2.0 heat exchanger options, SSI vs stock vs ?

[718RSK]

Jon, I am going to go ahead and have my exchangers chemically stripped and de-rusted. I am fairfull that they might not be good enough to re-use but we will see when I get them back. If not good enough I think the SSI's might be the preferred alternative as finding originals in good condition will be very hard

[Jim Breazeale]

Joris.

The most obvious difference is the lack of a center hole for access to the middle flange nut, which has been mentioned earlier in this thread. That was done because John Daniels (owner of SSI) made all 3 exhaust pipes exactly equal length. In doing so, one of the pipes had to block the center hole. A clever tool is supplied with the stainless boxes to access the nut on the center flange. I don’t have any experience with the current versions made by Dansk but have heard they are of good quality. I’ve had pair of SSI heater boxes on my car since the beginning of SSI’s production. They still look almost new. A
Side Benefit is that they will produce heat almost before you leave your driveway on cold Dutch mornings.

Jim

[Brad Davis]

Hi Guys,

Late to the party!

Joris' oil lines are Cohnen as found on the first spray bar engines. They ran up until 1967 on the US cars and to '68 on the ROW cars. The early lines are distinctive with the copper wire tracers, in '68 Cohnen started using plastic orange tracers. In both cases only two tracers appeared on the lines. Also the early lines had fittings and collars plated in clear zinc, later on they switched to yellow zinc.

The blue tracer cam lines are TCH and only found on the center lube engines. Specifically, they had a single blue tracer with a tiny red tracer next to the blue. TCH lines are also what Porsche used on the all of the early cars for the supply and scavenge lines. braided hose/single blue tracer/crimped ends/steel fittings/aluminum nuts. These appeared from '65 to early '68. The really early 300 series cars ran Argus feed and scavenge. Quasi prototype stuff..

Take care everyone,

Brad

[raspritz]

Here are SSIs installed on my '69.

[Richy]

Nice picture but the straps are backwards and should be painted like the muffler .

[356rider]

The blue tracer cam lines are TCH and only found on the center lube engines. Specifically, they had a single blue tracer with a tiny red tracer next to the blue. TCH lines are also what Porsche used on the all of the early cars for the supply and scavenge lines. braided hose/single blue tracer/crimped ends/steel fittings/aluminum nuts. These appeared from '65 to early '68. The really early 300 series cars ran Argus feed and scavenge. Quasi prototype stuff..

Shot of center cam oil line tracer.

[Brad Davis]

Nice pic 356Rider. Engine looks well preserved!

Joris, Looking at other details on your engine I am happy to see the fan strap is phosphate and not painted. I assume you did manganese phosphate or was it another treatment?

Happy Friday,

Brad

[718RSK]

Joris, Looking at other details on your engine I am happy to see the fan strap is phosphate and not painted. I assume you did manganese phosphate or was it another treatment?

Brad

Brad, I tried to duplicate everything exactly as I found it. All hardware was chemically tested to determine plating and replated accordingly. My engine had quite some clear and yellow zinc which was interesting.

The phosphate finish is an interesting one. If you study the parts book you will find that two types are referred to. The darker one (more black than grey) still is an enigma to me. It was also used on many of the 356 suspension pieces. People refer to this as black oxide but it certainly is not. However, I also do not feel any of the modern phosphatings (maganese and zinc) offer a similar look and levels of corrosion protection. Hope to one day solve this one, it has been bugging me for years

Once I get further along I will post some more detail pictures as I would love those in the know to critique my work as I am sure there are things I overlooked.

[718RSK]

Following up on this. I had my boxes stripped. The actually turned out to be in remarkable shape for being over 50 years old. Some very slight rut at some edges that my metal wizard will take care off. Posting pictures as tripped for reference purposes

[718RSK]

Bit of a follow up for those interested. My friend Roy was able to massage out some dents and replace a couple of areas with thin metal. Some final massaging required by close to being ready for paint and to go back on the engine. I will chuck it up on my mill and using a boring head remove the restrictor ring.