Money Pit 951

Haven't figured out pictures on these threads, so forgive me there

Thought I'd share some pictures of my latest project for the car. She's a 951 that's prob 90% track use. The car had the stock cooler and the oil temps were way too high (didn't have a sensor installed, but the oil just wasn't holding up to the heat and oil pressure dropped to 2 bars or below when hot)

I started off with a fluidyne DB-30618 oil cooler. Large cooler that is long and narrow enough to fill inside the rad shell. The build quality is excellent and I was impressed. I removed the AC condenser and used the two M6 captive nuts on either side of the rad shell. Welded up two tabs on either side of the cooler to put the bolts through. This holds the cooler about 1/4" away from the main rad so they don't rub.

Next was to cut off the large flange on either side that is probably used for standard mounting.




Next was to fabricate something to help with the air flow. Didn't need 100% of the flow going into the cooler and needed to deflect some of the air up into the upper rad. So I welded on a front shield that allows just one of the three vents in the stock bumper to flow into the cooler. The other two are directed up into the rad










Some small cuts in the stock air scoop for the AN fittings to pass through and she's installed




The results: Oil temps that are around 200F. Oil pressure that stays at 4 bars even after 30-40 min of continuous track use. Oil that isn't broken down after two days at the track. Overall goodness

Next is to create some kind of air shield for those cool days when the cooler would overcool the oil. Yes, it can be too cool for the engine...

Comments I'm sure will follow, but figured I'd share should it help someone else

Van

Holy large pictures, Batman!

Seriously, it looks like excellent fabrication work and I'm glad you're seeing a good improvement of temps on the track.

xsbank

How bout using a thermostat?

V2Rocket

I do love big oil coolers...I am tempted to put a huge NASCAR beast on mine...http://www.ebay.com/itm/C-R-ALUMINUM..._Parts&vxp=mtr

fortysixandtwo

Good to see that the new cooler keeps oil temperature in the correct range, during track days. As far as over cooled, the factory oil thermostat should keep that from happening.

V2Rocket

+20W-50

Money Pit 951

There are external thermostats that can be added to the system - mocal makes one. The factory oil system does include a thermostat, but it's quite different than what's in the water cooling system. When I tested it, it does open up correctly but it was slow to close and would allow over cooling. I'm not sure if the external thermostats are faster acting or if they are the same wax thermostat design.
At the track I think it's almost easier to just block off a small portion of the cooler to get higher temps

Money Pit 951

I personally would never buy a used cooler as you never know what has been through it. A good friend went that route and despite his cleaning/flushing it before install, a very concerning amount of metal shavings were visible when the oil filter was looked at after the first few oil changes. Saving maybe $150-200 isn't worth the cost of an engine IMO

Lemming

CXracing on Fleabay sells some very nice coolers at very reasonable prices. I have purchased and oil cooler and intercoolers from them and have been happy with the products (especially at the price they go for).