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Posted by: moparrob Mar 12 2011, 06:51 PM

Today was productive.

I fabbed the bracket to mount the cooler, some attachment points in the front trunk and painted everything when I was done. Some pics:

mounting point before paint:



Painted mounting point:



bracket without cooler:





bracket with cooler:





A good day overall. Now to decide on the air inlet and exhaust configuration, as well as where to run the oil lines.

I was thinking about mounting some puller fans behind the bracket. Any suggestions on the best place to source these?

Posted by: 396 Mar 13 2011, 07:11 AM

Looks great, is that cooler an oil Porsche unit or an Mazda?

Posted by: jmill Mar 13 2011, 09:39 AM

Looks good. White cars are so cool. They make touch up and spot painting so easy.

Wish Home Depot had Zambesi on the shelf.

Posted by: McMark Mar 13 2011, 11:46 AM

I'm using http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/SPAL-4-Paddle-Blade-PULL-12V-Fan-Motorcycle-ATV- _W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem2c5b1cdab8QQitemZ190507178680QQptZMotorcyclesQ5fPart
sQ5fAccessories#ht_500wt_956 on a project.

Posted by: Eric_Shea Mar 13 2011, 12:31 PM

Looks great. Hey did you see John Petersons oil tank thing? Maybe you could buy his old tank and have it stripped and repaired.

Posted by: moparrob Mar 13 2011, 12:41 PM

Thanks.

The cooler is indeed an RX-7 unit that I had some AN -12 fittings welded to. It should work fine.

I am going to use one of GPR/Patrick's tanks in the stock location, but the Peterson tank looked cool too.

Thanks for the tip on those fans.

Posted by: SirAndy Mar 13 2011, 05:15 PM

Looks good but i would highly recommend to mount that cooler using rubber spacers.

I don't think a hard mounted cooler will last long.

Posted by: jt914-6 Mar 13 2011, 06:03 PM

I would also say that you should consider using radius type 90 degree connectors for the cooler for better flow and less restriction like the ones in the pic....

Posted by: moparrob Mar 13 2011, 08:50 PM

Thanks Andy. I wasn't aware that vibration would affect the cooler.

What do you use without raising it too much higher? Some high durometer rubber spacers?

Any suggestions without having to re-engineer the whole thing?

Posted by: moparrob Mar 13 2011, 08:54 PM

That's interesting, because when I asked the guy at the local hydraulic hose and fitting shop, Orme Brothers, that question he said that given the pressure and flow volumes we use in the automotive applications there is not a measurable improvement from one fitting over the other. It seemed to make sense and he was very emphatic, so I bought the tight 90s.

Posted by: brp986s Mar 13 2011, 09:57 PM

Speaking of better flow and less restriction - on how many mid or rear engined cars with front coolers did Porsche put the thermostat in front? I'm going to guess zero.

Posted by: moparrob Mar 13 2011, 10:23 PM

I found this in McMaster-Carr. Do you think this would be adequate? It even has an 8mm hole through it for my mounting bolt.

Posted by: jt914-6 Mar 14 2011, 07:11 AM

Even thought Porsche may not have put the thermostat up front many of us have and that doesn't make it wrong....it's not the popular spot for it but mine and others work fine with it there....and what does that location have to do with flow and restriction???

Posted by: J P Stein Mar 14 2011, 07:43 AM

And how much flow & pressure is there?
Sure, I know one & have a SWAG on the other but ask to see if your salesman does.

BTW,Mounting the thermo up front makes the pump work harder moving oil....particularly when cold....but seems to be an OK way of plumbing it in.

Posted by: jeff Mar 14 2011, 10:54 AM

Always nice to make some progress! Give me a ring when you get a chance..I've been working on my conversion also....


Attached image(s)

Posted by: SirAndy Mar 14 2011, 11:22 AM

Dunno ...

I mounted mine "floating" to minimize stress on any mounting points.
It sits in two channels that are padded ...

Posted by: jeff Mar 14 2011, 01:07 PM

I've used this style http://www.mcmaster.com/#rubber-isolators/=bfktec to mount my fuel pump,ignition box on another car I'm working on and they've worked great but everyone has there own fabrication ideas .....

Posted by: jeff Mar 14 2011, 01:08 PM

I've used this style http://www.mcmaster.com/#rubber-isolators/=bfktec to mount my fuel pump,ignition box on another car I'm working on and they've worked great but everyone has there own fabrication ideas .....

Posted by: moparrob Mar 14 2011, 02:17 PM

Thanks for ther input Jeff. I think Neoprene will be a better material than PVC since it is heat rated to 180F vs 105F.

We do need to get together after work one day and meet. Perhaps Wednesday night or Thursday night this week?

Posted by: McMark Mar 14 2011, 03:50 PM

The idea of a 'floating' cooler is that if the chassis twists, the cooler doesn't. A twisting cooler can workharden the aluminum and crack. There are a million ways to do it, but the 'rule of thumb' is that a bolt/fastener should never touch the cooler and the chassis/bracket at the same time.

Posted by: moparrob Mar 14 2011, 04:52 PM

Well, that does make sense. Perhaps I can re-configure my bracket with some offset mounts out to the inside and use those vibration isolators between the bracket and the cooler.

Here is where it presently 'hard' mounts.



It looks like all I would need to do is add another vertical stabilizer about 1 to 2 inces in from there to fit whatever isolator I can find.