"We are terrorized and flattened by trivialities, we are eaten up by nothing."

 A couple of years ago, I bought a FastFab bracket and attempted to use it to mount the oil filter bracket.  I very quickly determined that it wouldn't work because it wasn't a direct fit.  The one piece I should have immediately recognized is that NOTHING on this car is a direct fit and acted accordingly.  But because I'm a stubborn dumbass, I went in a completely different direction.

I spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to find another place to put this blasted thing.  And guess what?  I'm right back to where I was two fucking years ago...it's not a direct fit, per se, but it's real close.

It's in a fairly good spot here - not super close to the J tube, easily accessed for oil filter change, not in the way of the valve cover.

It is, however, large enough that the thermostat side gets within 1/2" of the header pipe.  I'm hoping that wrapping the header with fiberglass wrap will help control the heat and not cook the thermostat.  Short of this - I guess I could get a custom bent pipe for the exhaust that allows for more space.

 The plan is to contact FastFab and see if I can interest them in making a modified version of their bracket for this location.  Failing that, I'll use their stock bracket as a template to have one made on a waterjet.  I am not super concerned about how 'pretty' it is if it works.  Once this is sorted, I'll figure out where to put the oil cooler and get brackets made for that...then work on getting the hoses made and connected.

View from the rear - showing the space between the J tube and the oil filter.

It's not solved yet - but it's feeling close.

Once I get this part done, I can fire up the engine and make sure it's still in good shape.  And then figure out how to get that heat shield installed!