MiniFoo

So I bought a GSL-SE oil cooler package from Stevan in his for sale thread, and like any sensible person I decided to mount the cooler in my car before going hog-wild and draining what piddly amount of oil I had left in order to ditch my beehive and install the new lines. Well, I ran into an extremely puzzling dilemma:



This is the passenger's side. Barring the hose that's currently in the way, the mounting holes line up. However...




The oil cooler isn't ******* long enough to reach the driver's side mount! What the hell?! I mean, I could simply get some scrap aluminum and drill some holes in it to extend it enough to reach (of course, I'd be doing that on the passenger's side instead if I did), but that still doesn't explain why something that should just bolt-in doesn't fit! It's driving me nuts. And on the subject of bolts, am I going crazy or are the mounting holes threaded already? If they are, then what size/pitch bolts should I be looking for at the hardware store? Lastly:



The hard line at the bottom of the A/C condenser here, it's going to be in the way once I eventually figure out how to get this to work. I know very little about air conditioning systems; is it safe for me to loosen the nut just to rotate the line more vertically, or am I going to break **** because the line's under pressure or something? I'm probably blowing this out of proportion, but when I bought the car I got the Freon recharged and it's working great, so it would really suck if rendered it inoperable.

I know a lot of users here have done this swap or something very similar, so I'd really appreciate the input.

peejay

The oil cooler doesn't mount to the brackets directly. You need the rubber isolators AKA oil cooler mounts.

The bad news: They have been NLA for quite some time. At least since 2007, when I converted my car to GSL-SE spec under the hood.

That is why my GSL-SE oil cooler is mounted to my car with a couple strips of mudflap to the radiator support's side panels, after I mangled the oil cooler brackets out of the way.

Sgt Fox

iTrader: (3)

Loosening that AC line will render your system non functional. Your refrigerant will all escape. If you have to move it, get the system evacuated, get the line moved and get it recharged. Not a cheap option unfortunately.

Also, I think you are missing the rubber mounts for the oil cooler.

MiniFoo

Okay, great. I'm not crazy then! At least that mystery's solved.

I'm not following your solution very well, though. Can you take pictures of your modification or explain more?

I literally confirmed my suspicions about that like a minute after starting this thread, but it's always good to know that there are people out there who care enough to prevent stupidity

Sgt Fox

iTrader: (3)

Another option is to sell that cooler and get an FC one. There is a thread in the archives detailing how to make the mounts for it. I personally have a similar setup, you don't have to worry about leaks from the FB fittings and it fits around the ac.

MiniFoo

I just bought this oil cooler because, like I said earlier, I was under the impression that it was a simple plug-and-play installation into a GSL, mainly because I don't have the time or tools for lots of fabrication in order to mount an FC cooler. Hindsight is 20/20 though, and I guess nobody ever mentioned (in any of the threads that I searched through before taking the plunge) that I needed rubber mounts. I'd really prefer not to go through that hassle, especially considering all of the other trouble I'm having right now with other parts coming in (specifically, they aren't).

Suggestions?

peejay

There's really nothing to photograph. The body mounts get beat down with a hammer, and a couple strips of truck mudflap are bolted to the cooler and then bolted to the radiator support. Very hacky and non-A/C compatible. (A PO removed the A/C from my car, as well as doing a number on the wiring harness. And mangling the whole left side, pushing the nose visibly out of kilter. I don't feel *too* bad about hacky things to this shell)

The world has not ended. I have a strong feeling that 12A cooler mounts can be altered to work. Mainly, they'd need the top piece bent over and new holes drilled.

Sgt Fox

iTrader: (3)

Why not just make up a bracket for the one side? That way you could try to bring the cooler forward a bit to avoid the AC? Your bolt holes are probably M6

DarkDrakeX

I mounted my FC oil cooler with 1' and 7/8 exhaust clamps on a L bracket with some holes on it(around the 1' 7/8 pipe support thing).. Was super easy you would probably do something similar (its not much fab work TBH) Main issue is how close to stock will it be for ur stock lines to work so idk how viable that wud be for u.
Also you could use some metal with a few holes deilled int it to mount that to its stock position only a few inches off if u want.

MiniFoo

Yeah, this is what I mentioned in the first post, and probably what I'm gonna have to try tomorrow. I am sure that the oil lines themselves will clear anything A/C-related, because it was just the top of the cooler itself that was bumping up against the condenser hard line and preventing me from lining up the holes. Also, thanks for the bolt size recommendation; I'll head down to Ace Hardware and pick up a few different pitches as well.

I'll report back with good news, hopefully!

Sgt Fox

iTrader: (3)

Its late but I'm pretty sure it's m6x1.0

DriveFast7

iTrader: (1)

I made my own brackets out of aluminum sheet and found some rubber soft mounts (with threaded ends) to mount on each end of the bracket. It wasn't difficult, just time consuming.

Stevan

iTrader: (17)

It looks like you trying to mount it higher than it's meant to be. You just need a couple pieces of bent metal to hang it from. I probably have the original pieces in a box of mixed brackets but as mentioned the rubber has separated from the aluminum so I didn't include them. There may be a way to bolt them back together though. Sorry for your confusion, I did not see this thread until now.
I believe the 84-85 12a cars and the GSL-SE's have the same steel mounts on the car.

Jeff20B

iTrader: (13)

They do.

MiniFoo

I'm taking a break for lunch right now. Thanks for the advice Stevan, that's actually exactly what I'm in the middle of right now. I'll let you guys know how it went soon enough.

MiniFoo

Woop woop, it's mounted. Here's what I came up with:




There was enough room for the top bung to clear the condenser line:



Ripped out the beehive, installed the pedestal and lines, and changed the oil and filter. Doesn't appear to be any leaks, which is great. Thanks for all of the assistance, guys!

LizardFC

iTrader: (1)

Congrats on your victory against the oil cooler! I'm trying the same thing with an FC cooler on my '85. I took the front off today and set it down in there to see how it would fit and it looks about the same. I don't have any A/C junk to worry about, but I do have to shove an intercooler up in there as well so that will complicate things.