So another project done on Chris car (Orion84gsl), this is a conversion the beehive oil cooler to a front mount oil cooler. The problem we had is mostly due to the fact that its the tall rad and his rad is one of those aftermarket OEM style one but eally it was a little wider (about 1/2" on the one side) and had a har time finding a good spot to mount it to clear both hoses.

A couple of things we found out, RB tension bar makes it a pain in the butt to take out the beehive, also the RB big front sway bar, didn't help with the mounting.

Through out our journey, I guess we cracked both fitting on the cooler (good thing I had the one that was suppose to go in my car handy). A good trick we found is to let the Metric to AN fitting that goes on the cooler, do not tighten down all the way, leave about a tooth or 2 of thread on there, then thread the whole thing in by holding the piece that holds the hose in with one wrench and the an part with another wrench and thread them both in like so. No cracked oil cooler like this. Also we found out its easier to screw things in from the oil cooler first, so that when you tighten things down, you have more room from the engine side to hold the hose so it doesn't turn over itself

Lastly, if you don't get oil pressure, don't freak out, because you probably just knocked out the sensor wire off like we did. And don't forget to buy about 3' of 5/8"ID hose to connect where the old coolant line used to go into the beehive.

For the pictures now ... drum roll

 

Also this is the wire that gets knocked out off the fuel pressure sender unit that we're talking about ... just for further reference to others.

Also for the swap, you will need 21,22,and 23 mm wrenches if you don't have them, also make sure that you have a jug of fresh new oil, along with some more water for the rad.

 

isnt that a lil high for the oil to circulate??
also looks like its on a bit of an angle for air to actually go through it..

 

Height is fine, mine's up there too. However, the fmoc does need to be mounted vertically, or a sheet metal hood added for better air flow through the fmoc.

 

A vent was in mind and would be the easier way, the problem is that the 1st gen FMOC the lines don't come strait out, the top one angles to the passengers side which is what makes things difficult.

 

Fuel pressure sender unit? That's the oil pressure sensor (I call it the mushroom).

I don't like the tilted oil cooler, but if it works, it's cool.

The oil cooler is up high in my MG Midget too. I don't like it there, but a beehive wouldn't fit.

 

oil pressure is what I meant, ducing will be on the way to furthur enhance airflow through the fins.

 

I don't like the angled mounting either, and we will be persuing another way to get it vertical, however there is plenty of airflow. temps are aboslutly perfect and won't budge above normal op temps. It turned out to be necessary not only to run the lines into the engine bay without hacking things up, but not to block too much airflow to the rad as well. I do plan to make a sheetmetal duct to force more air into it, but that will have to wait until I get my oil cooler fixed, unless we find a better way to mount it. Also oil is being pumped, not gravity fed, so I could conceivably mount the cooler on the roof and get just as much oil through it, but naturally, that would be retarded. No offence to mentally ill people. I was thinking of mounting it forward of the front bar, but we didn't have the parts or a welder handy so that wasn't going to fly. I'm getting used to my plans not working out with this car. It's coming slowly. Also it's a good thing Sam has time to scrounge the junk yards, or we would have been seriously screwed on this project. Also for those wondering, he's posting all my car's work because I'm only in the country a couple days a week. He just has more time and patience.

 

Mounting it on the roof would be mentally ill of you because the longer oil line length will reduce oil pressure. Also it's best to mount it low so oil has less tendancy to drain out of it while the engine isn't running. This reduces the time it takes before the bearings see oil pressure during cold start ups.

 

Haha, I'm aware of that jeff, I was just making a point. I have been accused of being mentally ill a few times before though, so maybe theres some truth there.