As I'm nearing the point of turning the key after 3 years of work I thought I would share what I did for a front oil cooler. First off it's a 75 chassis that has a 911 3.0 installed. Living in Florida I knew a oil cooler was a must. After looking at what was done in the past by others I decided to go a different route. My criteria was I wanted to be able to use the front trunk as a trunk. This will be a street,AX and DE machine. So based on that I went about laying this out in my head. Once I had a basic plan I started buying parts. First off was a MB oil cooler from a diesel. It's made by Behr and well built. I then came up with my mount which basically is two 1/4-20 by 6 inch long bolts welded to the tub facing forward. The cooler has two hoops that slide over the bolts. I made some stand offs to keep the cooler spaced away from the tub for good air flow. I used -12AN hose to go from the cooler to the rear mounted Mocal thermostat. I wanted to keep the length of the hoses to a minimum so I ran them straight back. Under the tub just off center are two channels in the tub. I glued tie down plates to the tub and zip tied the lines tight to the floor. In the rear is the normal routing to engine,thermostat and oil tank. Yes I know my setup is more vunerable to a front end crash or doing something stupid but 911's have had front mounted coolers for a long time mounted up front and low so it can be done. I will be making some stand off blocks in the trunk just high enough to have a front mounted full size spare and then the carpeted cover. Will barely be noticeable to the common eye. I know this isn't for everyone but I'd thought I'd share now that I have everything installed. I am now fabricating a stock valance to have a cutout/snout around the cooler similiar to a early 911 RS valance. Hopefully the pics will show it off.

Not bad ... you did what I was going to do, except I was going to run copper or aluminum tube underneath the car for additional cooling.

Nice job --- it'll work.

what kind of debris protection is going over it?

oh, and nice location/install. =-)

If you are familiar with 911 RS's of the 70's they had a valance/spoiler that basically " boxed " the cooler and had a mesh screen. That is what I am attempting to reproduce. I might even consider fabricating a crash bar under the cooler like the 911's have under front mounted AC condensors. Lots of ideas in my head we'll see how good it looks when done.

Damn, I have the mesh screen and bump bar from an '82 Cab ... get outta my brain. That's what I was going to use for cooler protection. Was going to mount an 11" X 14" Long Tru Cool flat like the A/C condenser.

I might just have what you're looking for!!! And I'm wanting to sell it!

Here's some pics for ya!

Let me know!

It's out of the GT Racing catalog

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

-Josh2

I like the placement. Are you sure you want to trust the zip ties. I think I'd use a clamp like the one pictured below. Much stronger and is secured with a bolt, not glue.

Josh please PM me more details.......price,size of cutout. I did look at that about a year ago and that's part of the reason I did my cooler this way. Weird how this might work out.

Slits if I'm starting to think like you I'm in bigger trouble than I thought ! Seriously why reinvent the wheel when Porsche has already layed the ground work. I have a 83SC with AC so I have studied the front protection and will graft something similiar.

jmill I work in the defense contractor business so I do have access to these clamps you have in the pic. However I didn't want to drill the holes into the floor pan. I ground the paint/primer to bare metal and glued the tie plates with JB weld so I don't think they are easily coming off. The zip ties I used are pretty heavy duty but surely not as strong as the clamps. I guess once I get the car running and get some heat cycles thru the hoses I'll see if there are any issues. I guess I could safety wire them in case a zip tie let go. Good feedback thanks.

I would guess the first tech inspector that sees the zip ties will fail the car for the reasons mentioned. I realize you were worried about the fluid head losses but most racers run the oil lines up the outside of the longitudinals behind the covers or through the boxes for protection. If the car bottoms out then all will be ripped away very quickly and in all probability you would never be able to save the engine and anyone behind you will be really pissed off!

I had the race car bottom several times and once was when going over a curb at PIR and another time was on a track which was flat but you can't argue with gravity! In those cases the bolts that held my race seat down and were only a washer and nut thickness off the bottom were wiped nearly clean off the car.

Interesting. I run my 911SC with a huge belly mounted AC condensor and all the associated lines under the car. It is lowered to Euro height ( much lower than the 914 ) and have never scraped anything. I have done 3 years of PCA AX and one DE and no one ever said a thing nor did I bottom out. Maybe I'm not pushing hard enough . Your feedback is appreciated, I'm thinking outside the box and minor tweeking may be needed. However I'm not changing the placement of the lines.

It's probably better that they're flexible braided lines though. If they were hard lines, one bottoming out on a gator strip at the track, and they'd be permanently dented, possibly leading to failure. The braided lines will bend, and flex, and still come back to allow oil to flow. Still, the zip ties might not fly with a tech inspector. I would find a way to get those clamps on there.

-Josh2

Nice installation! You went out of your way to avoid what I consider the bane of conversions... loss of the front trunk.

Some of the GTs used a similar setup. I've got a pic somewhere. They simply used some steel tubing to protect the cooler from getting beaten up too badly.

All you need is a few inches behind the cooler to get a good air flow, so this should work just fine ...
Andy

I was thinking something like a single chin bar in front of the cooler at the bottom edge.

-Josh2

While I admire "thinking outside the box", I can see no reason to mount
a cooler & lines in harms way when good protection is easily available.

'back in the day' I had the same setup.



I ran the lines behind the passenger side rocker panel though.

I eventually moved it inside the front trunk and vented the exhaust upwards. Here's a pic without the front airdam & splitter showing the cooler.

Click to view attachment


Good job though! My first setup worked well. I'm sure it will work well for you too.

Why can't hard oil lines be plumbed through the longs?

I used to have the GT spoiler on my first 914 with the oil cooler, the cooler was only the size of the opening and i think a 4 pass but it did do a good job on the 2ltr 4. I ran braided line down the underside recessed channels. The only problem i ever had in many years of driving is when i hit a retread on the highway at 2am in the middle of Montana, it took out the cooler but the lines were still there.....

FYI i went through about 4 of those spoilers over the years because of the low clearance.

Thanks everyone for the feedback it is appreciated. You've given me a few ideas about the clamp mounts that I may incorporate. Just a few things.
1. This is not a race car, as I stated in my original post it is street , AX and DE.
2. Yes I may incorporate a chin bar to be safe. However the bottom of the cooler is over 6 1/2 inches off the pavement. Yes I could hit a street curb but it's going to hit the suspension pieces also and I've never had that happen in any car I've driven.
3. I don't accept that just because the oil lines are exposed that they are an accident waiting to happen. The oil lines on almost every 911 since 1970 has oil lines exposed on the outside of the passenger side rocker. Yes they are hard bronze lines but they are right in line with debris flying off the front right tire.
4. As stated Porsche did install a front cooler just like I have on the 914 GT but yes they also mounted them in the trunk. So that's a push ?
5. My 911SC is set to Euro height and I have a AC belly condensor that is almost the full width of the car mounted directly under the seats. It is exactly 4 inches off the pavement. I've been running this car with this condensor at this height for aprox. 3 years and have never even scraped it on anything. That includes AX and DE.

Just saying I did my homework and for me I have a good solution based on my experiences with my 911 and other Porsches. It doesn't mean I'm right and time will tell if I am. It's all good.

Doesn't matter, track is track. And off-track excursions can happen anytime you're on a track. And have seen how much damage a cone can inflict at 50 mph? I have...



A cone stands taller, and going off-track at speed can encounter all manner of low lying obstacles.

-Josh2

Still... I love the look, and the best part is that it doesn't cut any big holes...

-Josh2

Yes things can happen you can't plan for every " what if ". To be honest I went " off " at turn one at Sebring in my 911SC. Was going about 60 mph and went over the curb and did some off roading. Didn't hit the wall and neither my belly AC condensor, front AC condensor or my chin spoiler were damaged. I inspected both condensors and neither had any scrape marks on them. Both of these items aprox. 2 inches lower than my oil cooler on the 914. And remember I'm going to " box in " the cooler with a sheet metal shroud similiar to early RS 911's so it will be protected. Plus a screen will be in front of the cooler.

I do some thinking also. I passed this way bout 10 years back. Everything is out of harms way. The spare is gone tho..... a small inconvience. I haven't had a flat in 30 years. If you think you have it handled, it must be true.
An old pic

Crappy pic, but you get the idea ...

There is a huge difference between breaking open your A/C system if it should ever happen and the oil system. There was a very nice 911 totaled at the PCA CA Speedway race last year due to oil dropped from a car in front when a filter seal failed at speed going into turn one. It was a fine German oil filter if I was told right? The front mounted coolers all had protective louvered covers as stock I think to protect them, at least our 930 did.

Right on man (a man with experience is never at the mercy of a man with a argument)

Known as " ADEL" clamps.

is this a track car? did I miss that statement somewhere?
John learned his track lessons at the race track. I wish I could tally all the money I have saved from his bits of wisdom shared here and at 914 club.com

.....Placing your OIL LINES on the bottom of the floorpan makes no sense.,road or track debris can rip the oil lines off the car. (one poster already gave you an example of what happened to him).....If it happens, in a turn, oil will spray onto your rear tires,......instant spin....IF you hit a cornor barrier, concrete wall, another car ETC,ETC....I hope you are wearing a "HANS-DEVICE" so you don't snap your neck. BE sensible...relocate the oil lines whereby they are PROTECTED.