8-12-2021

After a lot of research regarding how best to cool the engine oil, I finally decided to purchase oil cooler kit from Show Planes. This kit was developed for use in the RV-7 so it would not work in the Bearhawk, however, I spoke with Bryon at Show Planes and he kindly provided the kit unassembled. 

The kit was designed to be located on the RH rear baffle and that worked perfectly in my case. I located and drilled up the doubler and decided to dimple the fastener holes to have a smooth surface for the airflow on the cold-air side of the baffle. This required a few more minutes of work but I liked the result.

My next steps will be to trim the shroud so it sits on the oil cooler as inteded, then position the oil cooler and weld the legs to support it.

Incidentally, you might have noticed a "gap" in the fasteners located next to the round hole for the engine mount. I intentionally have left those out for the moment until I can locate and install a carbon fiber cover I purchased that will seal off the engine mount to the baffle.