Jay Honeck wrote:
...
As I drove out of the lot, feeling crappy about leaving our plane at a
strange FBO far from home, I thought to call Keith, our A&P and good
friend -- mostly for a shoulder to cry on. (But also to see what he
thought about the local shop's diagnosis.) So I gave him a jingle and
we chatted for a bit, when he dropped the bomb shell: "You know, I
think I may have one of those coolers here in the shop."

Dumbfounded, I couldn't help but ask incredulously, "Why?" Keith runs
a very small, part-time shop, and he rarely keeps parts in stock. He
CERTAINLY doesn't keep major stuff like oil coolers laying around --
especially not ones made specifically for a Lycoming O-540 B4B5 model
engine. Yet, inexplicably, miraculously, he had the perfect match
laying on a shelf? I simply couldn't believe it.
...

That's one heck of a lucky coincidence. By any chance, did your a&p
acquire the part after you visited him about the oil problem or an
annual? (Not that I'm a conspiracist, or anything...) Most people in
aviation are true gems, but one does run into questionable characters
from time to time.