The left merge collector is where the stock oil filter goes, but even with a dry sump pan I had to modify the oil inlet fitting as described in a previous post. After all of that work, things are still danger close. The only route to the inlet is to cross the oil line in front of the bellhousing. Fortunately, the shallow dry sump pan provides lots of room. The first step was to fabricate a cover for the bellhousing that also provides a mount for the oil inlet line and a heat shield. The cover was laser cut from 0.100” stainless steel and the three mounting tabs for the heat shield were cut from 0.187” stainless steel.
Bellhousing cover (gray) with welded mounting tabs for the heat shield (green)
To ensure optimal line routing AN fittings were welded to a mandrel-bent stainless tube which was mounted to the bellhousing cover with P-clamps. Thermal sleaves will be applied to the stainless and flex tubes.
The oil inlet fitting is danger close to the left merge collector (show above) and the oil line also runs parallel to the right merge collector and the exhaust tubes that run under the oil pan, all of which requires heat sheilding.
The heat shield was fabricated from three laser-cut parts, nine CNC bends, one hand-formed curve and one manual bend. The CNC bend lines are shown as faint lines with the large gray piece have some unwieldy bends.
The heatshield is welded and ready to install.
The heatshield is installed via three button head screws
Everything fits like a glove. No way could I have achieved that doing manual bends!
The hand-formed curve is visible here. Note the gap between the heat shield and bell housing cover plate. The mounting holes are slotted and I forgot to push the shield flush before I took the picture.
The heat shield wraps around the bellhousing to protect the stainless steel and flex tubes. The bend on the curved piece had to be done after the curve was formed, so it was done manually in a brake.
I still need to Cerakote the shield and figure out what heat mitigation materials I’ll attach to the shield. Only eight more heat shields to go.