Page 18 - Karmann Komment Vol42 Issue 2

Karmann Komment Volume 42 | Issue 2
KEVIN HOPCROFT BLOG continued...
After stripping off all the tin-ware I found that the area around the oil cooler was where the problem was and after removing the oil cooler, I found a seal with a damaged edge.
So I fitted new seals and rebuilt the engine and put the engine back in again. I ran the engine and it still leaked !! (Oh Bother ***!!!****, I said). So the engine had to come out again.
This time, I read that some of the oil cooler seals were softer than others and so went through my collection of seals and found the recommended harder seals and fitted them. I rebuilt the engine again and fitted it back in the car. Guess what? It still leaked.
Engine out for the third time, this time damaging the new seal around the rear valance (I had to buy another new one, and stripped the engine for the third time. This time I
checked the oil cooler itself, which was brand new. I pressurised it and it showed no sign of leaking. So I rebuilt the engine again, this time using a different sealant (Silicon) and refitted it back in the car yet again.
No luck. It still leaked!!!
So I decided to do the unthinkable. I took the engine out for the fourth time and stripped off the tin-ware and then re-fitted the engine back into the car with no cooling and ran the engine.
It leaked, but now I could see where the oil was coming from and it was the
new oil cooler. Whilst it had stood up to the pressure test OK, once it had hot oil running through it under pressure it leaked from the core. I later discovered that this is a common fault with these replacement oil coolers. Fortunately I had not thrown away the original, 53year old, oil cooler. So I cleaned it and flushed it out and fitted it back on the engine. I then re-fitted the engine back into the car, still with no cooling, and ran the engine, to check for leaks. It didn't leak. Hooray!!
Now the engine had to come out for the fifth time so that I could re-fit all of the tin-ware and finally it could be fitted back into the car and tested.
At last it did not leak.
I had had to postpone the car's trip to the trimmers due to the oil leak. So now I had a date and had to get it ready. The new hood had arrived from Holland, which I laid over
the frame, to make sure it fitted, and it did and looks good.
So Now I needed to look at the back seat. When I bought the car, it had no back seat, with just a board covering the hole. I had
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