RV-8 Oil Cooler

[jeffmoreau]

As per the instructions I have mounted the Van's EA II oil cooler on the suggested baffle as high as possible. To enable the factory supplied mount to work I have ended up with what I feel is fairly minimal clearance between the oil cooler and the cowling. Can anyone give me an idea of how much clearance I need in that area. I have between approximately 1/4" and 3/8" gap between the cooler and cowl.
I understand all of the comments about the engine "shaking like a wet dog".
In the real world, what works for clearance? Any comments and or photos would be greatly appreciated.
Happy New Year to all!

[Bill Wightman]

Jeff - with only 1/4" clearance you're almost surely going to see the cooler knocking against the cowl. 3/8" also seems too close to me. I'd suggest 1/2" as a practical minimum.

I had an RV4 with the cooler mounted behind #3 like yours. It had 1/2" clearance and there was evidence of intermittent contact.

[Rick6a]

Originally Posted by jeffmoreau

As per the instructions I have mounted the Van's EA II oil cooler on the suggested baffle as high as possible......
In the real world, what works for clearance. Any comments and or photos would be greatly appreciated.....

Jeff,

Been there, done that. Because the curvature of the RV-8 cowl is considerably different than exists on the side by side models, I ended up scrapping key pieces of baffling when I attempted to mount the oil cooler in about the same location as I did on my -6A. Those baffle parts were about the only parts I had to scrap and replace during the entire build process. Here is a link that describes the problem and my post #19 includes photos that graphically illustrate the problem and what I had to do to make the oil cooler fit the baffle while maintaining adequate cowl clearance. Good luck.

http://www.vansairforce.com/communit...ghlight=baffle

[Alan Carroll]

Jeff,

If the cooler is already mounted I'd leave it alone until you're flying, and then check for rubbing. Easy enough to fix later.

I have my cooler mounted similarly close to the cowl and there's no evidence of contact. The higher you can mount it, the better cooling you'll get.