Well after 25 years of service my oil cooler finally died. I was curious about what other people have done to replace/repair it. Are there any good aftermarket coolers out there that would be relatively straightforward to install, or would an aluminum weld hold alright?
I've also got an extra oil cooler from an '82 GSL. Wondering if that would have sufficient cooling capacity for an '84 GSL-SE.

 

stick with a stock mazda cooler. the difference between the SE cooler and the non SE cooler is the angle of the lower bung on the SE cooler is at more of a downward angle compared to the 79-82 cooler and the mounts are different between the two coolers. i would just buy a direct replacement

 

SE coolers are hard to find [good ones] you can run your 82 cooler by making your own mounting brackets . run front line over the sway bar and rear line under the sway bar ,its tight but it will work. You could also run a 2nd gen oil cooler but you will have to get new lines made [longer]. and still have to fab mount brackets

 

When I decided to replace my beehive when it sprung a leak I used an FMOC from an earlier 1st gen, and mounted it right up in front of the crossbar in the mouth of the valence. I used two pieces of 3 inch angle iron as mounts and bolted them to the bolts already installed on the tie down hooks. Then I just bent the mounting tabs on the cooler to line up where I needed them to. Good thing it's soft aluminum. You just have to grind down the little bubble on the hook to get the mount to sit flush. The hardest part was shelling out all the money for various AN fittings, but you can save yourself that headache by going with standard hoses and fittings. The only downside is since it sits right up front it catches alot of the small debris so it gets packed up alot and it needed the fins replaced when I put it in there, now it REALLY needs them replaced. Hopefully I'll get to it before spring. I might JB weld some chicken wire or something of that sort over the front so it doesn't get hit as much.

 

Virtually all aircraft engines use aluminum OCs - and thus repair them too. check with your local airfield service shops see if they repair or can refer you to a national company. Or google...
Had my 80 FMOC sonic-cleaned by an aircraft outfit - came back as-new (tho no repairs needed).
Stu Aull
80SG
Alaska

 

Thanks, that really helps a lot. I had heard that stock coolers were about as good as it gets. And I didn't even think about checking at an airfield service shop. Good thing I live near Boeing...