Brief Description: Engine Cooling Baffles Design Part 1
1) This picture shows the components of the Baffle Sheet Metal kit purchased from J.S.Wesseman.com. The baffle kit is designed to fit the Zenith 650/750 cowl but these baffles are a generic set with extra material on the outer edges since the final cowling outline is not known yet. When fitted along with the cowling they will be trimmed where needed, the top edge bent inwards and pilot holes drilled for mounting baffle seal material. This set of baffles was designed for a remote oil cooler and eventually a hole will be cut into the back baffle to feed a section of 3" SCAT that will duct air to the firewall mounted oil cooler.
2) Here is a look at how some of the baffle components are going to fit and it underscores the problem on the right side. The two ports out the side of the oil cooler sandwich are for the lines to the oil cooler and have sealing caps installed in this picture. These two braces will have to have the aft edge moved forward as illustrated in the next figure. part of the mounting flange will still need to be trimmed to allow for the oil filter to fit through the baffle.
3) The Personal Cruiser was designed with minimal clearance between the Engine and Firewall so it utilizes the Reverse Goild Oil System marketed by FlyCorvair.com. That directs the oil cooler sandwich adapter and oil filter forward over the engine top cover and that causes a problem with the normal cooling baffle design. My approach for a workaround is shown in Figure 3. Essentialli take the section of the aft cooling baffle that is in between the two braces and move it forward about an inch to clear the oil cooler sandwich adapter. A large hole in this relocated section allows the oil filter to project forward through it minimizing the forward shift yet allow for easy servicing.
