A, B, and C aren't affected by whether the plate is welded in or not
so why use heavier material so that it can be welded in? Or, lower
it a bit and weld a lighter plate to the inside wall of the pan. It
would only have to be tack welded in a few spots.
The oil separator is a good idea, but since the stock engine doesn't
have one, it must not be _required_. I'm still interested in
obtaining the oil separator plate for use with my stock pan.
Bob White
--
http://www.bob-white.com
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Welding it in does double duty. It serves as the oil pan flange and
the air oil separator. Also it makes the pan much easier to weld as it
forms a flat base. It does not add a lot of weight as there are large
holes in it. A 12 by 14 by .125 aluminum plate weighs 2 pounds to
begin with. Say 1-3/4 pound with holes so you are saving 7/8 of a
pound and adding the weight of the separate flange if you go with a
1/16 air oil separator.
If you tried to make a flange and weld it to the pan much much more
labor would be required and it would be difficult to keep the flange
flat. Furthermore you have half the chances of oil leaking out around
the joint with a one piece pan and air oil separator. Francois found
problems with foam in the oil and as a result had poor oil cooling
IMHO. He did not have an air oil separator plate as far as I can tell.
I know you have a rear motor mount already so you don't need another
one. I don't understand why you just don't buy an air oil separator
from racing Beat and continue to use the stock steel pan. Been
available for years. I assumed you knew that. Jim Mederer of Racing
Beat has been recommending them for a long time. Jim also calls it an
Oil Baffle Plate. Back in 1998 Jim was charging $49. Another good
reason for incorporating it into the pan. Let us know what the current
price is if you check?
Perhaps Tom wants to go head to head with Jim on this product
and will sell it for much less :)
The stock engine does not run at 5000 to 5500 for hours on end. Let
alone 7500 for 5 minutes on takeoff.
Paul Lamar
Hi Paul,
I wasn't aware that Racing Beat had an oil separator, and since I have
plenty of room under the engine, I'm planning on using the steel pan.
Pulling out my Racing Beat catalog, sure enough there they are. Latest
price, 74-85 13B $49.00, 86-92 RX-7 (All) $51.50.
How about it Tom, how much?
I had missed the point that you were going to use the separator plate as
the flange. So everything else makes sense. Thanks for the
explanation.
Bob White
--
http://www.bob-white.com
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