3.0 RS / RSR Behr 23.014 Front Central Oil Cooler

[Darren65]

To answer a question regarding shipping to this USA, I can include this via UPS (insured and tracked) for £100.

Payment can also be made in US Dollars - with the Pound currently sliding it's becoming cheaper for you guys!

Cheers,

[Darren65]

For information - first cooler just arrived in the States with import duty/taxes/fees etc being charged at $110.53.

Many thanks,

[Darren65]

Second cooler landed Stateside with only $39.75 duty to pay, go figure?

Not sure if that's a West/East coast thing or just pot luck?

Cheers,

[Darren65]

I've been asked various questions about the coolers such as how they were fabricated, who built them, weight, core used etc. etc. I'll try to cover all these questions here.

From the outset this was never a commercial venture and I was simply looking for a cooler for my 3.0RS build, which can be seen here - https://www.early911sregistry.org/fo...?147548-Flares

I had an initial batch of 10 coolers fabricated which meant I had 9 for sale. I have 3, possibly 4, still available. I've retained the moulds for the end tanks and can produce more however the market is limited, I'd have to do a minimum batch and it's a large outlay. Therefore without committed orders a second batch is unlikely.

In my hunt to get these produced I was lucky to be introduced to someone who had CAD scans of original end tanks, this was the key to this project and meant these could be produced exactly both externally and internally. Drawings were produced from the scans and a leading casting company were commissioned to produce moulds and casts....





....the castings turned out perfectly and better than I'd ever thought possible....





....the castings were then machined as required to original specification....





....at this time I was also put in touch with Dockings Engineering based at Silverstone in the UK. They're seasoned professionals in this kind of work, they had the advantage of working for a number of Porsche specialists on a whole range of race cars including 962's etc but also had the advantage in that they were currently in the process of re-coring an original Behr cooler from a genuine RSR.
Fortunately Dockings took a keen interest in my project, they agreed to carry out the fabrication and produced drawings using the original cooler as a reference...





....the core for this project was the tricky bit. The originals used a 15-row bar and plate core however there's very few companies that produce cores and getting them made in small batches in a custom size is impossible. There was an option to go this route with something similar although it still wouldn't have been 15-bar and the end cost would have been three times the price. Someone had mentioned a number of cores are manufactured in China although Dockings strongly advised against this as in their experience the quality of aluminium used is poor meaning the weight is nothing like what it should be and super heavy.

Ultimately Dockings wanted a known core of the correct size, from a reliable source and something they could pressure test both before and after fabrication. I went with their advice and they supplied a tube and fin core to the correct dimensions which is the same core as fitted to the original RSR cooler they were recently working on.

The finished result is a quality, light cooler that's fully pressure tested and assembled comes in at circa 3.8KG....





I was also fortunate to be able to obtain all dimensions for plug/relief valve from the original RSR cooler. These were then reproduced exactly with springs manufactured of the same dimensions, wire size, number of coils etc so they matched perfectly. The plugs are also anodised....





....finally, rather than use a modern corrosion protective coating on the coolers which is now the norm, I was introduced to a company who could still carry out the original Aluchrom 407 protective finish giving the coolers that old school greenish NOS appearance ....





I think that pretty much covers the whole process but please let me know if you need any more information.

Many thanks,

[718RSK]

Unbelievable attention to detail. Love it. Thanks for sharing

[Darren65]

Unbelievable attention to detail. Love it. Thanks for sharing

Kind of you to say so, thank you.

[AlexHershey]

These are awesome, good on ya for taking it on. We have a properly biffed 73 RSR cooler in the shop now, so i know how hard it is to get one that isn't complete junk.

[Darren65]

These are awesome, good on ya for taking it on. We have a properly biffed 73 RSR cooler in the shop now, so i know how hard it is to get one that isn't complete junk.

Thanks Alex, was pure necessity on my part and I'd much rather have just picked one off the shelf - totally agree about the rough original coolers that get offered. I would have happily purchased one to have it re-cored if they were available at a sensible price but having to pay $10K and then do the same just doesn't make sense!

[Darren65]

I had a query regarding the weight of the coolers and why something heavier would be detrimental to performance....

....as was explained to me - poor quality aluminium is thicker than a higher grade material which obviously leads to a heavier core, as such the very narrow oilways become even thinner restricting the flow of oil resulting in a poorly performing inefficient cooler.

A friend has recently acquired a NOS 2.8 RSR Behr cooler which he kindly weighed for me at 3.5KG. The cooler for sale here is a larger item yet still only weighs in at a light 3.8KG.

I've seen other reproductions that come in at close to 5.5KG or more, although they don't look too bad that weight is lurking within the core and I'd be concerned about the ultimate performance of the cooler.

If a cooler is well constructed yet remains lightweight it's a sure bet the core is of a good quality

Cheers,

[Darren65]

One of the benefits with this project has been talking to other enthusiast and learning about the awesome cars these coolers will find a home in. With permission I hope to share a few details along the way....

....one thing I never expected was to be contacted by a true Porsche Racing Legend.

Many here will know the name George Dyer and that in 1977 he won the Sebring 12-Hours driving a Porsche 911 3.0 RSR #9048 .....









....George is currently building his own #9048 in incredible detail and to exacting standards back to it's 1977 Sebring livery

He thinks these coolers are the best reproductions he's seen and I'm honoured one will be fitted to his amazing build...





....a truly amazing experience for me..... George really is quite a guy....





Huge thanks George, can't wait to see your car finished

Cheers,