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Another Baffle Oil Cooler Mount Question

jsharkey

Well Known Member
I am fitting the baffles including a rear baffle mounted oil cooler per factory plans and was wondering if anyone has pictures of this installation. Particularly the area of the extra stifferners for the oil cooler support. The baffle plans aren't too clear in this area - at least to me at this stage.
(Funny how they always become crystal clear when the job is finished. Must be the education part of Recreation & Education kicking in :))
 
I used a lot of pictures from people's web sites....Dan Checkoway and Bill VonDane had quite a few good baffle pictures as I recall, and would think that my installation looks eerily familiar.....
 
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Thanks folks. I also contacted Gus at Van's and he suggested fitting the neat lid shown below. It braces the top corner where the oil cooler mounts and straightens out the top edge of the back wall of the baffle. I haven't got there yet but this latter feature alone must make it worth installing in order to make fitting the air seal much easier.
bafflelidvp9.jpg

If you don't want to fabricate it your self it is p/n CB-705B - $11.20 from Van's. Can't see it on the webstore list yet though.
Jim Sharkey
 
This setup has worked well so far (100 hours). Simple, cheap and it works. Sorry I dont have any good closeup pictures of it on the website but hope you can get the idea. It's simply a piece of AL angle bolted between the baffle and pushrod cover on the engine.

p1000784.jpg

p1010112.jpg
 
Scott, that'll probably work out ok, but it didn't for me. Bracing to the baffle doesn't keep the oil cooler from moving. It flexed the area the oil cooler was mounted to (even though that ONE spot where the brace attached didn't move). It all cracked around 120 hours.

After that I braced to the oil cooler itself and haven't had any issues since.

A very smart RV builder (ChinoTom) once told me...if you can MOVE the airplane by the oil cooler and the baffles don't flex, you done good.
 
So many ways to skin a cat...

My O-290-D2 doesn't have a bolt hold behind that upper left engine mount AND the head bolts are in a different place than the O-320's and O-360's so...

Not wanting to tie the cylinders together, this is what I came up.
 
jsharkey said:
I am fitting the baffles including a rear baffle mounted oil cooler per factory plans and was wondering if anyone has pictures of this installation. Particularly the area of the extra stifferners for the oil cooler support. The baffle plans aren't too clear in this area - at least to me at this stage.
(Funny how they always become crystal clear when the job is finished. Must be the education part of Recreation & Education kicking in :))

Post #4 of this thread has pics of my install:

http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=17741
 
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