between the #3 and #4 exhaust pipes - they are short enough that I don

Gordon

Super nice installation!
The 1/2" hardware cloth will deflect most small road trash that might get kicked up toward the oil cooler .
A suggestion, since the filter is somewhat close the rear tire.....add a sheet metal shield in a 180' radius around the oil filter to deflect any stones etc. I did one with a 1/4" to 3/8" off set from the filter.
Alan M.

Gordon...I got my setup working just this weekend. It was a real pain as you know but so far so good. I'm running two fan powered 11"x11" coolers in both left and right fenders behind the wheels using 1" spacers to back the coolers off the wall so air can get around (exactly where you have yours). The coolers get oil when the thermostat opens at 170 deg. and the fans turn on when the oil temp hits 200...I changed out the last themo.. I also used a one way valve to keep oil up in the lines after the engine is turned off. That little piece was fifty dollars just for the valve and connections to it...jeeeez! Lastly the fans turn on via relay to keep the thermo switch from melting and that relay is controlled by another relay (spliced off from the 02 gauge) so when the iginition is off the fans turn off. Anyway everything was buttoned up and I took the car for a test drive after getting oil pressure up and checking for leaks...(one leak found...easy fix).

Test conditions...90 deg day in Califrornia....took the car on the highway and drove the car at a really good clip for approximatley one hour. Oil temp came up in about ten minutes....then seemed to stabilize....I pulled over to see if the fans came on and they turned on only after I stopped the car. Seems Like the car uses the fans intermittently to cool itself off. Oil temp stayed at the halfway point on the needle (about 200-210 according to the meat thermo) and seemed to stay there....very little fluctuation. Also the oil pressure didn't seem to change from previous setup...everytthing is good so far.

I think I've solved the issue...want to do a test drive out in the valley where it gets 100 deg. + out and see how she does. I also wonder how the system will do when it gets a chilly 55 deg. out here. I'll drive the car this week and see how she does for daily usage. Hopefully everything works out . Can't believe there are no oil leaks with all the connections...we will see.

J-P

Alan:

Thought about the filter shield (you had mentioned that before) but I was in a hurry to get it done and make the Hebert's show. That's something I can retro-fit easily, so I'll look for a suitable piece of metal and fab one up. It just makes sense not to lose the filter to a stray rock (and I already added a filter to my spares kit - gonna need a trailer like Cory's pretty soon just to carry all this stuff around!)

J-P: I didn't go the exotic route with all of the valves and stuff, as everyone I had talked with told me that drain-down isn't a problem, and, to be honest the level is about the same right after I stop as it is a couple of hours later. Everything is air-tight in the system so my one Sophomore course in fluid dynamics tells me that it should all stay there until I take something apart and introduce air.

All I have for control is an in-line thermostat which drives a relay which drives the fan motor. I also didn't bother angling the cooler from the inner fender wall (except for where the wall curves slightly), and have it spaced out on it's normal mounting bracket so it has about 5/8" clearance. It's mounted such that the tubes are horizontal, and the airflow has to come in the top and/or bottom, gets sucked through by the fan and out toward the wheel. Mounting the cooler and filter as I have, I only have about 3 feet of hose (but there are five hoses!) - most of it away from the exhaust pipes - and there are a LOT of terminations so that drove the cost up a bit.

Now for the end result. Before, I had a full set of stock 1971 German cooling tins and fan, with the larger doghouse and cooler, a fully sealed engine compartment with an opening in my firewall for fresh air to the fan. On a hot day, running a continuous 3500 rpm for over 30 minutes, the temp would run up to 215 - 220 plus, depending on the ambient air temp and altitude (I live at sea level. Moving inland and higher made it run slightly hotter).

With this cooler set-up, running 3200 - 3700 rpm for an hour inland to the Hebert show (GPS altitude was 514 ft. at the show), ambient temp 77 - 80 (F), it ran up to 200 F and sat there like a rock until I hit stop-and-go traffic half way there, where it climbed to 205 and sat there until I got past the stoppage and sped back up and it went quickly back to 200 F.

I am wicked pleased, especially with the fan whisper-quiet so I never know if it's on or off. We almost never see days here close to 100, and I'm pretty sure I'll be golden up through the 90's at this rate, and if not, I probably wouldn't want to be out there in it anyway!!!

Funny thing, though - my wife followed me to the show in her car (she insisted on bringing "Speedy-Dri", not me) and when we got there she said "Why were you going so fast? We were running 75 to 80 all the way up here!!" Then she got agrivated at my big grin.

Shades of Jim-Bob..........

Next project will be trying out a clear Plexiglass anti-wind-buffet shield attached to the Roll Bar!! Make it look like an Audi TT!!

Gordon
"one of the Speedstah Guys from Rhode Island"

Sounds great! As long as your happy and the car is running cool. As for me...I just wanted to be able to cruise all over CA without worry for overheating, the wine country area gets real hot..I'll be going to Monterey Historic races next weekend, that's why the big rush for the cooling.

As for the TT look...be carefull about the roll bar stuff....in a rear collision your head will be traveling right towards that bar. Rear collisions are something that we cannot control too much....as a frontal collision you can at least dodge a car and/or brake. If you do add a bar, also add a headrest.

My next project....195/60 R15 tires.


Glad to hear everything went OK.

J-P

Yup - got the roll bar and got the headrests, too, thanks to 914 seats.

I mocked up a roll bar "window" made of wall paneling and it actually improves things. The really severe buffets are gone, although you still get some nice breezes around you.

Next step is to sit there and look at it for a while and decide the best way of holding it in there. Thought of snaps, but don't know for sure if I like the idea. Also thought of a narrow channel bent to fit the curve of the bar and mounted with the channel opening facing down, then slide the window up into the channel and fasten it down below the tonneau cover level. Might look cleaner, but I think bending that channel will be somethin! We'll see.

Always gotta have that next project to look forward to!

hey gordon... how about you come on down to phoenix and install mine... then I'll take you out for a round of golf as payment. Ive got the same fan... but I cant imagine putting it where you did... Scares me to think of it so close to my wheel. How loud is the actual fan... I was thinking behind backseat in the empty space between it and the engine bay then ducting air to it. ;)

Nic - re-read my project notes, as I decided that putting it above the tranny in that "dead space" would introduce too much warm air to the engine fan, or wouldn't get enough cool air to the cooler, or both.

Shouldn't be a big deal having it close to , but inside of the track width of the wheel - besides, you can add a mesh screen as I did to deflect any stones or debris. Not a big deal. I think George Brown and several others have theirs moounted similarly.

Nice to see you've landed in Sunny Arizona.....I hope to soon be wintering in (Much warmer) South Carolina, not far from Brian Hawthornwaite. Figure that, this way, I can extend my Speedster year to 12 months instead of 5 :>)