posted by 2fass240us on Jul 15
I finally got around to mounting the oil cooler last night, and it isn’t as asethetic or strong as I would like (yet). Not having easy access to a welder or the skill, I’m left to rivet pieces together where I’d like to have them welded. A spot-welder might not be a bad idea, but it would be much better utilized with an array of steel supplies and better tools for shaping them. This would take more time to set up than I care to spend, but would make for a cleaner car. Realistically, I should probably start a list of things like this (including the sunroof) to take care of in the future at a body shop. This makes the most sense when the car gets the front half of the cage somewhere down the road. I can have the chassis stitch-welded, cover any unnecessary holes, etc. before painting the whole thing.
Enough dreaming, back to the work! I effectively walled off the hole in the stock battery location with a piece of sheet aluminum left over from the driver’s door skin. It covers about half of the hole and most of the flat part, and serves as a mounting point for the top flange on the cooler. I located and riveted a piece of 1″ angle aluminum from Lowe’s to the sheet and used some fasteners through the holes in the cooler flange. As it turns out, I did not need to keep as much of the CF flange at the top, as I didn’t really use it for mounting. I will definitely use the CF flange at the bottom though, as mounting will be a little more difficult. At 3 hours last night to mount the top though, maybe not! 
It looks like the bottom will be mounted between the tension rod bracket and the trailing, lower edge of the bumper cover. On the frame rail side, I might also be able to fab a bracket to drop from the rail so I don’t have to mess with the bracket. I could also use this for mounting the underpanel that will protect the cooler from track debris and help manage airflow.
More to come soon, including finished mounting pictures!
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