Oil cooler DIY.

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jeffie7

Wrong Whole!
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This could easily be used for any car. Just keep in mind, most stock cars have TONS of space for mounting coolers, many of them allowing you to bolt it directly to the bumper/crash bar. Something I aint got! =(

Most of the parts list came from

Custom oil cooler installed | Kohler Created

Only thing I changed was the oil cooler, the one used in that link is a bit too small.

Earl s Performance 41610ERL - Earl's Performance Temp-A-Cure Fluid Coolers - Overview - SummitRacing.com this one is 13x5 a tad bit bigger then the 8x5 and only 20 bucks more.

I also used strips of aluminum from Lowes they ran me around 5 bucks a pop. got 2, 3 footers. one was maybe 1/2 inch while the other was 3/4 maybe?

I used nothing but basic tools.

wrenches
screwdrivers
hammer
electric hand drill
random drill bits
punch for making little marks in the metal to help with drilling in the correct spot.
files for sanding
vice
hacksaw
Thread lock (the blue stuff)
random nuts/bolts with lock washers and the nuts with the plastic inserts whatever they're called.

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Anyone who says they can't do their own work because they don't have a shop/garage all I can say is wahhh wahhh wahhhhhh

The hardest part of this job was walking from the parking lot to the deck on the back of the house over and over and over.

onto the pictures.

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I zipped tied it into place to see if my bumper cover would fit.

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My work shop was my railing. I only had to go downstairs to pick up random tools like 4 times.

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The cooler is very solid, it feels like it's meant to be there. I'm not a big fan of the installs where it's just sorta kinda put in a spot with 2 little brackets sorta kind of holding it place.

I would have liked to of put it on the passenger side due to the oil lines/turbo being on the driver side, but there was just too much going on over there. So it went to the drivers side. I ran the lines down between the intercooler and radiator. While I'm not a fan of how low the lines sit, they are not the lowest part of the car in fact the front bumper cover sits much lower so hopefully I have no issues with it.
 
i would have used a braided line. everything else looks pretty good. trying to figure out why you used crush washers AND nylock nuts though, not really necessary.
 
Nice job - an oil cooler is a real good idea for a boosted build. Beautiful car too!
 
i would have used a braided line. everything else looks pretty good. trying to figure out why you used crush washers AND nylock nuts though, not really necessary.

And lock tight. Because I could lol The thing I dislike about thee design is there's too many joints. This could be a problem down the road so I did everything I could to keep stuff from coming loose.

I would have liked braided lines but there's two issues.
Most of the oil cooler setups that use braided lines are an8 size. if I used an10 braided lines I would have had to run the lines down the front side of the I/C and under it back towards the sandwich plate.

If I do have any problems with the lines down the road I can always swap them out. I always do visual inspections very often with the car. It's part of owning a boosted car. Back when I had the turbo civic I checked over all the major bolts/vac lines weekly
 
Welp got a rattle with one of the rear washers, so much for locktight =`( might have to double nut it.

On another note I ran across a Yamaha R6 today that just so happened to want to play....

poor guy lol.
 
looks like hes pointing out that you should use the red stuff and not that blue bullshit.
 
looks like hes pointing out that you should use the red stuff and not that blue bullshit.
If that's the case - prep is important. Any oil will render any threadlocking compound essentially useless.

Do, douche it with carb cleaner, of use a cotton swab and carb cleaner, brake cleaner, alcohol and cotton swabs.

Just be sure it's clean and free of oil before applying thread locking compound and reassembly.
 
Methyl-Ethyl Keytone is the bomb for cleaning. We used it all the time on aircraft parts. It evaporates very quickly, leaving no residue. Careful though, it will eat paint if you don't watch it.
 
2 things
i noticed you used crush washers as spacers between 2 pieces of metal
they only act as a lock washer if they are between the nut and the metal

nylon lock nuts - the nylon melts when exposed to heat
keep that in mind
 
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It looks like the oil line between the IC and bumper/frame could get a hole rubbed in it by that metal edge. I'd keep my eye on that, you don't want to lose an oil line while beating up on street bikes.
 
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It looks like the oil line between the IC and bumper/frame could get a hole rubbed in it by that metal edge. I'd keep my eye on that, you don't want to lose an oil line while beating up on street bikes.

Shouldn't be an issue but yes, as with any heavily modded cars things like oil lines get inspected every few hundred miles.
 
Methyl-Ethyl Keytone is the bomb for cleaning. We used it all the time on aircraft parts. It evaporates very quickly, leaving no residue. Careful though, it will eat paint if you don't watch it.
It sure is. I use it to cut Rustoleum when spraying too. Flows nicely, smooth finish and dries and cures real nice.

It's not available in some states - California for one. Fortunatley for me, it's still available over the counter in Texas.

MEK is a main ingredient in paint remover.

:cool:
 
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