Practically Classics Forum

Too hot, and dad didn't do the welling till 6pm.
Three parts have been welded and placed in the inspection pit,
this is so they are out the way of the dogs and the cool air blowing
under the car can cool them.





So thats the bottom fixing plate for the A frame,
the rear engine/transmission mount bracket,
and the base for the battery holder/tray.

Better pictures tomrrow and possible upper A frame fixings.

First a quick look at the base A frame fixing plate.



Now the rear engine/transmission mount, and yes it needs cleaning up and painting!



The a/c condenser and race radiator went in fo mocking up purposes. 11" or 10" fans up front?



After putting the radiators in there is not enough space behind them for the Fans.



As the fans will be moved up front the battery tray can be moved a little further forward.
In the picture the base of the battery has fell a little forward than it should be.
The oil cooler radiator will be attached to the fixing bracket for the race radiator.

If you hadn't guessed rain stopped my doing more as I couldn't use the grinder in the rain.

When I put the radiators in for mocking it up, I have come
across a little potential problem!
I will take a photograph in the morning as I will have to get
under the car to double check it.

The race radiator lower outlet maybe too close to the oil
filter on the engine!

Okay here are the pictures of the lower race radiator outlet.

View from above





View from below







Too close do you think?

Just my opinion but I say too close. If there's any contact/movement between the two during operation one of them will break. Either the radiator outlet or the oil filter starting to leak will destroy that engine pretty quick. Can you move the radiator towards the side??

Last bit made for the battery tray.



I used masking tape to tape the parts together inplace ready for welding.





A short oil filter is out of the question, as it would still be too close to the hoses.





As you can see from the photo below the inlet pipe on the water pump and the
bottom outlet of the Radiator, where the hose needs to go.





There is not enough space on the right for the outlet to be moved to on the other
side of the oil filter!



I think that it might be better to move it further towards the centre of the car by
a few inches, also have the pipe angled for better fit of the hose. Yes a little
trimming of the plate next to the bolt for the adjust ment.



I think that this rules out a remote oil filter!



There are 2 hoses going to that plate the oil filter is screwed into!
One hose goes to the water pump the other the heater matrix.

Hold off on the remote oil filter suggestion please!
After the pictures in my recent post (I posted on the neons.rg forum)
I had a response from the only other person to do v6 neon swap

jimbo in MI on neons.org wrote:I totally missed that "plate".
That is an oil cooler. You can remove it and there is a different (shorter)
threaded stub that goes into the engine block for your filter.
The oil cooler is not critical in this application, it is more important when
towing heavy loads with a fully loaded 5000lb minivan that is shaped like
a brick.

Okay let me get this clear there is a plate between the engine and filter,
this plate circulates the Coolant through it to cool the oil!
Unlike other oil filter plates which actually divert the flow of oil out and
then through a oil cooler radiator then back to the plate and into the
system.

Is this what he is trying to tell me?
If this is correct then could you I need to be pointed in the right direction of
the replacement oil stem/filter(what ever you call it) part.
Thanks

Is this other bloke's car an auto too? If a manual, then the cooler may not be required.

The auto box has the black smaller radiator which has appears in some photos.
The oil cooler plate between the engine and filter cools only the engine's oil

Okay today I started by removing the drain plug on the engine oil pan.
What a mistake!!!!
I bust 2 sockets before resorting to a breaker bar, it must have been
touched in years!!!! This thought was then backed up by the state of
what I supposed was the oil!!!! As it was more like treacle or malaises.



I left the tray under the engine to collect the oil, I will empty it
tomorrow. Thus leaving plenty of time for it to ouse out.

With the radiators not in the car to obstruct me here is a clear photo of
the filter the coolant pipes and the oil coolant plate.



I pulled the rubber goses off the pump so you can clearly see the combined
length of the filter and the cooling plate.



Without the oil filter and hoses you can clearly see the cooling plate, which
moved when I was trying to get the filter off, so it wasn't even on finger tight!



The offending item came off way too easily!!



This is how it was bolted on.



Through that hole



And onto the original oil filter place



With the large oil filter and cooling plate gone, along with the need for coolant
hoses going to the cooling plate. I can run a fresh hose and pipe straight along
the front of the engine without obstructing anything.



I will drop the radiators in tomorrow for a good look, and for making the radiator
fixing brackets. New oil filter and oil on friday. dad is welding thursday night .