Firewall Forward, Part 5 - Cooling System Upgrade, Oil Lines

 Jan at Viking has continued to develop and refine the baseline engine over time and since I took delivery of my engine over a year ago, there are a number of items I wish to upgrade.  First and foremost is the "tubing kit" upgrade, which circumvents the need for the coolant tank reservoir (not to be confused with the coolant overflow tank, currently mounted to the firewall).  Removal of the coolant reservoir affords greater space around the throttle body.  Freeing up this space makes it much easier to install the oil lines as well as provide for a clearer path of airflow into the throttle body.

First picture below shows the upgrade parts of the tubing kit.

Time to test the fit of the upgraded parts...and to my unpleasant surprise, I find that the new tubing was not fitting.  Shown below are the new parts overlaying the original ones.

 This picture shows the original system removed and replaced with the new, out of dimension upgraded parts - note the lower left portion of the picture and the tubing to radiator mismatch.

 A quick phone call to Jan at Viking revealed that I probably had the first of one hundred parts and the contractor probably threw an erroneous part on top of the lot....and guess who got it.  After putting a tape measure to the main tube, we indeed found that mine was about 2 inches too long.  Jan had me cut it down to the appropriate size and try fitting it into place.  I did and it fit like a hand in a glove.  Another call and Jan had a new one shipped out, with mine (in two pieces now) back to him.

Below is a shot of the offending part.  It should be a bit under 8 inches long instead of 10.

 

Now that the cooling system configuration was finalized, it was time to install the oil lines and associated fittings between the engine and the oil cooler.  Street elbows were mounted and marked for orientation as shown below.

Next the flared fittings were installed as shown below.

Next up was the customization of the stainless steel braided lines themselves.  As previously mentioned, with the ongoing development of the engine, specifically the configuration of the cooling system, has resulted in a different set of oil lines.  In fact, both lines are being shortened - one by about 12 inches and the other by about 2 inches.  With the engine's fittings in place and one end of each of the lines secured to the cooler, I could now measure for the length required as shown below.

Next, came the daunting task of cutting the existing line and installing a new fitting onto the end.  After some internet research, I arrived at the conclusion that the best tool for cutting the braided lines would be the Harbor Freight, 28 inch cable cutter.

With much fear and trepidation, I jigged up the hose, as demonstrated below, and committed cable cutting.  It is not clear from my photos, but a tight wrap of duct tape around the cut site is essential to guaranteeing a nice smooth (as opposed to frayed) cut end.

The pictures I took all came out blurry, so unfortunately you will have to take my word for it.  I was extremely pleased with the results.

First, shorter hose finished and installed temporarily in place.

Both hoses temporarily installed as shown below.

 Finally, a shot of the upgraded cooling system and with the oil hoses installed.

Views from the side and rear.