1600DP oil cooler foam cover is 'shot'/replace it with other foam?

my 1600DP engine's oil cooler original "outer foam wrap" has more or less disintegrated/disappeared/gone/never even SAW it.. I'd like to replace it; have some foam here that might work (I think it's called 'closed cell', and it's rubbery/black...). I'd like to know:

how thick WAS the original foam on the oil cooler itself?

and

it also appears that, perhaps, there was -also- some foam on the inside of the oil cooler 'doghouse' tin up on the main blower housing, near the fan (judging only by adhesive residue found there ). so, WAS there also foam -there- originally, too? if so, how thick was IT? 'best guesses' on foam thickness dimensions OK ;-) not seeking precise measurement, unless known....

ALL my foam at or near the locations above is 'gone completely', so no way for me to even -guess- how thick the stuff was originally...

thanks

Reply to
bill yohler
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My only experience is with type 3 engines, but there appears to be some similarity here. The original foam was probably just glued to the cooler, although it's certainly possible that it was glued to the cooling tin on a type 1 engine. On type 3 coolers the stripes of adhesive are usually still obvious on the coolers. On type 3s that foam was about 3/8" thick. It is only as thick as it needs to be to fill the space between the face of the cooler and the sheet metal that is close by there. The purpose of this is to keep cooling air from bypassing everything and escaping from the engine without serving any useful purpose.

I have used lightweight polyurethane foam which I bought at an upholstery store. I tested it by soaking it in oil and then baking it in an oven at 400F for an hour. Lay it on a piece of alum foil to avoid a mess. If it comes out okay, with no melting, scorching, or change of shape, then it is okay material. There's obviously no point in putting anything in there that can't stand heat and oil, and LOTs of elastomers can't.

My foam is cream colored. I have extra to sell if you want some. The original material appeared to have been made from chopped up scrap foam, and yes, it has all disintegrated by now. I have more than 10 years of experience with mine with no deterioration so far.

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----------------------------------------------- Jim Adney snipped-for-privacy@vwtype3.org Madison, WI 53711 USA

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Reply to
Jim Adney

I can see the original factory spray adhesive resiidue still there, both on the cooler sides themselves AND inside the shroud/oil cooler area. I got plenty of the spray adhesive types ... I was gonna test my ideas (samples) with an electric plug-in (paint removal) torch. but I may 'opt out' on the 'oil soaked blast furnace' part of the test

so we're essentially talking about "thin-sliced old mattress foam" then, pretty much? ;-)

If I baked MY oil soaked foam in OUR oven my wife would _immediately_ evict me "no questions asked/no discussion possible" :-( and I don't have a spare oven at my shop, microwave or conventional (though do have oxi-acet, blow torches, etc.)

I was thinking I'd seen old VW oil coolers sometime in the distant past, and 'it seems like to me' they had some sort of solid grey, lightweight cheapo foam on their sides, similar to the foam used in lawn mower air filters and the like. I call it "rapid deteriorateo" type foam...

thanks and thanks again, jim :-)

Reply to
bill yohler

That's okay as long as it doesn't get too hot and there should be no actual flame involved. I like an oven just because it gives me control of the temp.

Not necessarily. There are many kinds of "foam rubber" and polyurethane is more inert than most and has a higher melting point than most. If you find a place that sells a variety of foams you'll find that it also costs more.

My wife continues to rib me about some of my "experiments," but I'm careful to not leave any traces behind. I actually used a small toaster oven for this test. It's the same oven I use to heat the crank gears before I slide them on. The key to all of this is to make a "tray" out of alum foil to do your experiment on. Do this carefully and you've confined your mess to the tray.

You DON'T want a pool of oil in there. Just enough to leave the sponge damp after you squeeze out all the excess.

I've never seen just plain grey. The chopped stuff I've seen was mostly beige/brown/???. One of it's main characteristics seems to be that the chopped bits all come apart when the foam is soaked in parts cleaning solvent.

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----------------------------------------------- Jim Adney snipped-for-privacy@vwtype3.org Madison, WI 53711 USA

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Reply to
Jim Adney

I use the closed cell foam insulation strip thats usually available in many different widths/thicknesses at good hardware stores. I just tore a motor down anter a few years use and it was still there and doing its job. My "test bed" for what I use was an Acura I had. It had developed a hairline crack in the plastic radiator top in an area that ran parallel to the metal radiator support. It would piss water under pressure. And even though it was not a signifacant amount, it would "steam" and you would look like you were overheating or something in traffic. My quick fix was to take the top radiator bolts loose and put some of that foam there over the crack. When i put the bolts back in it sandwiched the foam between the metal support and the radiator. the water did find it way out after awhile but not even half as much as before and it didn't steam. I ran it for a year and a half (and 50,000 mile) and only changed it out right before I sold it, just to "freshen" it up a bit. Good enough for me!

I have a self contained single stove burner used for camping along with some various sized AL pans that I now use in the shop. Its great allthough It uses disposable butane canisters and I'm not real sure they are available anymore. I just installed my last spare too! Mark Detro Englewood, FL

Reply to
Mark Detro

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