Oil Cooler Installation With Intercooler

From Nissan 350Z & 370Z Wiki

Introduction

This tutorial is for adapting an OIL COOLER for a vehicle equipped with a front mount intercooler. Mounting an oil cooler on a naturally aspirated vehicle would be less involved than this install. I used a STILLEN OIL COOLER KIT which I purchased for about $380.The kit is designed for a N/A vehicle and WILL NOT fit in the designed spot and the following tutorial cover the modified install.

Parts and Tools

• floor jack
• jack stands
• basic tool set
• fine tooth mini saw
• cordless drill
• drill bits
• 6 qts oil
• oil filter

Procedure

Jack car up and put on jack stands. Proceed to completely drain oil and remove oil filter. Remove front bumper cover and remove the small black plastic shield on the passengers side. This is held in with three small plastic clips in the aluminum bumper. Remove the plastic piece behind that by removing the three plasic clips. Discard both pieces, you will no longer need them.

Using a small fine tooth saw, make the existing hole in the plastic housing slightly larger to fit the oil hose through. Check fitment of hose, make sure hole is large enough so you can put foam padding around the hose. Now it's time to position the OIL COOLER on the aluminum bumper. This is the ONLY position I was able to fit the oil cooler without restricting airflow to the INTERCOOLER or RADIATOR Note the position and make marks on the bumper with a pencil, and remove the oil cooler.

Drill four holes in the aluminum bumper. Please note that you only need to drill the bottom part of the bumper. You may now mount the intercooler to the bumper using two nut and bolts(approx 10mm) and using two self taping screws on the end of the oil cooler closer to the center of the car. You will not be able to use a nut and bolt on this side, so a self tapping bolt does the trick. looking good!! Mount the hoses to the intercooler, please note that I ran the second hose underneath the bumper. At this point you will need to route the hoses to where the sandwich adapter will be. You may end up trimming the hoses to the proper length for proper fitment...Just make sure the hoses are free from kinks and not near any moving parts!!

You are almost done!!! Now mount the SANDWICH ADAPTER to the engine block and install new oil filter. Be sure the fittings on the sandwich adapter are positioned so you can connect the hoses. Also make sure not to forget the little rubber "O" ring inside the sandwich adapter. Tighten the bolt holding the adapter pretty good but dont strip it!! Now install the hoses and tighten. Secure all oil lines away from any heat sources and moving parts at this time..

Fill the car with oil(make sure to replace the drain plug ?) and check level. I used about 1/2 of a qt more than normal for the cooler and lines. Start car and check for leaks at this point. If there are no leaks you may now modify the front bumper by cutting away a small portion as seen in the photo. Without cutting you will not fit the bumper back on, just be careful not to ruin your paint.. Your front will now look like this. Just make sure over the next few days to keep an eye out for leaks and an oil pressure gauge might be a good idea. That will be my next tutorial.

Finished

Well your all done boys and girls!!! Hope this helps out and I am always willing to answer anyone’s questions, just pm me!! This is my addition to making this site the most USEFULL 350Z site on the net!!!