Oil Cooler Installation
Goals included:
- Significantly reduce engine oil temperatures and sustain
- Achieve desired cooler size via extra width vs height
- Limit height to not interfere with tow hoop solution
- Maintain distinct use for each of radiator and oil cooler openings
- Maximize use of oil cooler opening
- No visible mounting hardware (rivets, bolts, etc.)
- Minimize front visible line routing (direct back, not looping up/around)
- All black lines/hardware with overall black/silver theme
- Finished look for nose of car
During my prior radiator/cooling system project, including Evans Waterless conversion, I’d planned to next monitor oil temperatures and consider adding an oil cooler if necessary. I determined it necessary and have now completed the oil cooler project as documented here.
Nose before oil cooler
Nose after oil cooler
After much research I selected a Setrab product solution. That included a ProLine stacked-plate style oil cooler with fins and conversion to a remote oil filter setup using a block oil filter take off plate and a thermostatic oil filter remote stand. Also used their high flow, cleanable engine oil filter, plus various applicable fittings and hoses.
Oil Cooler (Setrab image - not my specific size)
Block oil filter take-off plate (Sertab image)
Thermostatic oil filter remote stand (Setrab image)
High flow, cleanable engine oil filter
Filter blow-up (Setrab image)
Filter (Setrab image)
The thermostatic remote stand combines the functions of a traditional remote filter head and a standalone oil thermostat to control oil flow, keeping parts and plumbing connections to a minimum. The 180-degree thermostat limits flow to the cooler to a minimum below that. The integrated thermostatic oil valve controls oil flow to oil cooler downstream.
Fittings and hoses are all AN -10 black aramid to match those throughout the engine bay. The Setrab remote stand and take off plate are machined from billet aluminum and anodized in titanium gunmetal gray for durability. The oil filter is engineered to balance performance and flow, including for street vehicles.
Thermostatic remote stand installed
I went with a shorter, wider cooler than many 427 cars, so stylistically a bit more like the lower, wider 289 competition Cobra coolers. That minimized blocking air flow to the radiator and filled the oil cooler opening for air flow coverage through it. It resulted in distinct functionality and appearance within each respective front-end opening (radiator and oil cooler). The wider cooler also placed the hoses in a less obtrusive visual location and shortened the turns and runs back into the engine bay, both to my preference.
A taller, narrower cooler of this type does reduce flow restriction compared to a wider/shorter cooler of the same capacity. However, my assessment is that the wider, shorter cooler of the same capacity meets/exceeds the primary requirements of adequate flow/cooling/pressure, while achieving the additional benefits of distinct functional openings and my visual preference. The flow and pressure are well within range for my engine usage needs. It seems to be working well so far.
Planning the cooler installation began with designing the front cooler mount with fabricated structure welded in to fit the space. One goal was a clean look with no fasteners (rivets, bolts) visible from the front. After some minor trimming the cooler fit the opening very well. Support bracing was added to the cooler side plates. Filler plates were fabricated next to the oil cooler, on either side, to route air toward the radiator and fill in the visually empty space next to cooler.
A top cooler plate was fabricated to remain at or below the level of the cooler space and radiator, to minimize impeding air flow to the radiator. The rear most edge of the plate is curved downward to allow airflow to the bottom of the radiator fins. Fabricated pieces were powder coated black before final re-assembly.
Remote stand & fuel line welded mounts
Planning the plumbing installation included fabricating a remote oil filter stand mounting bracket, welded to the frame. The thermostatic remote oil filter stand attached to that bracket, and the oil filter is spun onto that. It was located for road protection and ease of maintenance and simple, elegant line routing. The lines coming out of the oil cooler are highly visible so it was important to make them as equivalent as possible on each side.
While the cooler, fabricated plates, and lines were black, the radiator was left silver which allows the fittings and lines to retain a visual impact against that backdrop. It also carries a silver metallic feel from the engine bay for a balanced blend of silver and black in the nose of the car as well. The look is now finished, yet still mechanical and raw. The overall installation was low profile enough to avoid interference with the function of the tow hoops previously installed approximately center height inside the radiator nose opening.
Nose after installation
Plumbing routing from nose (below tow hoops)
Congestion of existing parts in the area near the lower steering shaft and block take-off plate warranted routing the lines around behind and through the driver side wheel well structure. The lines are tucked tight up underneath and mounted with proper isolating mounts.
The filter is a cleanable, ‘permanent’ type filter, with a surgical-grade stainless-steel mesh media filter element that captures all particulates above 30 microns (absolute filtration rating). It’s designed for high flow and low pressure drop, given a relatively low filtration size. Its rare-earth magnet captures ferrous particles. The physical size is small, yet I service my filters very regularly. For my usage, and maintenance routine, this should provide a good balance of flow and filtration.
AN-10 hoses were made to run from the engine to the filter and from the filter to the cooler.
This included rerouting the fuel line to the fuel filter. That provided the opportunity to eliminate the zip tie that previously temporarily held the fuel hose in place as it was routed across the front of the engine bay. The new oil filter mount took this into consideration and incorporates a rubber cushioned support to constrain and support the fuel hose. That’s now a permanent, functional solution that also looks better.
The system was tested, running through its first heat cycle then changed the oil and cleaned the filter. There was no apparent residue from the recent work trapped in the filter or housing. The engine oil capacity is now 5.75 quarts (up from 5 quarts) with a typical oil change and filter cleanout.
In testing, the engine was run until the oil bypass opened and with it just sitting in the shop the heat exchanger outlet temperature averaged 15 degrees cooler than the inlet and held a consistent temperature. That seemed significant given that performance would be even better with positive pressure air moving across the heat exchanger plates and fins.
In initial drive testing on a 45 degree day for 45 minutes with several four gear runs for some carb tuning, the air and water temps remained nearly matching each other, consistently, ranging between 180-190. Previously oil temps would just continue to consistently climb to 245+, even at a similar cool outside air temperature.
Granted, we also dialed in carb tuning, timing, the pcv system, etc., yet the oil cooler was the main component necessary for gaining control of the oil temperature (with significant reduction), particularly in conjunction with my Evans waterless coolant, which did seem to raise combustion chamber temperatures in my application.
The oil cooler project is very functional (the main goal) and helps finish off the look of the front of the car. Thanks to my shop friends at Rule Garage for their design, fabrication and installation, all in line with and achieving my standards and goals for this project.
Overall car after oil cooler
I’ll add some photos soon of the fabricated oil cooler mounting structure underneath.
Brent