I wanted coolers on the transmission and power steering. When I took the radiator out it seemed like a good idea to just Cool Everything! So husband went hunting in his favorite wrecking yard one day and came back with candidates for Both Coolers and material for a cold air intake!

They will be separate posts in this thread.

~POWER STEERING COOLER~

The cooler is inserted in the Low Pressure line between the pump and the rack. It's from a Chevy Suburban; it originally had brackets on opposite sides of the ends. I took the air cutoff tool and removed the bracket on the out end because it was Quite useless there and in the way. The bracket on the tube end is useful to keep the pipes aligned.



The tubes had to be re-bent for proper oil flow and to fit in the assigned space but were too short to use husband's tubing bender.

When I was growing up we had no such luxury as dedicated tubing benders so we had to learn to do it the Farmer Way, with a well cushioned box wrench, making Many tiny kinks until the tubing was the correct curve. If done carefully one can make quite complex bends. I got pretty good at it if I say so myself.




Husband had never done that! In fact, had never even heard of such a rinky dink thing because he had always had "proper" tools!! So I got to show him something new for a change!

There will be small dimples in the line, but that's the way any time a tube is bent. This is also why one must be careful. If you get over exuberant on just one of these tweaks the tube will kink.

Because the rack was of unknown pedigree husband bought an inline magnetic filter that is just ahead of the pump.


There's ledge at the bottom of the narrow grill just behind the horns. That's where I wanted to mount this cooler, and it sat there like it was Made for it!


I connected the cooler to the grill with zip ties.

This is Just the way I envisioned it.
(';')

 

I'm always learning Lnr .........thnx.

 

Very slick. I'll have to remember that one. Padded box wrench, hmmm.


But, why ? Over heating PS system. Not all cars have them. Mine do not.


In addition to he couple of tubing benders that look like complex pliers, I have a selection of coil springs. Just slide the one that fits tight and apply arm strength.
Xlnt on copper. Fair on ordinary steel. Fiddly on SS!!


When I was in Germany, I noted that building heating radiators were plumbed sans a bunch of connectors as is likely to be found here. A series of little ridges on the inside edge of a 90. I suspect that they were bent by applying heat as well as pressure.
Messy as to flow, but apparently effective !


My thanks as well.


Carl

 

Thank you, Carl,
I'm given to understand these steering racks get hot. I've noticed in several pictures, and mine had it as well, a loop of hose lying in the air flow on top of the cross member, sort of a cheapy cooler.

The Conversion Manual from JTR that husband acquired strongly recommends putting a cooler in the PS low pressure line; I thought those guys probably have good reason.

Also, heat is Enemy #1 for oil seals, and my old rack was Just Beginning to not work on right turns, in town at low revs. That said to me, Seals on that side were compromised, doubtless partly due to age, but also maybe heat.

Not only that, many vehicles have PS coolers from the factory now, and as I was doing all this other stuff anyway, I thought I might as well. No time like the present when I have access to everything. Basically I suppose, this was another in a long line While I'm At It projects. And I HOPE to never have to do it again!!
(';')

 

Not critical, merely asking. And, so for sure, I am a "while I'm there guy".


I missed a comment. Those bent fins seemed to connect with the big comb that I use most mornings to comb the still present, but getting very grey hair atop my head. Perfect to straighten cooling fins!!!


Carl

 

Another point:


The long lines across the front cross member to the reservoir on the other wing must have some cooling effect.


And, no question, heat is the enemy of a lot of things, hydraulics included.


However,is it heat generated by the steering hydraulics or from external sources. Exhaust or radiator.


Carl

 

Thank you again, Carl,
The fins on this cooler aren't like those on radiators or AC condensers, they're MUCH heavier! I think the whole assembly was dipped in silver solder. I thought of combing them like I did the condenser but they're too far apart and too tough. I decided discretion was best and left them alone before I broke something. Husband said they weren't abundant in the wrecking yard.

I wouldn't be surprised if radiator/engine heat was a Big contributing factor to heat build-up in steering racks, besides working hard in town on our 100+ degree days. But for sure, with this cooler, right out front in the air flow will take care of a Lot of that heat build-up.

I thought about hanging it off the AC condenser, but the trans cooler already has to go there. Where it's mounted it shouldn't hamper air flow as it's a very open design. That's what I'm hoping anyway.
(';')

 

We had talked about this last Summer but with so many other dogs yapping at our heels and husband wasn't feeling 100% it sort of got put off. But now that the radiator is out it's the perfect time to address this. Another While I'm At It project.

~Cool Air Intake~

Husband was crawling around in the 'local' wrecking yard in the Chevy section looking for something completely unrelated when he found an air cleaner with a snoozle very similar to Nix's, and he had a thought.


He had already found a curved tube, who-knows-where, so all that remained was to fit it all together. He cut off the intake horn from the Junk Yard air cleaner at an angle to match up the tube when inserted between Nix's air cleaner and the radiator mount.



This sort of fabrication stuff is what he Really loves to do! And he's good at it so I leave him alone when he's creating. I spent the day in Sacramento with my friend so husband had the whole day alone to work on this.

He first had to remove the Jaguar air horn with the cut off wheel and enlarged the hole where the old horn had been, leaving enough bracing behind so as not to weaken the structure but not interfere with air flow too much either.


Then he got rid of the damper control thingy and patched the hole and welded it all together, including a tab to screw it to the fan shroud. Of course it ended up on top looking like Frankenstein...

instead of the pretty side up...

but the junk air cleaner gave him no choice.

I gave the tube a good bath in Oil Eater and it fits Perfectly!

Here's the finished product.






This is Exactly what I had in mind when I first mentioned it.

The air cleaner and radiator mount obviously don't touch the underside of the hood, but the curved tube might. However it's soft and flexible so no damage will result. After a few warm trips to town it will doubtless conform to its new height restrictions.

I can't wait to see the difference in performance and/or mileage.
(';')

 

Nice work on the cold air intake , I would like something like that on my car. I used to wonder why I have so little bonnet clearance which limits intake options. Finally realised that the intake manifold is actually for a square bore carb and has an adapter to fit the QJet, which moves everything up an inch or so. Something else to live with until the engine needs a refresh :-)

 

Thank you, Steve,
I can't wait to see the difference it makes.
(';')

 

LnrB: Kudos to the both of you. Absolutely slick.


The only thing that could be possibly better is two of them!! As in the twin snorkels of some muscle cars of old.


Cool intake air will make a difference. Probably best felt by one's back against the seat back.


Carl

 

The air cleaner base on mine was sourced from a 1990's Cadillac DeVille (RWD), and the top lid is from an 89 Firebrd with a TBI 305. This combo is fairly low on a quadrajet-which is what I was after. However, I do still have to notch the middle hood support/brace to clear the air cleaner asssembly-again, I have no problem with that.

The cool thing is the molded "5.7 liter" on the inlet scoop-I'll have to "customize" the core support but it'll look good when I'm finished.

 

Thank you, Carl,
I've seen dual snorkels, but I think that would be overkill for this engine. This air cleaner already has at least twice the capacity of the one that came with the car. I'm not looking for tire-burning power anyway, just a 'little' more power/economy. A bit of cooler air couldn't hurt.
(';')

 

You have done a fine job with the cold air intake... but you can get a lot more air into the air cleaner with just the K&N top.. I have used this
top since the engine was new on my Q Jet... it lets more in air even if it is not as cold as your new system.

Middle picture is of a Jag that I saved that did add the dual snorkel system.. looks very neat and just demands a S2 radiator cross support and the
snorkel parts.
.
Am getting ready to convert to fuel injection with EZ-EFI 2.0 and will switch to this dual snorkel type of cold air intake.. I have found that the
difference in air inlet temp (by reading the scanner on the LT1) is sometimes as much as 75 degrees from the ambient temps - especially if just going
at slow speeds or at idle. The sensor is in the bottom of the flex tubing just before the filter housing... two ways to get cold air and one for just more air.

 

Thank you, Roger!
We're quite pleased with how that turned out, husband especially.
I've read I can get another 5 to 20 hp out of my engine with this mod alone. I'll take 20!
And don't tell anyone, but I'm looking forward to the *sound* of all that new power. LOL
LnrB an Incorrigible Car Chick with a Lead Foot!
(';')

 

Did you have to notch the hood brace/support for that dual snorkel setup? I can't see any other way around that.

 

If you mean the bracing on the underside of the hood itself, speaking only for my car, that wouldn't be necessary because the tube is flattened as you can see in my pictures above.

The inlets come straight back (horizontally) from the radiator mount, which is below any hood structure. These tubes are relatively soft and flexible of necessity and *should* easily deform when the hood is lowered on them.

If I was to put a dual snorkel arrangement on my car, I would simply make a mirror of what's there now, cutting another hole above the radiator for another inlet. Below is a picture I just now found on Google Images of a dual snorkel air cleaner I would consider. (I have no intention of doing that, I'm pleased with how it is now.)


As long as the air cleaner sits below the diagonal braces there is no interference with any hood structure *On My Car.*

I hope I have understood your question and answered it correctly.

EDIT: If you are thinking of Roger's middle picture above, he mentioned he only found the picture somewhere and it's not his car. If you look closely, you'll see they are round tubes and are merely set against the radiator mount and don't actually connect to any inlet. I'm thinking someone posted their dream on the Net.
(';')

 

must be me, i tossed the next to useless P/S cooler 21 yrs ago, never any problems that i'm aware of!
also put on a remote transmission cooler, below the front bumper, been 21yrs also,no trans problems at all.

 

They are functional inlets... I just acquired a S2 radiator support to be able to duplicate the two air inlets... the cold air comes in through the grill like in the next photo of the my old '72 Jag with the cold air kit on the LT1.. I have seen drastically lower air inlet temps on that type of cold air kit...


It will increase HP by a considerable amount while moving... "free" HP after the initial investment of the air cleaner and related tubing... no maintenance
other than servicing the internal air cleaner at times...

 

Thank you, ronbros,
This is our first experience with rack and pinion steering. As we're newbies it seemed like a good idea to take the advice of "experts" in the field of V8 conversions (guys who published books on the subject) when it came to this and follow their recommendations.

One of them recommends a simple cooler such as pictured below:

As I mentioned, I wanted to do this anyway because I understand the effects of heat on any hydraulic system, and I Really don't want to have to change that rack Ever Again! Also I like the idea of fins on a cooler.

The trans cooler is still under construction but it's coming to this thread. We've hit a snag or two, some of them related to the project but many not even remotely, they've simply taken us away and taken a LOT of time. More delays.

I also thought about a remote spin-on filter for the transmission but I don't know where to put it. I've had one before (also magnets in the pan) and I feel it enhanced the longevity the transmission.

Thank you for your comments, and I Like the performance your car is obviously capable of. Maybe one day when she grows up Nix can do something like that.
(';')