Oil Cooler duct adapter

Need help locating a 3 inch to 4 inch adapter for the scat tubing for a firewall mounted oil cooler.

Thanks Steve

Hey Steve,
I don't know which way you are adapting or why but I had a problem with cooling with my firewall mounted cooler. I had originally used the square cut Van's 3" fitting at the oil cooler. I decided to try a better transition so I made my own out of fiberglass. You may be best making your own as well. Simple to do.

I made mine out of 6061. I bought a 4" diam AL tube and 040 sheet from Spruce. I cut a slice of the tube, cut pieces of the sheet to make a trapezoidal box. I had all the pieces welded together at the fab shop at the Air Force base I was stationed. I was going to get 063 to make it easier to weld, but the guy said he could do it. And he did a fabulous job. 7 years and 850 hours later, it's still like brand new!

Jerry Esquenazi
RV-8 N84JE

Here are a couple of pics. The flange on the baffle was done in the same manner.



I have seen a similar thing done with aluminum by riveting the pieces together, either by bending tabs and/or using some .032 angle.

Make your own



This 5" into 4" works very well on my RV10.
Nice gentle curve and smooth fiberglass walls.

Go for it. Pink foam, shaped, sealed, sprayed with a few coats of PVA:



Four plies of 8.9oz 8-harness, two additional plies of tape on the flanges for thickness:



When cured, remove the foam, trim, seal, paint as desired.



http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=44856

Wow. Beautiful work.

Thank you for the help.

Steve

Wish I had my 3D printer years ago when I was fabbing parts from scratch with fiberglass. Using it to print plastic molds is a piece-o-cake.

rocketbob said:

Wish I had my 3D printer years ago when I was fabbing parts from scratch with fiberglass. Using it to print plastic molds is a piece-o-cake.

Click to expand...

Schazaaam! Never thought of that....

rocketbob said:

Wish I had my 3D printer years ago when I was fabbing parts from scratch with fiberglass. Using it to print plastic molds is a piece-o-cake.

Click to expand...

Bob, does the printer produce a smooth finish or would you have to sand/smooth it before applying the PVA?

Using ABS filament you can throw the part in a jar along with a small cup inside it filled with acetone, then you put it back on the printer and use the heated build platform as a hotplate of sorts. The acetone vapor will smooth the part.

I have a Reprap iteration 2 and printing with .2mm layer height with a .35mm nozzle I get good surface finish on outside perimeters.

http://blog.reprap.org/2013/02/vapor-treating-abs-rp-parts.html