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My 7A oil cooler installation

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  • My 7A oil cooler installation

    I've now done 1200 miles on newly built engine and apart from low fuel pressure figures, it is running well - mechanically it feels good, quiet idle, oil pressure is a solid 2 bar when hot, compression 9.2bar on all 5 (no difference between cylinders) not great but higher than the outgoing 7.5bar and it pulls well from 4000 revving cleanly to 7000rpm as it should.

    Seemed like a good time to add an oil cooler - it should have had one from the factory as although there is no turbo to heat things up, pre rebuild i regularly saw temperatures nudging the 130 graduation on the gauge.

    I used a Mocal 16 row 115mm matrix cooler which was a few square centimeters more in cooling surface area than the ABY cooler but was more of a square than a rectangle. Setrab website recommends taller and narrower to minimise pressure losses, if you can fit it...
    Factory location won't allow tall and thin so i set about making a new bracket and duct, here are some pics. Works really well - oil temp gets to first graduation on the scale (90deg?) when really pressing on, falls again quickly when cruising. happy days.

    3B thermostatic filter housing bolted on to supply the cooler.

    Alu mesh over front of duct to keep leaves/stones out.

    Duct made round a foam core mould. Laid up wet glass fibre and added outer layer of carbon for no other reason than it looks nice!

    Aeroquip push fit hoses. good for 150deg C and 17 bar. nice short and direct route.

    not the prettiest of brackets but it took an afternoon of cutting and welding metal i already had, it is sturdy, doesn't vibrate and will last. (2mm wall tubing!)

    Pics in installments
    Attached Files

  • #2
    next 5 pics

    cooler mounted on rubber bobbins

    duct fixed in place with folded aluminium brackets.
    Attached Files
    Last edited by steve briance; 24 October 2016, 22:44.

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    • #3
      last 3 pics

      hose runs.

      Easy access to scoop out rubbish or visual inspection - pull grill off bumper and reach in.

      Also looks quite good having a bit of alu mesh lurking behind the grille when it is in place
      Attached Files

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      • #4
        Nice bit of fabrication there
        91CQ20v - Gone to a new home
        93UR-S4 - The Magic Carpet
        94S2Bus - The Emerald Express

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        • #5
          thanks! I was happy with how it turned out

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          • #6
            Did that to my CQ20V some years ago because of the oil getting really hot when pressing on, 130ºC like you, but used the setup from an ABY and removed de A/C for space, it resulted really well!

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            • #7
              Great job, very nice work, especially the duct mould
              I agree the 7A should have come with a cooler from the factory, I would also hit 130 easily on the road
              Looks like it will fit the bill perfectly
              Panthero Coupé quattro 20vt
              Indigo ABY coupé
              Imola B6 S4 Avant

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              • #8
                Nice work on the fabrication. I've never tried using fibre glass but it always looks like a good skill to have
                Greg

                S2Forum.com Administrator & Webmaster

                '93 Coupe with a few tweeks

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                • #9
                  Fibre glass or any other sort of composite cloth and resin IS defo useful to have around - it can bring to life all manner of things that involves curves and shapes you just can't do with metal. I used it to repair the location leg on my parcel shelf, the whole corner of the shelf had been bent to far and snapped, spread some resin and glass over the break area and once dry and painted, you would never know! 😊

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                  • #10
                    Cool, I wish I had seen this sooner, my cooler holder looks flimsy...

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                    • #11
                      I changed my cooler a few years ago to a local version which doesn't quite fit the original ducting and brackets so it may be something I come back to and try.
                      Greg

                      S2Forum.com Administrator & Webmaster

                      '93 Coupe with a few tweeks

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                      • #12
                        its dead easy to make the mould. I used Celotex building insulation board which i got from B+Q. I found the smallest sheet they do and then pulled out a damaged one, offered them £3 and they said yes!

                        Peel off the reflective paper coating before sticking a few layers together (impact adhesive) and then cut and sand to whatever shape you want. It is REALLY easy to sand so go easy.

                        Only thing to be mindful of is; if you are spreading resin and fibre straight onto the foam, it will soak in and when you come to dig out the foam from the cured duct, it won't all come out. I have had some success isolating foam from resin by wrapping the core with plain old kitchen foil. It can be stuck down using spray fabric adhesive to help it lay flat. The main aim is to make sure that your part comes away from the mould. Wax the foil (or whatever other coating you use) and it should come away cleanly.

                        Proper GRP fabricators spend more time making their female impression moulds than laying up the cloth and use gel coat in the mould for a super smooth surface. A part like the duct would likely be made in two halves which then need to be bonded together. technically 'better' but trickier and more time consuming.

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                        • #13
                          How possible is it you having the dimensions for the bracket?

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