It's been a while since I was here, but now that I am, I can't find the old thread on changing the beehive oil cooler to the front mount.
I'm finally getting tired of the 'cuteness' of the beehive

 

Search the archives. Troichoid did a thread about swapping in a FC FMOC.

 

https://www.rx7club.com/1st-gen-archive-71/cooling-oil-how-install-fc-oil-cooler-1st-gen-write-up-pics-478521/

hope that this helps!!! good luck

 

THanks a ton! More work than I thought, but oh well.

 

jay,

just swap in a short radiator and a SA/FB oil cooler. much easier. yes, its not AS good as a FC coooler, but you dont need to worry about that.

 

I've been out of the loop a while, what would that entail, AWS?

 

the short radiator is well... shorter than the series 3 (83-85 non gsl-se) radiators because there was the fmoc. the side brackets had threaded holes to mount the fmoc so by using the radiators from the series 1 or 2 they should both be a direct fit to your car

 

So grabbing an S1 rad makes this a more bolt in endeavor? The decrease in cooling volume won't be a problem?

 

The earlier radiators were 3 row, whereas the taller, later rads were only two row. Your cooling system will be immediatly improved just by dumping the beehive for an FMOC. They work a hell of a lot better than the air to water coolers.

 

Trochoid - your oil cooler replacement thread shows your old beehive - which you powdercoated. My beehive has an OEM sticker that says "Don't paint!" Did you ever have any issues or heard of anyone having problems? I'd love to clean up my beehive with an anodized blue ...

 

Painting the oil cooler will not allow the thermal transfer from the metal to the air to occur as easily as it needs to. When you paint it you put an added barrier between them, so the heat has to soak through the paint before being pulled away by the air. Considering the inefficiency of the system as it is you should really shouldnt be painting the beehive.

 

Orion - believe me, I get that, which is why I asked the question. I should have asked my question more clearly, which is do the properties of the powdercoating/anodizing not detract from thermal transfer like a standard paint would.

Although, truth be told, plain old road grime probably inhibits the transfer even more. And there are many dirty beehives out there!

 

I know what you mean. You should have seen mine before I ditched it. Nice n dirty. I've heard that if you use something like a Rustoleum paint without clearcoat it won't hinder the thermal transfer as badly. I've seen it done with FMOCs and FMICs. Your best bet for performance is to clean it and leave it bare but if your going to paint it use something like Rustoleum. I think (but don't quote me) that anodizing or powdercoating would contain the heat more than regular paint.

 

The beehive was an (evil) cost saving measure that Mazda thankfully dropped from production for the FC and later. I wish I could find my research file on this. The temperature differences between the beehive and the FMOC were quite substantial. I did the swap last year and am glad that I did. It was quite easy to do! I made my own stainless steel lines with AN fittings from Jeggs for dirt cheap and the muffler clamps worked like a charm.

 

Ask Vipernicuis42 if he's had any trouble with it. The one pictured is powdercoated and I sold it to him. If you you can find a true radiator paint, it's designed to transfer heat more eiffciently. Standard paints aren't. I'm kinda suprised his has held up as long as it has, since powdercoat begins to soften above 250*f.

 

An alternative would be to use S3 radiator supports and tall 2-core radiator you already have. The S3 radiator supports all had mounts for an SE FMOC, if you can get a hold of one. Less work, but harder to find the cooler and lines.

 

get the older three core radiator. it cools better than the 2 cores. just because the radiator is smaller doesnt mean its less efficient.

if you get the smaller radiator you can mount it just like S1/S2 set ups. itll be a bolt in process and will make getting an oil cooler or lines very easy.

 

Another option is to do what im doing and use a gsl-se oil cooler. Theres already tapped holes in the frame to mount the brackets.

 

Too much work, lol. It took longer to figure out how to do the mod and do the writeup than it takes to do the install. Once you have all the parts on hand, it takes about 2 hours to install the parts. Gathering the parts and having the hoses made up take more time than the mod.