Which Aluminum Oil Cooler Should I Get?

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Dave Wildrick
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Re: Which Aluminum Oil Cooler Should I Get?

#46 Post by Dave Wildrick »

Mark Yarrish wrote:
Ben Wainscott wrote:No problem changing out the cooler in a C with the engine in. Due to the square top hat on the aluminum cooler I needed to take off the engine hood to get the fan housing back on.

Ben, I have a C car as well, thinking of swapping out the cooler. Along with an oil change, do you think this can be done in a day, with the engine in the car?

Thanks,
Mark
I did it ONCE on my 64C coupe, using Harry Pellow's method of sliding the motor rearward just far enough to get the fan shroud off and then pushing it back in place and running it to confirm an oil cooler leak.

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Jacques Lefriant
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Re: Which Aluminum Oil Cooler Should I Get?

#47 Post by Jacques Lefriant »

Hi All
Wilhoit might be able to meet or beat the Sierra Madre price he has a better cooler that he developed to be better than Sierra Madres
j
 

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Neil Bardsley
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Re: Which Aluminum Oil Cooler Should I Get?

#48 Post by Neil Bardsley »

Jacques Lefriant wrote:Hi All
Wilhoit might be able to meet or beat the Sierra Madre price he has a better cooler that he developed to be better than Sierra Madres
j
I like to get the best price for any part I buy but all with the work involved in changing the oil cooler another $25-50 cost on the item shouldn't really influence anyone's decision?

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Ben Wainscott
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Re: Which Aluminum Oil Cooler Should I Get?

#49 Post by Ben Wainscott »

I installed a new cooler (Sierra Madre) before doing the drive from San Diego to the 2014 West Coast Holiday in Washington State. I had been a little nervous since a fellow 356'er had his fail in Arizona on the drive from California to Holiday in Santa Fe New Mexico. What I was looking for was reliability. If it saved weight, dropped the temp a little, great.

Since I have an SC Euro coupe, with the large heat exchangers, it's a PITA to pull the engine, especially by myself. So, if I remember right, I removed the Solex's, and the fan housing, and installed the new cooler. Due to the larger "Top Hat" on that cooler, I couldn't get the fan housing back in, so had to pull the hood and the right hinge. Fairly straight forward.

Mark, in answer to your question about "can you do this in a day", it's like any job, the first time takes a bit to figure everything out, get the right tools together, etc. The second time you can cut your time in half. If you have everything on hand (carb base gaskets, fuel line banjo bolt gaskets, etc., etc.) a day is reasonable. Although with everything off, it's a great time to clean up everything, maybe do a little "freshening" of some paint, on oil canister, fan housing, etc.

Ben
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Jacques Lefriant
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Re: Which Aluminum Oil Cooler Should I Get?

#50 Post by Jacques Lefriant »

Hi Neil
All parts are not created equal so price is not a good indicator of value. The source that provides the part is a very important factor in the buying decision. SM is not much better than an ebay provider in qualifying what they sell. IMHO
j
 

Mark Yarrish
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Re: Which Aluminum Oil Cooler Should I Get?

#51 Post by Mark Yarrish »

Follow up question regarding coolers. It looks like they are attached to the engine via 3 bolts. I can see the nut of one of the bolts sits on top, but the other two seem to be "below" the surface that the cooler sits on?

Are the nuts that face downward accessible (Pos 4), with out removing anything else? Anyone have a picture?

Thanks,
Mark
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David Jones
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Re: Which Aluminum Oil Cooler Should I Get?

#52 Post by David Jones »

Mark they are accessible but you have to be quite dextrous and not have fat fingers. Biggest issue is dropping the nuts/washers between the cylinders. More with the 6mm studs than with the 8 mm. Having a "bent" wrench is helpful when loosening and tightening the nuts. If the engine is out of the car you may as well remove the rear tinwork.
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Wes Bender
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Re: Which Aluminum Oil Cooler Should I Get?

#53 Post by Wes Bender »

Anyone who has ever pulled their own engine and put it back in will always do so in order to get at the oil cooler and/or some other parts. It is typically the owner who has never pulled his engine that wants to try to do these engine tasks with the engine in the car. There's a moral there somewhere....

Wes
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Re: Which Aluminum Oil Cooler Should I Get?

#54 Post by Mark Yarrish »

David Jones wrote:Mark they are accessible but you have to be quite dextrous and not have fat fingers. Biggest issue is dropping the nuts/washers between the cylinders. More with the 6mm studs than with the 8 mm. Having a "bent" wrench is helpful when loosening and tightening the nuts. If the engine is out of the car you may as well remove the rear tinwork.

David, Thanks for the info. Luckily, I am still quite dextrous. :D .

Mark
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Dennis ODonnell
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Re: Which Aluminum Oil Cooler Should I Get?

#55 Post by Dennis ODonnell »

"...always do so in order to get at the oil cooler..."

+1. Besides fumbling with the baffles & fan shroud it's hard to torque those nuts correctly when the engine's in the car.

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Ben Wainscott
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Re: Which Aluminum Oil Cooler Should I Get?

#56 Post by Ben Wainscott »

Wes Bender wrote:Anyone who has ever pulled their own engine and put it back in will always do so in order to get at the oil cooler and/or some other parts. It is typically the owner who has never pulled his engine that wants to try to do these engine tasks with the engine in the car. There's a moral there somewhere....

Wes
Wes,
Not sure I agree with you. If you have pulled engine(s) and put them back in, chances are you have turned wrenches for a while and have confidence in what you need to do to accomplish a task. I'd say the moral here (or somewhere) is that it's really based on your experience and ability and the good folks on 356talk to give you some tips to help you make that decision.
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Wes Bender
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Re: Which Aluminum Oil Cooler Should I Get?

#57 Post by Wes Bender »

I agree, Ben, but the potential for screwing something up when trying to replace the oil cooler with the engine in the car is probably close to the same as that of pulling the engine.

If a guy feels that he has the ability to do it the hard way, he might be better off getting the books and tools necessary and learn to pull the engine. It will be an ability that will serve him well if he intends to keep messing about with these cars. Of course, that's just my opinion and there are plenty of others out there.

Cheers,
Wes
Some days it's just not worth chewing through the restraints.....

Mark Yarrish
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Re: Which Aluminum Oil Cooler Should I Get?

#58 Post by Mark Yarrish »

Mark Yarrish wrote:
Ben Wainscott wrote:No problem changing out the cooler in a C with the engine in. Due to the square top hat on the aluminum cooler I needed to take off the engine hood to get the fan housing back on.

Ben, I have a C car as well, thinking of swapping out the cooler. Along with an oil change, do you think this can be done in a day, with the engine in the car?

Thanks,
Mark

I ended up going with the Willhoit version and swaping out the cooler with the engine in, not really a big deal on a C car. Honestly hardest bolt for me was the second bolt on the engine cover bracket. It was just so stubborn!

I did remove some of the engine tin, but it went back in with not too much trouble. Interestingly enough I found a VW cooler on my car. After an oil change, took the car out for a flogging yesterday around the foothills at 5200 ft air temp was 95deg, and the gage maybe got to 12:00 position. Very happy. Previously, that gage would read at least into the right section of the solid green!
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David Jones
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Re: Which Aluminum Oil Cooler Should I Get?

#59 Post by David Jones »

Congrats on doing it without removing the engine Mark. How long did it take? I am fortunate to have a 2 post lift and I estimate it would take me a total of 2 hours to do it by engine removal and replacement.
I have to admit even without the lift I would be reluctant to do it your way.
How difficult was it to locate the two 6mm bolts for the fan shroud to tinwork for cylinders 1 and 3?
If I had known I would live this long I would have pushed the envelope a little harder.
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Mark Yarrish
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Re: Which Aluminum Oil Cooler Should I Get?

#60 Post by Mark Yarrish »

David, Thanks. It definitely took me more than 2 hours. Would love to have a 2 post lift in the garage, nice! Since my wife and I have a 7 month old at home, I don't have the luxury of huge blocks of weekend time anymore, so I had to work on this in shifts, 30 mins here and there through the week.

All in all I would say it probably took me 5 hours, I suspect I could cut an hour off or more since this was the first time I did this. Not to say that I hope I have to do it again, should be 1 and done for awhile!

I got to the two nuts by removing the engine tin, and then upon reassembly, I lightly stuck the washer to the nut and then placed that in a wrench with some tape on the bottom, once i got it started, pulled away the wrench with tape, and then finish snugging down the two bolts. Since the threaded portion seems to be longer on the new cooler, I had to put one nut on, and then keep it fairly loose to start the other nut. Once both nuts are on, then snug it up. Of course the one on top is no problem.

Thanks for all the advice on this forum.

Best,
Mark
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