Oil Cooler Options

So I'm in the process of building the car from the ground up for the second time, and I think with a newly refreshed engine, an oil cooler would be a good idea. Curious of how you guys with TPC longtube headers routed your lines, and where you mounted your filter and cooler. Any kits available that people are fans of? Also, pics would be greatly apprecited if you guys are feeling generous. Here's a few pics of the progress. Should be ready for a startup with the new motor this weekend!

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Had a discussion about this a few weeks months ago on my build log. It can depend on your use.

I started with a Setrab 50-915-7612 underneath the header panel where the intercooler would go if my car was a turbo. Everyone and their brother said it wasn't big enough. So I went on ebay and ordered some chinese made cooler for an rx7.

Some problems with this route: if you're planning on running the air intake setup straight forward into the header panel space this obviously won't work. And if you have an NA car like me, there's no venting that gets good airflow into this space so you're going to end up cutting the header panel or front bumper or doing something to get air up there.

I've been slacking and haven't gotten this finished, but another member has been ran a setup like this before with good success. Here's a photo of it sitting in the space, you might have to click it to get a better view.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Sorry, i initially ignored your other questions. I don't have a solution for my lines but unless you want to use a ton of extra line there's not really tons of options if you put the cooler where I did. The bigger question for me right now is where to put my thermostat.

And is there a particular reason you, and just about everyone else, remote mounts the oil filter? I plan on putting in the stock location allowed by the TPC oil pan...

My pan from TPC had just AN10 in/out and not provision for the filter. I mounted the remote filter in the passenger front corner, outside the frame rail, along with my Accusump. The return line sweeps across the front and back to the pan. The feed line from the engine goes to my Earl's thermostat mounted outside the frame rail on the driver side with the bypass line going across the front to the filter and the cooler goes in front of the radiator and up to the RX7 cooler mounted in place of the intercooler with a short line out to the filter.

It's quite a busy setup and I've tried a few variations. The only failure I've had so far was when the output line from the engine touched the driver side header and burned right through the insulation sleeve and steel braid, dumping oil on the track. I changed the 90 degree hose end for a 45 and added a 90 degree fitting to get the line to route closer to the block.

If I were to do this again, I'd bend tube to make hard lines for the long runs and fix them to the body before putting the engine in. Then it'd just be short braided lines to connect the engine.

Rich

Jake, a guy who used to race Trans Am back in the day told me running a remote filter allows the use of a larger filter, which helps capture more material. I'm guessing thats plausible since engines that see track duty wear a lot more aggressively. That said, I have no idea if this is true or not, but the logic seems to add up.

Rich, thanks for the breakdown. I want to run the same TPC 10AN in/out adapter you have, and was thinking about the same location for the oil filter and thermostat. Where I'm struggling is in seeing a good way to get those lines away from the headers. I suppose some trial and error (and lots of heat wrap) is in order, but if anyone has a surefire way to route oil lines I'm all ears!

Here's what I ended up doing. It's a 90 fitting and a 45 hose end for the feed and a 90 hose end for the return.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Rich, thank you! That helps me understand the orientation of the fittings you described. Huge help. More room to snake those around in there than I thought.

I've already tried putting it in there behind a vented header panel and it doesn't get enough air. Save yourself the heart ache and figure something else out. Maybe think about a unit with an auxiliary fan.

FrostedFlakeJake wrote:Had a discussion about this a few weeks months ago on my build log. It can depend on your use.

I started with a Setrab  50-915-7612 underneath the header panel where the intercooler would go if my car was a turbo. Everyone and their brother said it wasn't big enough. So I went on ebay and ordered some chinese made cooler for an rx7.

Some problems with this route: if you're planning on running the air intake setup straight forward into the header panel space this obviously won't work. And if you have an NA car like me, there's no venting that gets good airflow into this space so you're going to end up cutting the header panel or front bumper or doing something to get air up there.

I've been slacking and haven't gotten this finished, but another member has been ran a setup like this before with good success. Here's a photo of it sitting in the space, you might have to click it to get a better view.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

So bringin this thread back to life...

I ended up not swithcing pans to the TPC unit with the AN/10 in/out built in. Knowing that, does anyone have an idea of what kind of adapter I'll need for the filter on pan style I have?

JP

Update: Found the part TPC makes to replace the oil filter block with the oil line block adapter.

Thanks TPC!

This is not any help with the cooler, but I found a unique solution to routing oil lines around long tube headers.... I didn't.  I ran then up the bell housing to the firewall, and to hard lines through the firewall to a cowl mounted oil filter.  A bit bizarre, but works perfect.  Oil lines are short and easy to route.  I have a pan that fits under the filter without taking the battery out for easy filter changes.[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Hey guys,

So I never got around to figuring this out, despite having all the parts (minus cooler). I did run two events so far this year though and yet to see 300 degrees. I nudged up to 285 a few times at Mid Ohio when it was hot, but that's about it. However, I obviously can't keep doing that...

Today I blew apart the front end and started looking at options. Under the front nose panel is extremely enticing. Is there really not enough air flow with a turbo front end and the air funnel that pushes air into the nose panel? My only other options seems to be mounting in front of the radiator. I haven't had any cooling issues, but I'd like not to start. That said, has anyone run an oil cooler in front of their radiator without adverse effects?

Thanks! JP

I tried a Mocal 13 row and a Z06 factory cooler in front of the radiator. The former the oil was too hot, the later the water was. Where I settled was an RX7 factory cooler mounted above and the turbo nose and duct to it. I did add exit vents to the hood along the way which helped a ton.

Rich

My current plan was to try a Mocal 25 row in front of the radiator. This should cover less area I believe than the Z06. As for adding the cooler in the nose pan, I hadn't thought about venting the hood. That could help as well I imagine, if I go that route.

Here's an option.

I mounted an 8 x 11" cooler behind the passenger headlight, where the washer fluid bottle had been. AN lines run from a Moroso pan forward to a remote filter mounted under the driver's side headlight. From the filter, one line runs across to a centrally mounted thermostat just behind the radiator support.  From there, lines run to/from the cooler.

I plan to add a vent to the hood, just above the passenger side front wheel. Cold air can be ducted through the fog light location, or scoop just below.

If you have a local shop that sells or makes custom lines with AN fittings, it's very do-able.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Dan.

Cool. Thanks, Dan! For some reason you photos aren't showing up though.