In the RV14 tail-dragger, the oil cooler mounts to the engine mount, and is fed air through the large 5" hole in the baffles, some scat tube, and an 'inlet assembly' which bolts over the oil cooler itself. (why it has a square hole is anyones guess!)
Since i will need the oil cooler installed for the engine run on the truck (if we ever get around to building the bloody engine), i decided to get stuck into chapter 49.
As always, work starts with deburring parts. They were then cleaned, etched and primed, then finally riveted together with the squeezer.
The efficiency of the oil cooler depends on how nicely sealed the inlet assembly is to the cooler. As such, on the sides, some rubber P-Seal was attached with clear RTV. I used some long drill bits to clamp it against the oil cooler sides, and tape to hold them down.
The assembly has a bunch of holes in the corners, which would lead to air leaks. These were sealed with proseal, as this allowed me to paint over it for a nicer looking finish. I sat it on the oil cooler for the proseal to cure.
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| Holes in each corner at the top... |
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| ...and the bottom. |
I first taped off the outside of the holes so i had a backing for the proseal to form against. I formed the tape at some 45 degree angles so the corner of the oil cooler was covered and would not be a leak point.
Then mixed up and applied the proseal into the corners.
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| I also added some proseal into the gaps between the welds. |
Once it was all cured, it was scuffed up and cleaned, then painted gloss white to match the engine mount.
Oil Cooler Fittings
The plans call for Aluminium fittings on the oil cooler. I have read on the forums about the risk of galling when aluminium fittings are used in an aluminium oil cooler. In addition, the sticker on the oil cooler box says to use steel! So i rang my bank manager, took out a loan, and got the "non-D" versions of the fittings instead at $60 a fitting. They were installed with Loctite 565, using a spanner to backup the nut on the oil cooler.
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| The plans call for the use of "D" fittings - which are aluminium. |
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| The oil cooler box is pretty clear - use steel fittings! |
The oil cooler inlet and the oil cooler was then bolted onto the engine mount, with some RTV acting as the final seal. The plans call for allowing the sealant to skin over, then bolting on. I assume to ease in the removal later. In fact, the assembly was installed with temporary nuts as i realised that the engine mounting bolts will not be able to be installed with the oil cooler in place - the engine must go on the mount first, then the oil cooler assembly later on.
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| The RTV provides the last seal against the oil cooler. The sides will seal on the rubber P-Strip. |
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| Temporary nuts are used because the engine mount bolts cannot be installed with the oil cooler in position. |
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| No way to get the bolt in here. |
That's it for the oil cooler for now - i need to get some hoses made up next.
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