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© 1998 Brian F. Schreurs
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Now it's not necessary to spend $1 million on a one-seat sports car to get an oil cooler. It's easy to find a good kit for far, far less, which installs in almost any car. We used the frequently-visiting 1995 Ford Mustang GT as the recipient of a Ford Motorsports oil cooler (part no. M-6642-S101), manufactured by Long.

Note that we installed the oil cooler in conjunction with a transmission cooler. We highly recommend doing these projects together, as they face many of the same hurdles and must occupy the same general space. For instructions on installing the trans cooler, see Installing a Transmission Cooler.

Unplug the battery. Remove both terminals, starting with the negative. The reason is that you will be working near the airbag sensors and you don't want them going off.

Jack up the car.

Drain the oil and remove the filter.

Remove the plastic cover on top of the radiator.

Remove the airbag sensors. There are two, one located on each side of the hood latch.

Remove the hood latch. You can leave the cable attached; just push it to one side.

You'll need two of these brackets (top), one of each; the bent one slides under the hood latch (above).

Remove the center bar leading from the latch support to the bottom of the radiator support. This requires a Torx T-27 wrench.

Drop the oil cooler down the passenger-side of the radiator, then push it to the driver-side. Make sure the openings are on the top.

Use two of the provided brackets to hold it in place, as follows.

The outboard bracket is straight. It will bolt under the outboard airbag bolt. Use a washer (not provided in the kit) to act as a spacer for the inboard airbag bolt. Don't actually reattach the airbag sensor until all other work is done.

Our heavy-duty fittings didn't clear this flange. Bending it doesn't hurt anything.

The inboard bracket must be bent. Bend it 90 degrees at the third hole, and back 90 degrees at the fourth hole. Attach it through the second hole to the driver-side hood latch mounting bolt, then use a hammer to bend the protruding tab flush with the latch support. If you're installing the trans cooler, the latch will sit evenly; otherwise, use a washer on the passenger-side to keep the latch straight. Don't worry, the added thickness will not keep the hood from closing. Don't actually reattach the hood latch until all other work is done.

Unbolt the overflow tank bracket.

Unbolt the overflow tank, disconnect the overflow tube, remove the cap with sensor, and remove the tank from the car.

Unplug the electric fan wiring and pull the two tabs off the fan shroud.

Pull the two tabs holding the electrical wiring on the passenger-side of the fan shroud.

Unbolt the electric cooling fan. It is held on by two bolts, one on each side.

The filter adapter is an even tighter fit.

While one person holds the air conditioning and electrical bundles out of the way, another person can pull the electric cooling fan out.

Use two of the plastic cooler retaining pegs to keep the cooler from rattling. Run them through the lower mounting holes of the oil cooler and through the radiator. They may not be included in the kit; B&M sells packs of four under part no. 80278.

Screw the kit's adapter onto the oil filter mount.

If you're going to use the kit's provided adapters and hoses, good luck. We smiled at the cute fittings and passed them along to the miscellaneous fittings drawer in Paradise Garage. If that's the way you're going, follow the instructions and remember to tighten the crap out of the weenie hose clamps if you don't want to spew oil everywhere.

We measured the length of hose we'd need and went to NV Automotive Supply (a NAPA store in Dale City) where Brian Pope (thanks man!) made custom hoses for us, using steel- reinforced hydraulic hose. He also made fittings that allowed a 180-degree bend from the top of the oil cooler to the underside of the car, thus saving us from having to bend the hose so sharply.

Now the hoses are all pipe-threaded from the adapter to the oil cooler, and with a little threadlocker they are leak-free and nearly unburstable. A much neater and safer arrangement.

Here's how the hoses snaked around the radiator.

The best way to run the hoses is down the front of the oil cooler and around the driver-side of the radiator support, where there is a conveniently large gap between the support and the bumper's bulkhead. Then it's necessary only to run the hose between the various power steering lines, wire looms, and of course the anti-sway bar. Using 90-degree bends in the oil adapter reduced the process from near-impossible to merely aggravating.

With everything in place, it's time to reassemble. Start by installing a new oil filter.

Put the radiator fan shroud, overflow bottle, and wiring back together.

Reinstall the hood latch.

Reinstall the airbag sensors.

Reinstall the upper radiator cover.

Connect the battery.

Drop the car.

Add oil.

Start the car and check for leaks.

After the car has run for a couple of minutes, stop it and check the oil level. Add as needed.

Congratulations! The car's oil should be running much cooler now, which in turn leads to better lubrication and a cooler-running car. Plus it looks way awesome, especially when it's sitting next to a transmission cooler. The trans cooler is really much easier to install if you do it in conjunction with the oil cooler. You really should do them both.