oil cooler results #2

[TopCatGr58]

Wanting to not get HOSED!

Hey Folks,

Still waiting on my order of NPT taps, but was wondering if others with oil coolers, both OEM and aftermarket could tell me how their hoses are connected to the plate?!

Are most of them specially made/fitted hoses with fitting formed/pressed onto the hoses like brake lines, so that the hose has a nice professional hex head type fitting to the plate?

OR...do they just have the Arrow shaped nipples sticking out of the plate, and their hoses are just slipped over these nipples and "radiator" style hose clamped down onto them?!

As has been discussed, I'll be tapping the plate to fit 1/4" NPT type/style fittings, but wondered if folks would want/need me to provide the fittings, either the nipple style or some other style that would mate with their existing hose clamp/fittings??

Thanks in advance!
T.C.

[Pat Kelly]

I have arrow shaped nipples with hose clamps........ well, my Lockhart oilcooler adapterplate has them

[MAXIMAN]

TC

Mine are the serrated (arrow) nipples. Not sure if mine was OEM OCA or otherwise. I got it from Randy.

I would think 1/4" NPT female threads in the SOFA/OCA wold be good. Then the end user can figure out what they want to thread up with.

[John]

Mine are 1/4 pipe, 90 degree, with a 3/8 hose barb (arrow) on the other end, pointing down, and I have the hoses routed in a gentle arc that directs them up the frame rails..

[thewiz]

TC .... mine has 1/4 pipe barbed nipples that point nearly straight forward with clamped 3/8 hoses like John's. Probably an aftermarket cooler .... couldn't decipher the 'Greek looking' writing on the side of the heat exchanger .... PLUS .... Glad I checked .... 3 of the 4 connections are leaking. Think I'll replace 'em with some braided steel lines from Top Line here in Temec.

Incidentally ... rode some fast fwy miles and local stop and go in 100 degree heat today .... crankcase oil temp was 210 degrees when I hit my driveway.

[TopCatGr58]

A new question, PLEASE?

The prototype is done and being shipped to DWales for installation and testing on his machine with a hopefully favorable product report!

But this brings me to another question. DWales' cooler plate had the 45 degree barbed fittings, and it was a bit of a pain to tap the holes in the OCA/SOFA to get the barbs to end up pointing UP!

So...was wondering if it would be a problem for those wishing to get this thing to use STRAIGHT fittings, and then having the hoses slowly curve upwards towards the cooler. They have to go a few inches forward anyways to clear the bottom of the engine, so I was thinking that the straight ones would be fine, and would make it easier for me to just tap the holes to about 1/2" deep, plenty of threads to secure the 1/4" NPT fittings without having to remove and reinsert the tap testing the hole with angled barb fittings!?

Thanks for your continued input and support!
T.C.

[xschop]

get r dun

sounds good, would work great on PEPE

[Pat Kelly]

Originally posted by TopCatGr58

Hey Pat, just like the SOFA, it won't necessarily be for everyone. Folks who have pipes that collect directly beneath the OEM chamber cover may NOT be able to add a cooler/Sofa plate anyways, they'll continue to drop their headers to do their oil/filter changes! Going to a larger/wider filter is the ONLY way to make this thing and use a mounting nut/washer.
So...folks that have stock pipes, or pipes that have about a 4" space between the #2 and #3 headers directly beneath the oil filter chamber WILL be able to use this OR the SOFA. I hope it can help you, but I'm afraid I can't fix a poorly designed exhaust system's clearance limitations!

T.C.

It may work for me as my pipes do go on either side of the oil filter and collect under the transmission:


I need to measure the width of the opening between the pipes at the oil filter. If I can fit the filter between the pipes (3.75") then I'm good to go. The oil cooler lines will meet between pipes 2 & 3 and come up the middle to the oil cooler.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Pat,

Your headers look just like mine. I got mine from JC Whitney some 15+ years ago, think they are MAC's made for them at the time! There's plenty of room for the larger filter. Below is a shot of my pipes with the slightly smaller 6017A filter, and you can see plenty of room around the filter!


It's rather HOT here recently, and I don't have AC in my garage, and I don't want to put one in it! Plus, I'll be doing some riding with LaxDad Wednesday thru Fri, he's coming down from NY to N.C., will be running to the beach and such! Hopefully it'll cool down by the weekend, and then I'll be more willing to get back into my "redneck machine shop", and try to crank a few of these things out. But I also want to wait for Dave Wales to do the install and provide a product report!
Soon, very soon!
T.C.

[Pat Kelly]

Will the skinnier filter work with the SOFA/cooler plate?
I was told this is an RC engineering header. Don't know for sure. Got it off Ebay for $60 with no baffle (LOUD).

[TopCatGr58]

Slight Delay in production!

Hey folks,

Well, this will be my only post for the night!

I have spent the last 2 days in my little machine shop processing these OIL COOLER/ Spin on Filter adapters, trying to get a batch of 6 done, have several folks that have 1st dibs like XSChop who helped me see the light, Maximan, Jesse, Pat Kelly, and a few others.

I got most of the machining work done on them, and was tapping the threads for the 1/4" NPT hose fittings, got the first one done, backing it out every 1/4 turn to clear chips, had predrilled the holes with a 7/16" bit, was doing the second one, got down about 4-5 complete turns worth and SNAP! :MAD: The dam/V tap broke off in the plate!!!!!! There was a little section/corner left, but it only kept breaking off as I tried to grab it with a vice grips. So...I've grinded it flush with the surface, will center punch it and drill it out tomorrow.

I got the tap set from Harbor Freight ONLINE, I wonder if they have any kind of warranty????? I know they are made of a more brittle steel for sharpness and cutting strength, and I wasn't crooked in the hole, but sheez, cheap Chinese stuff I guess?! :MAD:

So...I'm tired, going to sleep, will have to wait to complete these when I get a new 1/4" NPT Tap!
Play nice now!
T.C.

PS, Pat, no the narrower filter will NOT work with this cooler plate!

[DiverRay]

TC,
DO NOT play with cheap taps!!!! I know from experience it will cost you time and money. Go down to the hardware store, or an auto supply, and buy a GOOD 1/4" tap. It may cost as much as $5.00, but it will last. The HF and any cheap set is made of cheap steel, and they don't last, are off just a little in size, or break. I have two cheap sets, one metric, one US, and I DO NOT use the taps any more. I've spent the money on good taps, and I've had no problems since.
Just my experience.....

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Ray,

Yeah, I should have realized what I would be getting from HF!

I went to MSC Direct, the place I've gotten other machine parts from, and ordered 2, 1 import, 1 US made, one was $5.25, the other ~$8.00, they said 1 day UPS shipping, so I might get them tomorrow?? Now to have fun in removing the broken part!
T.C.

[TopCatGr58]

Adventures in Machining!

Today came and went, and no UPS truck! Guess it'll be Monday. Nice thing that I'm off Monday! What's funny is that I was in Lowe's a few weeks ago, and didn't find any. Then today was there looking for some short drill bits and dremmel grinding stones and found the Pipe Taps, about $9.00 but I've already ordered these 2, so I'll wait to see how they work out.

I spent several hours today working on getting the remnants of the broken tap out! I had grinded it flat with my grinder, so I took my center punch and gave it a good whack. . . .
Flattened the end of my centerpunch! Not a good omen!

IT just laughed at my drill bits! I then tried to push it around by hitting it with a screwdriver and hammer against one of the flutes, just broke off another piece! So...I took my dremel with an extra large cut off wheel, cut a nice big slot right down the middle, put a big flat blade screwdriver into it, put a wrench on it, and twisted.....SNAP, broke off a wedge of the tap, but it didn't budge otherwise!

Tried drilling thru it with a pointed dremmel stone, made a small dent, but wore out the dremmel bit, and the next one, and the next one! Took a piece of 1/8" thick angle iron, cut some points out of it to fit into a couple of the gaps between the flutes and the drilled hole, stuck it in and turned with a crescent wrench....BENT the piece of steel! Then I took the other wrench end of the broken tap, used the grinder/cutoff disc to cut and sculpt 4 points into the tap end to stick down into the 4 gaps again to use to try to twist it out, broke off the ends of the modified tool!

I finally got some old hard Cement nails I had left over, and held one in a vice grips, and stuck the pointed end near the edge of one of the flutes, and whacked the crap out of it, and broke off another wedge, and just kept repeating this process, until I broke off enough peices to finally push it down thru the hole and out the plate mounting side! Bunged up the plate a little in the vice, but a little grinding with the flap disc, and a spin on the lathe will resurface it just fine. I don't know IF I'll be able to use the hole that the tap broke off in, may be able to clean up the threads with a new tap, since it's tapered, and I hadn't gone that far with it, it may just cut some new threads just fine. But if it's too far gone, then I'll plug that hole and just drill a new one on the other side of the first one.

I'm hoping the newer stronger taps will work more efficiently! Stay tuned!
T.C.

[oseaghdha]

Heh, sorry for your troubles TC

I hate broken taps.
If I had a nickle...................
Forget drilling, you either have to break them or burn them out(EDM). I have never had a tap extractor work in 25 years of machining. When I break them, they stay broke!

I hope you are using some kind of lube on the tap.
Pretty much anything will work: WD40, PB Blaster, kerosene, etc. Just don't do it dry.

Put a center in your drill press chuck and use that to keep the tap straight. Most large taps have a center in the square end. All decent tap drivers have a center also, and are much better than using a wrench. You can make a decent center by chopping off the end of an old tap that has a point on the drive end.

One other thing, you can use NPSF taps with taper fittings. They are straight and much easier to use. If the fitting is straight thread you will need the taper tap (NPT).