O.K. I'm making progress on my conversion and I'm ready to start installing the oil tank. I have the DW Design aluminum tank and I've cut out the inner fender to accommodate the tank but haven't mounted it yet. I have a few questions on the oil line routing. The forward oil line ( the one under the relay board ) I think I have to cut a hole in the sheet metal to route the line to the engine or thermostat is that right? Has anyone ever used the hole for the engine tray drain lines? I know this is not as direct as a forward hole but it's already drilled and I'm not running a engine tray so the hole isn't being used. And the bottom line from the tank can I see some pics of the routing and possibly the installation of a " tee " for draining the tank? Actually any pics of either oil line would be a great help. I do plan on running a front oil cooler so I will be useing a firewall mounted thermostat, so any pics of that would help also. Thanks guys

Are you installing an external remote cooler? Otherwise no need for a thermostat.

If you ARE installing an external remote cooler, the thermostat goes as close to the engine you can.... where are mounting the cooler?

Before mounting the tank consider drilling and braising on a bung for a drain plug like the 911 tanks.

Otherwise slip the hose over the metal return line off of the cooler and use a clamp. Loosen the clamp slip the hose off and drain. It's a bit messy but it works. A lot of people use an AN fitting there buy that can be a problem area when trying to crack that line to do an oil change.

Yes I will be installing a front oil cooler. I hope to mount it in front of the tub between the bumper and the valance. I know I'll have to mod the bumper and valance but that can be done with cutoff saw and welder !! I'm useing a brand new DW Design oil tank so I'm not touching that bad boy to install a drain bung. I do want to install a " T ' to drain. Why would that be a problem?

Not a lot of room, extra fittings making the line not flexible.....drain valves can fail. But it's your car.

That hole is already there, even on the /4 cars ...

If you look closer, there's a small hole for the drain and a large hole for the oil line. Well, at least on my '70 /4 it's there ...

I ran the line straight trough and onto the tank, let me see if i can find a picture ...
Andy

Ok, in this picture, you can see the blue return line going through the engine shelf and into the bottom of the tank. My car ('70 /4) already had the large hole for the oil line in the engine shelf, no cutting required.

Andy

And here's the routing from the underside ...

In the picture, you can see the oil thermostat mounted inside the firewall on the right.

The green indicates the feed line for the front oil cooler, the blue indicates the return from the front oil cooler going into the oiltank (through the drivers side engine shelf) and the red is the return from the oiltank into the engine. (not hooked up in the pic) ...
Andy

Closeup of the routing into the firewall mounted thermostat ...

front cooler and oil lines:

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Thermostat sandwiched in the rear firewall:

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

I should probably start a blog!

If you have any questions, fire away!
Andy

Nice pics Andy....I see you have an auto focus now...

BTW, don't go cheap on the thermostat. I used a MOCAL like in Andy's pic above....to replace the cheap ass one the DAPO used.

It failed during start up and sent a big slug of cold oil and assembly lube to the oil cooler. BAM....the whole crankcase vented to the floor of my garage.....instant EXXON Valdez.

One difference is that "I" route the lines on the driver side longs, thru the sender well and into the trunk. No biggy, just personal preference. Saves a bit on lines and bends....

Andy your pics are VERY helpful thank you. This pic where you have the blue line going thru " an existing hole " is not there on my car as it looks like it was a weld repair in that area. So I guess I'll drill about a 1 1/8 to 1 1/4 hole to allow some rubber channel to be applied for chaffing protection. I plan on running a Mocal thermostat and I hope to run the lines in each rocker under the covers. One supply up one side and one return in the other. Andy how do you like the blue "socketless" oil line vs. conventional ss braided hose and fittings? You must have used it for a reason?

More flexible and much easier to work with. Easier to cut to length and easier to attach to the fittings.

Andy

Wacky idea maybe, but howabout putting the cooler where the battery is, put a fan under it, and vent thru the grill? I'm speaking of a 3.2 that already has the engine mounted cooler. Alternatively, mount the cooler/fan sideways on the battery tray and arrange air hose thru the existing holes in the engine sheet metal? Howabout that? I really don't like the idea of pumping oil all the way around the car for a street application.

It will likely help a little. It won't likely help much.

A cooler in the engine bay will get engine bay air. That air is hot--often 40F or more than ambient. Coolers work best when they get cool air.

The engine bay cooler won't see a very large amount of air flow, even with a fan. Coolers work best when they have a good clean stream of air going through them.

So it can work, but it is unlikely to cool super well... Definitely good for reducing the amount of oil lines you need, though!

--DD

This is a good thread guys and timely for me as well.

Andy thanks for all the great pics.

Rfuerst911sc - If I understand you; are you going to run the send line up the passenger side and the return line down the driver side? I was thinking about doing this as well. Isn't the "send to oil cooler side" already on the passenger side of the engine? And doesn't the return line need to come back to the oil tank in the fender?

I may not have the terminology feed vs. return in the right order but yes one line on either side of the car under the rockers. I found this link which might be helpful.
http://www.patrickmotorsports.com/catalogs...EM_LAYOUT_2.pdf

Ooh, that's good. Thanks for the post. In that drawing; does the "billet" oil filter replace the one on the tank?

I think it's in addition to the filter on the tank.

The Mocal thermostat also works well mounted to the rear firewall. You can run the one line from the engine case passenger side to the thermostat, then the male attachment threads on the thermostat (same side) can have another line run to the bottom of the oil tank. The other (outer) fittings on the cooler can be used to run lines to the front mounted oil cooler along the passenger side longitudinal.

Worked well for me. Use at least -12 line or larger. I'd recommend the braided line if your running it outside of the longs.

Here is a pic of my "T" for draining the oil. Someone said that sometimes the oil valve fails. I've used them (the type in the pic) for years and have had no problem. There is no real oil pressure in that line, so that wouldn't be a problem. The only way I can see how it would fail is if it was hit from bottoming out the car.
If you didn't want to use a drain valve, just insert a double male connector and loosen one of the hoses.
As far as getting the lines to a front cooler, I am running the "in" line through the passenger side longitudnal side and the "return" line in the driver's side. I used 12an stainless hose and slid the hoses through a oversize garden type hose for protection. In the past I ran the lines along the driver's side on the outside and around the left front fender and into the trunk that way. I just thought that it was exposing the lines too much (side impact & front tire blowing out and taking out lines) so I decided to run the lines in the old heat tubes to the front............Hope this helps............

I'm confused by this pic Where is the engine mounted cooler in the pic? This is the drivers side right? In regards to a T I was thinking of installing the T on the bottom of the oil tank. Instead of a " valve " I was thinking of just having a " cap " to remove to drain the tank. I do however like the way you did this I just need to get this right in my head

The 3.6L motor doesn't have an engine mounted cooler ...
Andy

In the pic the engine oil cooler is attached to the solid steel line making the 90 degree bend going toward the engine. The pic was taken from the driver's side. You can hardly see the line from the bottom of the tank in the left side. It is a 3.0 engine using the original 914-6 engine oil cooler. I loosen the hose on either side of the drain valve and point it down to drain and then back in the position it is now when I'm done. It works quite well.

Here's a pic of what a friend did for the oil drain. It looks like what you want to do.

We're getting closer I was thinking of installing a T actually at the tank. The bottom of the T would have a AN style cap and the " side " of the T would be where the hose attaches and then goes to the cooler. So to drain the tank you just remove the cap and let it drain. Now what I don't know is there enough room to do this? Is a AN T available that will screw onto the DW Design tank without additional adapter fittings? If the answer is no then what is in this pic is the next best approach in my opinion. Thanks to all that have posted replies

Using the 914-6 style oil tank I think you won't have the room to do what you say.
The best to do is add in a drain "T" like the pic of the yellow 914. It is pretty much what I did with the drain vavle with mine. Instead of un-screwing a cap, I just flip the vavle handle to drain.
The way Porsche did it on my orignal 914-6 was to un-screw a union from the oil tank to cooler hose to drain. The union was just about half way from the tank and the cooler.

I'm going to take the opportunity to remove the tank for inspection of the tank and behind when I drop the oil. Big chance of the steel tank and the body behind being damaged by rot

just fyi, I ran my oil lines down inside the rockers, though I do not have heat....so if you're not going to have heat, you can run them down the ductwork inside the rockers. If you do have heat ...well.....