Does anyone have an oil cooler thermostat in his ERA ?

[cobra]

I would like to mount an oil cooler thermostat on my ERA. If I understand it right, ERA use the Canton oil cooler thermostat. Does anyone have pictures from mounted thermostat ? experiences ?
Greetings from Switzerland
Walter

[CobERA]

Walter,

I have a thermostatic sandwich adapter for my oil cooler. I think you'll find all the info you need in this thread.

Oil Filter Adapter

Good-luck.

[Loadco]

Walter,

I installed a Canton oil cooler thermostat in my ERA. There are 2 pictures in my gallery that show the location.

[CJ428CJ]

I tried to install the Earl's sandwich type thermostat as shown in CobERA's post above but I couldn't get it to work. It was just too tight for the oil cooler lines at the sandwich adapter to clear the frame. I could have "forced" it to work by raising the engine a little bit higher on the left motor mount while dropping the motor a little bit on the right side, but doing that put my sidepipes too close to the cutouts in the body. I plan on buying and trying the Mocal sandwich thermostat. I haven't decided whether to go with their model SP1T or their SP1T-HF. Both are quite a bit smaller than the Earl's unit and I think either one will work.

Chris

[mpotito]

Does it really matter if one has an oil temperature gauge? What is the advantage over the dash gauge?

[ERA Chas]

CJ428
Don't bother! I have the Mocal and it fits perfectely but doesn't work! (Tried two) The design leaks a little oil all the time so that the oil never gets hot enough against a closed valve. I bought the Earls from Bob but found out it doesn't fit my early chassis. (After I carved chunks of it to fit-you can't get the line fittings on in place). Sometimes the boys forget they develop stuff on the latest chassis and sell this to the early car guys... (Our chassis numbers ARE on file).

[CobERA]

Mpotito,

The sandwhich adapter we are talking about prevents the oil from circulating through the oil cooler until the oil has reached a certain temperature. In my case it is 180 degrees. In cool weather, without the thermostatic adapter, your oil temperature might not reach a good operating temperature. A 220 degree adapter might be preferable to the 180.

[Ital-cobra]

Hi Guys
I have a sandwich thermostat connected to my oil cooler, I need to remote my oil filter can I do this by just putting an adapter over were the filter was and, running two lines to a remote filter. Will the filter still operate correctly? If not can you tell me why.

Joseph.

[CJ428CJ]

Chas,

That's good feedback. I've been running mine with the cooler bypassed for 6 months or so (but with my oil cooler lines just closed off and zip tied out of the way). Oil temperatures have been pretty good. Maybe it's time for me to clean that arrangement up and make it a little more permanent.

Loadco,
How has the Canton t-stat been working out? What kind of oil temperatures do you see with that?

Chris

[mpotito]

Thanks Rick. Now I understand. Best regards, Mike

[Jim Vander Wal]

Walter & all,

I have run the Canton oil T-stat and canister filter for this past season. Very pleased. Using an Earl's oil cooler and AN-12 lines and fittings.

The system brings the oil temps to the 90c range for most driving. Spirited driving will take it to the 100-105c range where the T-stat starts passing oil to the cooler. With road track use (4-6,000 rpm for 20 minutes) the oil temps go to the 115-125c range, this is where it ran while on the track w/o the T-stat.

I have yet to get the oil (synthetic) to any temps that would be considered excessive.

Disclaimer: The car is a Superformance not an ERA so I won't speculate on how to fit it in. I built a bracket that attaches to the front frame crossmember that holds both the T-stat and the filter.

427W

Jim SPF 1855

[DonC]

Walter:
Have had the Canton unit in my car since the beginning and have been very pleased with it's performance. I don't run a remote filter but rather the sandwich adapter on the engine at the original filter location. With that setup I mounted the T-Stat where the remote filter would have gone.
DonC

[Manowar]

As a point of info to all:An ERA with a 600 HP Windsor, owned by a pal has an oil cooler in place but NOT connected. Oil temps are 180-210 year-round here in the Northeast. Canton RR pan. Car always driven hard but not laps on a track. No trouble on the strip however.

[speed220mph]

I have a very cost-effective, i.e. cheap, thermostat. It's light, has no additional leakage points and is very effective . . . duct tape. Works on the airplane, too.

[Jim Holden]

On my big block cars, I put an aluminum plate* behind the oil cooler to block air going through it. The car was fine, effectively without the oil cooler, for the street.

Jim

*Duct (or more correctly Duck) tape works fine too.

[speed220mph]

Just for clarification: Don’t be confused. The first name for Duct Tape was DUCK. The U.S. Military needed waterproof tape to keep moisture out of ammunition cases during WWII. As a result, the Johnson and Johnson developed such a tape. The name "duck" came about because this stuff was waterproof, sort of like water off a duck's back. But woulldn't you know that it was discovered that the tape did a lot more than keep out water. They used it for taping over bullet holes in aircraft, repairing Jeeps, strapping stuff on their guns, repairing tears in clothing... the list is goes on and on.

Eventually someone discovered that the tape was great for joining heating and air conditioning ducting. To make it match, the color was changed from olive drab to the silver, so people began referring to it as “duct tape”. Consequently, either name is appropriate.

Sorry to divert the discussion, but the question came up.

[cobra]

speed220mph

Thank you for your solution, I use duct tape until I receive the car at 2000 with a great success. In one way I like to work on my car and find a great technical solution on the other way I hate to create additional leakage points, especially he's "room clean".
Greetings from Switzerland
Walter