Lauren's AE86. Pics on page 13.

[matt_mr2t]

I can talk, I took this when doing my dad's headlight the other week (yes, that was ALL required)



And this when doing my thermostat - at -5 degrees in January.

[Lauren]

Impressive!

This is what we've been upto:


Assortment of fittings:


Holes drilled for cooler pipes to go through bulkhead:




Thermostatic sandwich plate with fittings that we are not using(!):


Tom has gone back to Pirtek to spend another small fortune on yet more fittings and high temp hydraulic pipe and hopefully when he returns we can get it all connected up, get the exhaust manifold back in dizzy on and fire it up. Sounds simple, but..... we'll see!

[matt_mr2t]

Crikey, that's a proper fabricator/engineers illustration that is.
If it was me I'd just bodge it all in using nothing more than imagination, improvisation and a lot of hope

[Lauren]

Yeah I know, Tom is mad about making proper drawings and measurements of everything, but to be fair to him, he is a professional engineer by trade and does make a nice job of things.

I tend to go down something like your route, but when it comes to oil coolers it's all hydraulic pipes and fittings and the like which is right up Tom's street.

[Lauren]

Got it all in and running and Tom sorted out the cross thread I messed up on the cooler. At one point thought I might have to drive to DW in Birmingham and buy another cooler, so was relieved that went on okay in the end.

Bloody hell, it's been expensive though. £180 for the DW kit which would have fitted fine to be fair were it not for having PAS and AC. So had to spend quite a lot (still waiting for my friend to add it up), but we are talking £150 or so on fittings and getting pipes made up from Pirtek.

Also had to remove the exhaust manifold and dizzy to get proper access. It now runs from the sandwich plate to the back of the engine, around the bulkhead and along the chassis rail to the cooler behind the front bumper. It took quite a lot of oil to fill it up!

Just ran the car up and it started to warm up and spotted a leak. We called it a day at that point (8.20pm). Thankfully it's accessible and we'll have a look in the morning. It's been a long day!

Tom took the pics so will get them up when he's sorted them.

[leenjenna]

Nearly there tho Lauren, Keep it up!

[Lauren]

Feature by Ali now up on is website:

http://ej9.co.uk/?p=581

Example of some of the pics:



There is also a vid, but I can't get it to work.

In other news oil cooler is now all done, pics up when Tom sorts them. Finally phew! Just got to GJOB the car ready for tomorrow's trackday at Angers.

[DannyN]

You need to get a black stereo

[Lauren]

I need to get a stereo that actually works! Haven't turned that one on for two months now. It's crap!

[matt_mr2t]

Lose it. PTWFTW

[Lauren]

Am planning on an Alpine double din unit with ipod connection thingy.

Matt, I was going to ask you, I've been busy GJOB'ing again today(!). I noticed around the windows and things like the windscreen washers there is quite a lot of grim that has built up. Is there a good way to remove this?

In other news trackday prep is in full swing:

Helmet and dancing shoes dusted off:


Managed to fit everything in the boot easily:

[Lauren]

Mark has got round to sorting the boot out with some lovely new carpet:


Rear panel cut out in MDF and covered in suede:


I still need some interior panels(!):


Another job done.

[matt_mr2t]

By grim do you mean grime?

What kind, mould, moss, dirt?

I havent tried it yet, but apparently IronX and Tardis are fantastic decontamination products that will really strip you back to your bare paint removing almost everything. Then a decent all purpose cleaner (APC) like Meguiars stuff applied with a fine hair detailing brush around bits like that should sort anything out.

Obviously if you use things like that you're going to need to re-apply your wax/sealant.

[Lauren]

Yes, sorry I mean grime. It's just dirt. Around the windscreen washers (they are mounted in the bonnet). Also around the window surrounds, rear spoiler etc. It's the bits that don't get cleaned properly when most people clean their car.

Cheers for the tips, I'll add that to my list!

[Polypedates]

Old toothbrush

[DannyN]

Old toothbrush

Toothbrushes are so cheap and you've bought everything else for this car - buy it its own toothbrush

[Lauren]

LOL!

[Polypedates]

buy it its own toothbrush

Or that. I do the same but thought I was the only one

[Lauren]

Detail on oil cooler (Tom's post):
Well it got finished off on Friday morning ready for the trackday

Test fitting the sandwich plate:



The compact male / female elbow fouls the block There is a different fitting that it is even more compact but I simply couldn't source it in Manchester on the day (but I can get it through Pirtek special order). There wasn't time so it was time to modify:



The sandwich plate test assembled:



And test fitted:



Once this was done I could measure up for the lengths for the additional pipes. Here's the dummy pipes marked up:



And back off to Pirtek to get the pipes made up. The pipes were made up with HiTemp 305 convoluted PTFE pipe with stainless steel overbraid. It's top stuff

Crimping the new hoses up:



The new components:



The connections onto the oil cooler are aluminium and welded onto the cooler (so are not replaceable). Unfortunately Lauren damaged one of them (it's easy to do)



I decided to carry on regardless and worry about that later.

But then I hit another problem. Tried to fit the sandwich plate for the final time and couldn't understand why I couldn't get a socket to fit . It should be 24mm AF but that didn't fit and 27mm AF was too big Then I worked it out. It measured 25.4mm on the Vernier, 1" AF, furking merkinians!

So it was out with a file to reduce it from 25.4mm AF to 24mm AF





It finally fits



Initial components ready for final fitment:



Relieved compact elbow now clears the block



First pipe fitted:



Second pipe fiited:



Exhaust manifold finally fitted:



Or so I thought.... I wasn't at all happy with the exhaust manifold bolt hole on number 1 cylinder so off it came again and I ran a tap down it to make damn sure it didn't get damaged any further:



With exhaust manifold finally fitted, distributor needed to go back on exactly as it came off. Marks realigned as they were:





Once that was done there was nothing else left to do than to tackle the damaged thread on the oil cooler itself. I must admit I wasn't too hopeful that it could be recovered so while I was attempting to repair it I advised Lauren to have a look on the internet for a replacement.



But after a hour with a needle file it was looking reasonably okish:



Finally finished



Well it got finished off on Friday morning ready for the trackday

[Draven]

Very nice top job