Butterfly valve for oil cooler duct

Got tired of sitting on the tarmac waiting for oil temps to come up on cool days here in Idaho.

Fabricated an "oil cooler Butterfly" valve to control the air flow during taxi....first trial run it worked perfectly as the oil temp was way into the green before reaching the runway.

I started by using the Zenith supplied oil cooler shroud, some scraps and parts from around the shop and a choke cable from NAPA Aircraft Supply.  Very simple build. Began with a cardboard mock up and then cut out the parts.  Would you believe I finally found a use for the Zenith supplied "throttle rod" as a shaft.  Only outside help was a quick TIG weld of the lever arm to the shaft...solved with a couple bottles of home brew beer.

Flew the idea yesterday and it works flawlessly.  Built it with a short throw (about one inch) so it will be an on or off action...could use it to modulate temps in flight but haven't tried that yet.

So get with it and stop suffering - BTW so far it beats the conversion to the oil temperature  regulator in the oil lines.

Still grinnin.

Phil Smith

Buhl, ID

CH 70wonderful

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Permalink Reply by Joe Hopwood on October 19, 2017 at 10:02am

Sounds great!  A lot cheaper than moving south where you don't have to worry about such stuff.  :-)

But if it takes that long to warm up, are you not doing damage to engine?  Wouldn't a small preheater be a good choice? I was stationed in the upper peninsula of Michigan for a while and I (and most others) installed heaters for engine and some of us even put a small electric heater in the passenger compartment of our automobiles.

Permalink Reply by Joe Spencer on October 19, 2017 at 10:25am

have you got a scoop or duct on the cowling?

I've got the old style cowling with the radiator in the front. Some years back I got one of the composite foundation vents from the hardware store and trimmed it to size and attached to the front of the radiator with a cable to close it up. It's a lot better than nothing but I can't get the oil temp up over 180 on a cold day. It just doesn't seal that well. at least I don't have to fool with duct tape over the radiator anymore. nice job.

Permalink Reply by Shawn Magin on October 19, 2017 at 9:33pm
Nice job phil

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