The GT6 (I'm still not used to calling it Bubba) breathed oil through
its new filter and cooler arrangement tonight. Persistence pays off, I
guess - I think I've been collecting parts for this for almost two years.
The TR6 spin-on filter assembly *will* fit, but barely. I'm using a
Hastings filter right now, but it's essentially the same size as a
GFE148 (and one of those fits, I checked). You have to tip the filter
"forward" - that is, rotate clockwise, so the filter is just above the
three-way brake union and in front of the oil pressure relief valve.
>From there, 45 degree fittings get the lines over the steering column
to the thermostat, which is just forward of the shock tower. I made up
a little bracket that bolts to the front of the engine mount to hold
it. Then to the cooler, via a flapper valve (why? read on.)
The cooler is mounted vertically next to the radiator. Take a look at
the "GT-6R" LeMans prototype photos in Robson's book. I didn't mount it by
brazing to the radiator shell, though sometimes I wish I had. I made up
a bracket that is essentially a large J, with a U cross section. The
long end of the J goes along the side of the radiator. The bottom of
the J has two holes that bolt to the radiator bolts. The hook of the J
has two holes that allow the bolts for the cooler to go through. I put
RivNuts in the cooler holes, and safety wired the bolts. The corners
are welded up, so it's a fairly sturdy bracket.
You have to take the driver's side horn out to clear the cooler. (I
put in the JC Whitney compact air horns - the stock horns were too quiet
anyway.) You may also have to fiddle the bonnet height, or saw or file on the
cooler, or something else, to get the bonnet to actually close (I did
all of the above). I ended up taking the upper outer ear completely off
and filing the corner a bit. The inner upper ear got folded back over
the bracket, to stabilize that end.
(If I were going to do it again, I'd take the inner bottom ear off, bend the
outer bottom ear outwards, and make the bracket an L instead of J. Then there
would be no clearance problems.)
To avoid the oil just taking a "fast path" through the cooler, the inlet is at
the bottom. Since the thermostat is mounted at about the midpoint, I didn't want
the oil to drain out at rest (one of the original motivations for this was to
avoid rod knock at startup), hence the flapper.
>From the outlet, there's a temperature probe fitting, back to the thermostat,
back to the filter head. Phew! All plumbed in -10 Earl's super stock
hose (that's the kind with the chinese finger trap push-on fittings; I
threw the stupid dress-up covers away because they looked like they'd
just rattle around).
That left rear corner of the engine is getting quite crowded, but the
installation looks OK. There's one drip at the block, which will take some
fiddling to get straightened up, but it seems to all work other than that.
Hopefully it'll make a difference in keeping the engine cool...
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