Here is what I did. https://www.speedsterowners.co...nd-filter-relocation
Like Danny suggested, I used the beam attachment holes. I also have a triple air horn tucked up there mounted with a simpler bracket to the passenger foot well fire wall. I left the area in front of the beam clear for my future sway bar.
Carlos, if you look at RS-60 Mark's car on BAT, there are some chassis pictures. He used a regular front beam, but mounted the factory-style bar on TOP of the bottom trailing arm instead of under like the factory. Looks like it would clear the frame on a Vintage/Seduction frame.
Tom, yeah, the amount of stuff up there creeps up on you. I usually do a lot of looking and thinking about where EVERYTHING is going to fit and how it will work together. I spend way more time thinking and then the doing doesn't take that long.
I need some help finding a home for my Oil Cooler. The guys at Special Editions tell me that they put it on the divers side near the shock tower and cross member. I'm not finding a comfortable position above or in front of the cross member. My current thought is to locate the cooler below the cross member on a slight angle to avoid the spare tire. To secure the cooler in place I would weld a couple of angles across the member. The angles would be coped to fit the diameter of the member and hold the cooler about 1/2" below the member.
My concern about this position is that it places the fan about 4" away from the muffler.
Looking forward to hearing from you,
Thanks
This is what Vintage does. I know it's a different frame, but ideas are ideas.
If you flip your cooler and have the air pushing down through the cooler, it might not matter that it's above the muffler.
Danny, I saw that and it got me thinking. It'd be so simple too. Now to find a 5/8"ish stock bar. That clam mechanism is also cool a hell!
@DannyP posted:Carlos, if you look at RS-60 Mark's car on BAT, there are some chassis pictures. He used a regular front beam, but mounted the factory-style bar on TOP of the bottom trailing arm instead of under like the factory. Looks like it would clear the frame on a Vintage/Seduction frame.
@Carlos G posted:Danny, I saw that and it got me thinking. It'd be so simple too. Now to find a 5/8"ish stock bar. That clam mechanism is also cool a hell!
Yes, that’s very interesting. I’m going to take a hard look at whether I could snake a bar in though the side access in my Spyder. I’ve still got the access panel under my tank/MC/and rear of the beam so I might be able to do it.
I wish I had the mad fab skills like Danny to make an adjustable one, but I asked a local machine shop I work with and they told me it would be about $1K to duplicate what Danny did.
I had no idea I saved that much money. I don't even have $100 in my bar, unless you count the $400 I spent on a new welder!
Tom, that will work fine. The fan might run a bit longer because of exhaust proximity, but I wouldn't lose sleep over it. My fan blows down, but Ed proved that air comes OUT of the grilles so there's that.
I put my oil cooler about where Vintage locates theirs.
Fan pulls from below rather than pushing from above—mainly for space reasons.
I appreciate the solid input. I will take a look at locating the cooler further back like the Vintage location. My cooler lit says the fan pulls through the core, so my plan was to have the air blow down towards the muffler. At first I want the heat to be blown up towards the vents but then I saw I was closer to the engine fan inlet than the vents. If I end up with the cooler further back, I'll flip the cooler so the fan is on top and the air blows up.
It appears to me that if you slide the cooler back a little you could weld a couple tabs on that shock crossbar. It wouldn't take much to support the other end off the spare mount. Possibly an "L" shape from the spare mount over to the main frame rail. It would still clear the spare tire.
I absolutely LOVE the clamshell holder, Carey gave me one of the first. Probably the only Vintage Spyder with one LOL!
Keep working Tom.
Tom: Remember that the fan is DC powered. If you flip the + and - wires it will blow in the opposite direction. You can make it pull or push through the core, depending on how/where you mount the cooler.
Got any Cars and Coffee coming up down by the shore? I could see making a trek down to see your build.
Yeah, the motor will spin backwards. But the fan blades are only designed to move air in one direction, so I would not do that. Direction of travel is usually marked on the unit.
Danny has a good point on the design of the fan blade strongly favoring flow in one direction. It has also been my experience that fans prefer to pull through a resistance and exhaust into free air. I took a look at the Vintage position and found that the spare tire makes that area tight. I don't know how often I'll carry the spare, but I want to leave that capability in place.
On the topic of Cars and Coffee. I am really looking forward to doing more of them down here. The Audrain museum in Newport has them every couple of weeks through the summer. I went to one in 2019, it was their Tour de Elegance, we had a great time. in 2020 they kept the attendance down to 250 and they were booked up in minutes. First one this year is at Fort Adams on May 2nd. Registration starts April 26th. I'll check into it and get back to you.
Just a thought on fan direction:
In the middle of summer, my interior can get rather warm just from the proximity of the hot pavement. I would think you would want the fan drawing air from the louvers, through the cooler, towards the pavement. Otherwise you’re putting hotter air into the engine compartment/fan housing.
Are you sure it isn't the sun beating down on you with zero cockpit ventilation, plus the motor heat seeping through the firewall? I think those two are bigger factors than the pavement.
Yeah. My pedals and shifter base get hot to the touch. It only happens when I’m in traffic, though.
Interesting. I never notice the pedals getting warm, and I drive barefoot a LOT when it's hot. I also stick my left foot between the clutch pedal arm and the fender well, touching my foot to the metal(and straightening out my left leg).
I'll pay attention to the shifter temp this season.
The pedals have gotten worse since I removed the access panels to work in my master cylinder. But it’s puzzling hot hot the shifter box gets. It’s only physically connected to the engine by the cables. But it gets really hot in the summer.
With encouragement from the group I finalized my oil cooler installation. I like it, it's tucked out of the way and firmly mounted. Danny suggested extending one of the angles to pick up the spare tire mount for a third point of support. Worked great.
I had hoped to get the rear brakes on this week but had a setback when the wrong bearing caps showed up. I'm sure I'll find something to do on the car until the right ones arrive.
My bearing caps finally came in on Friday. They were holding up the installation of the rear brakes. Raining day today , I wrapped up the installation of the rear brakes. Getting it to roll is a nice milestone. without a spare engine, transmission and set of tires hanging around my garage is started to have some open space.
I can use your
input on the setup the the emergency brake cables. I thought I was being cleaver to remember to re-install the spring and washers that came with the EMPI kit before crimping the stop on the brake end of the cable. Now it looks like the collapsed height of the spring is too long, prevents the E-brake from its full range of motion. Do your E-brake cable setups have a spring around the cable at the brake end between the cable housing end and brake lever?
Yes, that is how my cables are.
