yakisoba

Consider position of the oil cooler if you run a separate unit. Most run it in front of the radiator, but if you do, your oil will heat up the water. With a larger radiator, this is not really an issue, but with the stock one, it can be. It'll still be much better than nothing, but if you can get the oil cooler into a place remote from the radiator, both would be better off. If you can get it a fan of it's own, better yet.

MungoZ06

for a dual-use car, either Dewitts or RD/DRM Rad w/ IOC should be good for -40 degrees oil on track and -20 degrees oil on street.
I have the RD/DRM right side (pass) kit.
Biggest installation challenge for lines was getting them in the hole between the pan and cross member left side of engine.
Tight working the bottom line connection behind the AC line on the right side.
Minor mod to the Dr side rubber pad for the Rad mount.
Removing & replacing the fans & shroud is a PITA.
In the end ... it's all good!
+1 on Beretta's plug for Randy @ DRM.

Pumba

I have just moved away from using a radiator in-tank oil cooler system and instead I have packaged a separate SETRAB oil cooler in front of the radiator:





I chose to do this because of the fact that the in-tank oil coolers are a significant restriction in the oiling system. There is a 4 psi pressure loss at just 2 gpm of flow. Our LS oil pumps flow somewhere around 8 to 10 gpm at engine racing speeds. That indicates to me that the pressure loss will be significantly higher at these higher oil flow rates.

I have also installed a MOCAL engine oil thermostat in an attempt to keep my oil temperatures up while street driving:









After one week of street driving and a discussion with the MOCAL distributor, I am going to close off the outside two-thirds of the cooler while street driving. Because of the SETRAB cooler's trememdous efficiency, I only see 140 degree F engine oil on the street. I will use vinyl sheeting, attached with Velcro, that can easily be removed when I get to the track.


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mgarfias

Do you have any evidence of the reduced pressures through the IOC, or is this pure speculation?

Where did you get the info about a 4psi loss through the IOC?

MySR71

Which temp thermostat temperature do you have? I had the 180 degF MOCAL thermostat and was seeing oil temps of 164 degF on the street. I replaced it with a 205-ish degF temp MOCAL, the highest temp one they made. Now my oil temps are back up to where they were before the cooler was installed when driving the car on the street during the summer. It still works great on the track.

trackboss

For those of you with air/oil coolers mounted in front of the radiator AND a/c condenser do you notice any difference in the water temp(less air flow through radiator)? On the new cooling system I'm building I'm using a dual 1.25" row radiator and only one large fan. I plan on either using an air/oil cooler or a laminova in the lower radiator hose. The space allows for the coolers to be equivalent to each other in terms of efficiency so I am trying to decide which way to go.

Pumba

I am quoting figures posted on this Forum by Tom DeWitt of DeWitt's Radiators.


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Pumba

I have the 180 degree F MOCAL thermostat.

According to Eric at BAT, Inc. who import the MOCAL thermostat, the large size of my SETRAB oil cooler is the reason my oil temperatures are so low. He suggested that I cover over part of the oil cooler inorder to increase my oil temperatures.


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mgarfias

Must be his cooler. I don't have any pressure loss with my Ron Davis unit.

RX-Ben

Pumba - what did you use for the supports that run through the condensor+radiator?

longdaddy

another option to think about - I run the pfadt EOC that's mounted in the lic plate opening. With the license plate in place, I can still get the oil to about 190 degrees on a freeway.

I run stock radiator and with the license plate removed I usually do not exceed 215-220 water and 250-260 oil temps (water+water wetter, no antifreeze), most days it's way below those numbers too.

Just for the reference, before I got this setup I was getting 300+ oil temps and boiling coolant and had to park the car mid session on 100+ degree days.

The downsides are having to cut the bumper under the license plate and not being able to set up a cold air intake through any of the front openings since cooler and the plumbing block most of the routing options.

You do have to get a little creative about routing the lines but with enough zip ties this is easily solvable.

Another downside is that if you bump something going 5mph you will dislodge or damage the cooler unit as it is bolted to the bumper panel on one side.

I do like the fact that there is no heat exchange between EOC and the rad, it is easy to block off the airflow and I dont have to mess with the stock radiator.

Pumba

Summit Racing sells a Hayden cooler mount - $4.95 plus shipping - that passes through the condenser from the rear.





I was also very fortunate that the SETRAB cooler is exactly the correct width to mount on our condensers.


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Pumba

What method did you use to determine that you have no pressure losses?

Both Ron Davis Racing and DeWitt use the same EOC.

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Pumba

As part of my winter rework, I changed my Z06 from a bottom feeding radiator package to a front feeding package - similar to the C6 ZR1 - by installing a modified Tiger Shark front fascia and a custom Carbon-Fiber front splitter.
















The dark item behind the stainless steel grille is a functioning VaraRam air intake system.


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trackboss

FWIW, here is the dewitts oil cooler:

In order to make the radiator a direct replacement there really is no other choice. I have not cut open a ron davis to compare, but I'd bet it is similar in size. I do have some "nascar" style ron davis radiators for my race car and they use a huge oil cooler. It's about 5" thick and much shorter than the above, but require the tank in the radiator to be expanded quite a bit. Those don't seem to restrict the oil flow. The dewitts above is made of aluminum. The large ron davis coolers I believe are made of stainless simply because they are noticably heavy. Aluminum dissipates heat better than stainless and is much lighter, but probably less durable.