Adding an engine oil cooler....suggestions?

[Cliff Beer]

I'd like to add in an engine oil cooler for the SBF....need more cooling. This is in addition to enhancements being made for the water cooling.

I have a large oil cooler and plate which I believe was used in original GT40s back in the day (Continental IO-470) - see pic. But, I'm thinking I might want to use a cooler with a fan rather than just passive/ambient cooling like this one. I'm concerned about:

1. flow capacity - I don't want to add in a cooler and plumbing which somehow diminishes flow rate and capacity, and starves the engine for proper oil flow and pressure,

2. having the oil stay cold for an extended time during warm up - ie. do I need an oil thermostat plumbed in because I've just added a huge heat sink system essentially?

I like the oil cooling systems on air cooled 911's from the 80's with the RF fender mounted coolers with a fan and a thermostat (see pic). Wondering if that may be a good design to replicate (and use parts from).

Any thoughts on this one? Thanks in advance.

 

[Paul W]

pm sent

 

[Bill Musarra]

Cliff, Lets look at your questions.
1. Your flow capacity won't be hindered if you stick to high volume lines. I am talking AN 10-12.
2. Not having the oil remain cool implies you have a thermostat somewhere in line to the cooler if mounted on the shelf. That then leads to the question of a remote oil filter. There may be a thermostat that doesn't have a filter attached, but I don't know of any. You might be able to build a line that just does that for the cooler???
3. If you go for the old school fender cooler, you may want to look at some of the ones that the original 40s used(street versions). There lines are big enough for your requirements. The heat from the radiator(in this setup) will essentially preheat the oil for you. These are for the 289s, so I would think it should work for a 302.

Going back to #2, If you use the remote oil filter you have to have a good place to put it. I put mine right after the rear axel. I put my cooler in the space at the rear of the bodywork(with a puller fan). I covered the outlets with a stainless open mesh. With the filer housing having the thermostat in it, there becomes a need for a one way valve in the return line from the cooler but before joining the return from the filter. If not the oil won't know which way to flow and the oil will essentially bypass the cooler. These thermostats open slowly and keep a high percentage flowing through the filter.
Hope this gives you some ideas.

Bill

 

[Keith]

Hi Bill, quick question. I am intrigued. How would that setup pictured, preheat the engine oil?

 

[Randy V]

Yep -10 lines at a minimum and make sure that all fittings are full flow.
I typically have my oil filters mounted remotely and filter the oil before it goes through the cooler. Canton makes a nice adapter that you can install in place of the oil filter on the block and also pickup the temperature of the oil as it is fed back to the block.
I like doing it this was as I can tell the temp of the oil that I am feeding my bearings with.
I fee that temp is far more important then the temp of the oil in the sump which can be greatly exaggerated by the presence of blow-by gasses heating the surface of the oil.
I have also used Moroso heating pads on my sumps to preheat the oil on those cooler days at the track. You have to have 110v to run them, but worth it in my opinion..

 

[Randy V]

Flow capacity ---
The small block Ford gerotor design pump in its standard capacity was more than enough flow for many engines we've put on the track. There's very little need for higher volume pumps in my honest opinion. They suck up more HP and are harder on the cam/dizzy gear interface.
I just pulled apart a three stage Petersen dry sump pump and guess what I found inside?
Yep, basically stock ford standard volume gerotor assemblies.

 

[Tom]

Keep it simple if you can.....you could try one of these bypass valves.

or this one, which I have.

BTW, you can buy these slightly used/half price, from the NASCAR boys.

Bill, I'm not seeing how you can "pre-heat" the oil as shown in that picture, either. On a cool day, it will take a while to get heat out of the water radiator, as it is.

Tom

 

[Tom]

Cliff,
Just curious, will the adapter plate and bypass shown on your Continental IO-470 cooler work as is or are modifications needed? The last adapter plate I ran into did not appear to be plug n play...

Tom

 

[Jac Mac]

Not that it will be a problem for Cliff, but those of us on the larger section of the planet can apparently run two of those 110v elements in series on 230v. Read that on Russ Nobles thread recently, check with a sparky to make sure.

 

[Bill Musarra]

If you notice that on the original 40, the cooler is behind the radiator. I don't know about your individual cars , but on mine, the water temp comes up way before the oil temp does(granted mine is measured in the sump). Some of that water temp is transferred to the oil cooler early on. Remember, heat travels from hot to cold. It may not be a lot but it does happen.

Bill

 

[Grady]

I recently purchased an ERA car and notice that they cool the oil with a self contained unit that attaches to the left rear on back deck. About 16 inches square. It has a thermostat controlled fan to cool the oil when needed.
Like RandyV, I used a silicone heating pad attached to the oil pan on my 427FE to preheat the oil when the outside air temp is cold. Also used on a turbo charged engine in my Mooney. The engine is ready to go in around 15 minutes and does that engine love the dense cold air.