RalliartN

iTrader: (1)

The RA oil temperatures at the track on an 80F summer day were 270F-280F. Cruising on the highway at 60 mph was about 220F-230F. I want it all lower.

Parts bought from RTM Racing (Ziggy) in Hamilton, ON
B&M 70266 oil cooler (11.25" x 8.5")
5/8" ID rubber oil line (qty 10 feet)
oil filter sandwich (qty 1)
-10AN 45 degree pushlok-to-female (sku A9C-PFBkas) (qty 2)
hose clamps (qty 4)

Parts bought from Aircraft Spruce Canada
AN842-10D aluminum 90 degree elbow (5/8" hose barb to 1/2" NPT) (qty1)
AN844-10D aluminum 45 degree elbow (5/8" hose barb to 1/2" NPT) (qty1)

Parts bought from Hardware supplier
rubber vibration isolators (Grainger p/n 2NPE2) (qty 4)
1" insulated clamps (qty 2)
zip ties
assortment of #8 and 1/4" bolts with washers and nuts
pipe thread compound (the expensive Permatex stuff for cars)
1/2-14 NPT tap (either cheap carbon steel or expensive high speed steel will work)

Parts I made
straps, sheet steel (qty 2)
L-bracket, thinwall angle iron (qty 1)

This install doesn't sweat trivialities like all the holes being drilled, it is to show you the important design details to save you lots of time and money.

Here is the oil cooler (pic from RTM Racing, hope that is okay). The inlets are 1/2" female pipe threads. When you screw the elbows in, the hose ends of those fittings must be poking out at the correct angle away from the big water radiator the oil cooler will mount in front of. The 45 degree fitting was skewed the wrong way after I tightened it up. To fix that you have to use a pipe tap to cut bigger thread in the female, in my case it was about an extra half turn of the tap handle. However, the pipe tap bottoms in the female before it begins cutting. I used a thin cut-off wheel in a die grinder (a dremel would work) to carefully cut exactly 1/2" off the end of the tap. Perfect, it now cut the extra bit of thread I needed to turn the elbow fitting just that little bit more. Use pipe thread compound on the threads when you screw in the fittings.





This is the sandwich plate and the pushlok-to-female 45 degree fittings that attach to the male AN fittings that come with the plate, and the other thing is the oil temperature gauge probe. The left side of the sandwich is the outlet, the other side is the inlet.



I spent many many hours studying all the optional ways to fit the cooler and route the hoses. I think this is the best way for the RA. It is mounted on the passenger side in front of the water radiator. The oil cooler is just nicely spaced on all sides away from everything else.

Remove the front bumper cover, the crash bar that's behind the cover, and the underneath plastic splash shields on the passenger side.

Hope you can see the red numbers on the picture. (I had the removable crash bar mounted again when I took the pic, it was off for the installation work). Note the hose routing.


1. 90 degree AN fitting pointing staright down
2. 45 degree AN fitting pointing away from the water rad
3. rubber vibration isolators that fit against the cooler flange
4. holes drilled thu upper crash bar for screws to secure rubber isolators
5. metal straps
6. screws go into threaded holes where those mass dampers (round heavy bars) were
7. horns relocated slightly

Remove the oil filter; you do not need to drain all the engine oil, only a bit comes out then it stops. Then attach the sandwich. Attach the 45 degree fittings loosely. You can firm them up later after the hose is cut to length and pushed onto the fittings. The sandwich outlet goes to the bottom of the oil cooler, the inlet back to the sandwich goes to the top of the cooler (I think I read that in B&M literature somewhere).




The hoses are routed this way. Around the corner under the headlight, they are kept slightly away from the car metal body bits by securing the hoses with the insulated clamps; the clamps are screwed into the L-bracket (painted black); the L-bracket is attached to the metal bodywork using a couple of bolts. Keep a bit of slack in the hoses, but don't need much.




Now attach the crash bar. Test fit the bumper cover, oops, doesn't push on all the way now. Some of the black plastic ribbing needed to be cut away because it interfered with the hoses coming out of the cooler. Do not just remove and discard the entire black ribbed air guide from the bumper cover - the water radiator works best with that thing guiding air right up against it; the air cannot escape sideways due to this guide, it must go through the rad.



Before you attach the bumper cover permanently, add an extra 1/2 liter or so of oil, start the car, check for leaks, then check oil level later.



After living with it for a week
Highway temps down 30F to 40F.
No leaks, even when I first started it up after installing everything.
Hoses don't rub on anything.
The smaller 11.25" x 5.25" B&M cooler would likely cool adequately, but who knew?
8 feet of oil line would have been enough.
The fittings are the most expensive things. I bought many that I didn't end up using.
Proper rubber hose is adequate, very easy to work with, and relatively inexpensive compared to the braided stuff. Thank you Ziggy!
I really like the result. I will report track temps later when I go.

bakuro117

iTrader: (5)

Damn good work sir! You've been pumping out some awesome how-tos I'm gunna have to do these soon.

RalliartN

iTrader: (1)

Cheers!

2006_RA

iTrader: (1)

Very good work as usual sir.
I've picked up a few pointers, thank you.

RalliartN

iTrader: (1)

At the track, after a 1/2 hour session in 80F ambient temperature, the maximum oil temperature is 240F. Before, without the cooler, it was about 280F on a hot day so its down around 40F. Excellent, Smithers...

mikemike396

iTrader: (3)

Someone sticky this!

Kasper

what size is the oil filter sandwich... I don't wanna **** it up