I have just been going around replacing all the bolts I could find, with ones of Stainless Steel.

When I suddenly noticed that both of the Oil Cooler mountings were Broken at both ends.

These are the Aluminum mountings that are Welded on the Oil Cooler itself, rather than the metal brackets that they bolt on to.

Since this Car has not been on the Road for the past 15 years, I don't want to buy a new Oil Cooler at this stage, as although the mountings are broken, there is every chance the Oil Cooler still works.

But I don't want to have it jumping around, as it would almost certainly damage the new Radiator.

Any ideas!

 

Fair dinkum, you are cursed.

That is possibly due to some clown trying to undo the pipes without supporting the cooler using the 2nd nut attached to the cooler for just that purpose.

I have never seen that down here, and we have some real clowns working on these beasts.

I would be locating some epoxy glue, JB Weld, Devcom, whatever your market has, and clean that joint REAL GOOD, and apply said glue as instructed, and let it set up for the required 24 hours. NO fast dry stuff here please, as we are looking for a GOOD strong adherence.

You may need to look at different angles at the cooler and its large pipes and just make sure they all line up correctly so there is NO strain on that joint or the brackets. The cooler should just "sit there", NO strain on any mounting point, and the a/c condensor sits on top. It really is a simple sandwich arrangement. Nothing is under duress.

DRINK MORE.

 

Cheers Grant

As there is a possibility, that the Oil Cooler 'may' have to be renewed at some Stage.

Which from previous experience, is going to mean cutting through all of the Hydraulic Oil Pipes and replacing them with new ones.

What would you think about putting a metal band round the Oil Cooler, made out of that Perforated Metal Strip stuff and then securing that to the Metal Brackets.

Or I could try epoxy gluing some bolts into what is left of the mountings, so that when the time comes, I won't have to be trying to cut through the epoxy glue with a Chisel and FBH.

Also I think I will leave the Spoiler off, until I have got her running, just in case I find that the Oil Cooler is leaking.

 

I forget that bit.

The strap idea is a sound one.

The epoxy will seperate with a SFH and a chisel and a decent sharp whack.

If that cooler were leaking, there would be oil witness marks still visible, and I dont see any.

Oil cooler failures are rare in normal operating conditions.

 

Hi Grant

What do yo think of this?

I've managed to hammer in a Stainless Steel Washer and a Nylock Nut into the Slots inside the mountings of the Oil Cooler.

Although they were Broken, there was quite a bit left.

Then I cut a Stainless Steel Bolt to size and after I managed to line it up, which only took me about an Hour! (to do each blinking side!)

I did up the Bolts and Torqued them down really tight, there is no way I can see that it will move now, so hopefully that will be another job done.

 

SWEET

 

I was really hoping, that you would say something like that.

 

Looks like problem solved they, great idea of useing the washer, should hold tight with no worries. As Grant siad, it does not look like the cooler is leaking, and most times times when you go to take the cooler lins off, its a bugger, I had to cut one of the nuts to "POP" it free due to it being on so long and of coursr differant metals. Only place I could find one of the cooler lines was from a place inyour country. As for were I live (small Town Nebraska) I couldn,t find someone near enough for repairing the old ones.

 

Yeah!

Tell me about it.

I've had an Oil Cooler go before, on another XJS and spent a couple of weeks in trying to get those Oil Cooler Unions undone.

In the end I cut them off, bought a New Oil Cooler and then replaced the Hydraulic Pipes with some I had made up.

One of the worst jobs to do on an XJS and the Oil Cooler cost a small fortune!