Hard lines or hoses?

[JohnZ]

No need for a bleed fitting or valve - it'll bleed automatically every time you start it up - it's not a closed system.

 

[MaineShark]

Thanks. I guess that's one less fitting that I need.

Any thoughts on the plumbing? I need some odd fittings to make this work well, I think. The clearances around the radiator area are too small for hoses, even if I wanted to use them - simply can't bend a tight enough radius in -10 hose.

Joe

 

[mapman]

A good auto parts store will have a variety of steel lines for you to choose from.

Be careful with braided rubber lines. The problem will not be the braided line, but anything the braided line touches. Lots of folks use braided line on their motorcycles for the "cool" factor. If not properly secured, these lines will cut through frames, engine cases, etc.

If you have the $$, Bow-Tie Overdrives sells very nice line kits. Just bring money.

 

[MaineShark]

Alright, I've gotten most of this figured out, but there is one spot that is really giving me a hard time...

At the junction between the cooler and the oil thermostat, I can't figure out how to make the connection. What I have is two pairs of female 1/2"NPT fittings, each 1-1/2" apart from each other. I've attached an image at the bottom - the fittings must replace the dotted lines.

The trouble is, I can't just use a pipe nipple, since that would require that one fitting be turned around the other to tighten. Fine for the first one, but the second would be impossible.

Is there any sort of fitting with an integral swivel, that would allow the end to be tightened into the opposite fitting?

I'm at a loss for how to do this, except with custom-made left-hand-thread fittings (which I'd really rather avoid, obviously)...

Be careful with braided rubber lines. The problem will not be the braided line, but anything the braided line touches. Lots of folks use braided line on their motorcycles for the "cool" factor. If not properly secured, these lines will cut through frames, engine cases, etc.

Thanks for that - it reminded me that I need to fabricate some brackets to hold the lines in place.

Joe

 

[woobie1966]

hi joe, just want you to know, im following on your coat tails with the cooler application. im going to go with a similar set up as you have discussed: relocate oil filter, install thermostat controlled oil cooler (as big as I can fit , im not going to go with an electric fan-based on the "kiss" principal). one thing different though, im definitely going with braided lines- they just look so damn good!
have you decided on a maker for the cooler/relocator?
mike

 

[MaineShark]

I'm using Perma-Cool components for the oil filter adapters and such, and B&M for the cooler. You'll want to start considering where you'll mount the remote filter, if you are keeping your stock fan set-up. The only place I could come up with, is hanging off the back of the radiator, which is only an option with electric fans. If you can't find a good mounting location, I'd say just just skip the remote filter. The benefits aren't all that incredible. Mostly just the cooling effect of having the filter in the airstream, behind the radiator (which you won't have) and the ability to use a 2-quart filter, for a bit of extra oil capacity. Well, and the slim chance that you might have a very-well-stuck oil filter, and the remote mount might be positioned in such a way as to allow better leverage on it.

If you can only find one mounting location, I'd suggest picking up one of Perma-Cool's transmission filters, rather than a remote oil filter. Your stock oil filter system is pretty good, but your transmission filter is just a screen. The remote transmission filter uses a standard oil filter (3/4 thread, not 13/16, so not a standard Chevy filter, but 3/4 filters are common), which provides much better filtration than the screen. It also has a tap for a temperature sender, so you can install one and have a reading of your fluid temp. They have one filter kit that actually includes a sender, gauge, and wiring.

My tranny cooler is the B&M Supercooler, model#70264. This has hose flares installed, and a built-in bypass setup - when the fluid is cold, it diverts much of it through the bypass tube; when it warms up (getting thinner), more flows through the cooler. I think that's a good idea to prevent over-pressure in the supply side (which would be possible if the cold, thick fluid was forced though the cooler passages). It also comes with a very complete installation kit (a variety of fittings and brackets - good for just about any application I can imagine). It's approximately 11"x6"x1-1/2"

My oil cooler is the B&M Racing Supercooler, model#70266. It has 1/2" NPT fittings, and no bypass (since I'm running an external thermostat from Perma-Cool, anyway). This one doesn't include any mounting hardware or fluid fittings, so you'll have to engineer that stuff, yourself. It's approximately 11"x8"x1-1/2"

I looked at the Perma-Cool coolers, too, but their design is much larger, for the same capacity. On the other hand, the thickness of the B&M coolers may require me to modify my radiator support brackets to allow the cooler to properly fit between the A/C condenser and the radiator (which wouldn't be possible with the mechanical fan, like you have). But part of that is the way I'm positioning them, so you might be able to line them up in such a way as to avoid that.

I'd suggest that you mount them to the radiator support and A/C condenser assembly, rather than the radiator, in your case. I'm specifically trying to set my system up as a single module, and I had to add brackets to the radiator to hold the fans, anyway, so adding a few more to hold the coolers was not a problem. Not to mention that the location of the remote filter and oil thermostat in my set-up would prevent the radiator from being removed, if they weren't attached to the radiator. Also, mounting them that way puts the mounting tabs toward the condenser, not the radiator, so they don't block airflow to the the radiator core, like they would if they were right against the radiator. I'm mounting mine facing that direction, as well, but with custom brackets.

I've also included a T-fitting on each of the ports of the adapter plate, back at the engine. The one on the "out" port will have a temperature sender installed in it (I just went to NAPA and bought a water-temp sender, which will work with the stock water-temp gauge). The one on the "in" port will be plugged, for now, but I'm eventually considering a pre-oiler, which will attach here.

I've ended up deciding on a combination of hard lines and hoses. All the connections between the oil cooler, the thermostat, and the remote filter mount are hard fittings. Aft of that, I'll switch to braided line to make the run back to the engine. I'd have needed some sections of braided, anyway, to account for flex in the engine mounts. So, when I looked it over, I decided that it would be easiest just to run braided all the way back, rather than having to switch back and forth between braided and hard lines twice as many times.

If I had went with an adapter that replaced the oil filter mount, rather than a spin-on adapter that just screws on in place of the filter, I'd go with hard lines, since I'd have a fixed location for the two ports. As-is, I've had to include swivels, since I'll have to line the fittings up to point in the correct direction, after the adapter is screwed on. On the other hand, this set-up means that I can bypass the oil cooler system by simply disconnecting the lines from the adapter, unscrewing it, and installing an oil filter in its place.

Actually, that brings me to my good news: I found the fittings I needed, so I have most of this thing assembled, except for a few parts that need to be ordered, and the brackets. I ended up going to a place that does hydraulic systems, and they had the fittings I needed. A little more expensive than standard brass (and heavier, but I'm not worried about a couple pounds), but these are zinc-plated steel, and are rated for 3000-psi, so I think I won't have to worry about leaks

I still need to get some short sections of pipe (and find my tap-and-die set), to make a few pieces that need to be exact, non-standard lengths. Then a bit of bracket designing, and a lot of trial-and-error fitting and re-fitting, and it should be done.

I'm looking forward to getting this all finished. I'm hoping I'll be able to either sell kits or completed radiator-cooler-fan-filter modules (probably complete systems - the plumbing is rather complex, and I'd rather not try to explain it). Once I get this completed, and add up all my reciepts, I'll have a better idea of whether it's worthwhile. I think I'd also need to find a front clip from a junkyard (maybe more than one, depending on how many times things were changed at the factory), to let me experiment if someone wanted a custom application. Stay tuned for more on this, after I get my "prototype" working. I'm guessing somewhere in the neighborhood of $1000 for a set-up like mine, but that's just a rough guess, and I don't have accurate numbers for everything, yet.

Joe

 

[MaineShark]

Woohoo!!!

Got all the pipe fittings done (including a custom-length piece of pipe that was really a pain to get right). If I end up producing these, I'm 90% sure that piece and it's fittings will end up being replaced by a single billet pipe with integral elbows milled right in. Cleaner install, and probably not any more money, compared to the fittings, pipe, and time it takes to get the length of the pipe correct.

All that's left is the brackets to hold it all to the radiator, and the hoses to run from the engine to the cooler assembly. Well, and one fitting, but that's probably at the store right now, waiting for me to pick it up (they had to special-order it).

Coming up on the home stretch...

Joe

 

[MaineShark]

I think and update is in order, for those who are following this.

Things have taken a different turn. Inspiration often comes at odd times, and such was the case with this project.

I really preferred the idea of getting air that was as cool as possible. So, I started moving forward, and seeing what I could do with the cooler.

See for yourself:

 

[MaineShark]

As you can probably tell, the cooler is mounted behind the right-front grill. It fits (without a large amount of extra room, to say the least) between the turn signal assembly, and the lowered headlight assembly. Some custom brackets were required to mount it, as well as a lot of trial-fitting, sweat, and contortion. Don't even consider trying something like this without a good creeper to sit, kneel, lay, and crawl on - you'll kill your back if you do.

The same installation would work in the driver's side grill, as well, and I'll probably add one there, eventually, for my power steering fluid, after I replace the vacuum booster with a hydraulic unit.

After I re-do the transmission, and see if the single cooler is still sufficient to keep the higher-stall converter that will be installed at that time from over-heating the fluid, I'll decide whether or not I need to add a second cooler (between the radiator and condenser, as I originally planned). Note: if anyone else is considering the same thing, remember to pipe the hot fluid to the less-efficient cooler between the radiator and condenser, before the more-efficient cooler in the nose - that will extract the most heat from the system.

The tranny filter will be moving, as well - it will now hang from a bracket which will be mounted to the passenger's-side upper control arm mounting bolts. That seemed a better mounting place than the radiator, and will (when combined with the new cooler location) completely divorce the radiator and transmission from each other, allowing one to be serviced without disturbing the other.

The oil cooler installation will be delayed a bit, as I've decided to focus on the critical stuff, first. The oil cooler can wait. I'm thinking that it will actually fit between the two headlights, quite well. I won't be sure until I pull all the vacuum hoses out of that area, though.

In any case, while things have taken a little longer than I would have liked, I feel that I will be happier with the overall results.

So, some brackets, some wiring, and we're into the home stretch.

Joe