[DeTomaso] Laminova oil cooler

[JDeRyke at aol.com]

In a message dated 9/3/08 8:19:00 AM, julian_kift at hotmail.com writes:
snip.....
> The Ford unit has the oil lines running parallel to the body of the cooler. 
> I presume you oriented it with the fittings towards the front of the car, 
> pointed towards the rear?
> 
> Yes. That way, I didn't need a pair of 180 degree AN fittings for good flow 
> through the dash-6 AN oil lines, which were kept as short as possible. 
> Dash-8 hoses & fittings would have been better but things are kind of cramped 
> around our oil filter adapter, the oil thermostat and the bypass plate to the 
> block all tucked up in or above the subframe recess, so larger braided hoses 
> would have been curved tighter than recommended radii. I also fabricated a small 
> aluminum heat-shield between the closest oil line and header pipe. 
> 
> How did you physically attach the cooler to the car? Did you just rely on 
> the hoses to retain it in
> position, or did you run the back end through the grommet at the rear of the 
> center structure where the water pipe is normally supported, or what? 
> 
I relied on the hoses in front -the front support grommet is within a foot of 
the connection with the Ford/Laminova cooler and the remains of the ss water 
return line, so the system is quite rigid and the assembly is not heavy. In 
the rear, I enlarged the stock grommet hole in the support to allow the cooler's 
outlet & hose to stick thru it. The Ford/Laminova cast oil connection bosses 
are lumpy, so as to maximize ground clearance, I spent time & effort to pound 
a dent in the floor to allow the cooler to tuck up as much as possible. 
Unfortunately, there's doublers in the floor where the console is, so forming a 
recess in the floor where I needed it was lots more work than it should have been. 
>From above, the bump in the floor is invisible since it's all inside the 
console upholstering. Finally, on our early car with stock right-side e-brake 
mechanism that protrudes thru the floor, I tie-wrapped the oil lines as far away 
from the e-brake mechanism as possible, just in case. I also added a 
Perma-Cooler oil thermostat so the cooler is bypassed until oil temps get to 180 F. 
Laminova says this is unnecessary but I disagree- it gets cold here in Winter!

Julian, your non-Ford Laminova cooler came from the U.S. dealer with two 
different sized inlets & outlets: 1-1/2 and 2"; I still have the 2" dia ones in my 
garage if you want them. And your sealing o-rings were contact-cemented just 
in case. Remember this is you ever try disassembling it for cleaning. Cheers- 
J DeRyke



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