Oil cooler plumbing

[Aussie Mike]

I've been enjoying myself lately. Things are so much easier to work on with the body removed.

I bought all the bits to plumb in an oil cooler ages back. I finally pulled finger and got it done.

First thing to do was to mount the cooler. I ended up welding a couple of tabs to the front cross member in front of the radiator. This puts it in a good spot to be in line with the lower grill opening.



It's an Earls brand cooler but in the same pattern/size as the original Mocal one. The fittings on it are AN#10.



With the Cooler in place it was easy to route the hoses in and cut and terminate the hose ends.

I've added a couple of extra clamps since this pic



To connect it into the motor I picked up a Mocal LS1 adapter. This connects to a couple of ports on the sump that are already in place (probably designed exactly for this type of thing). The adapter also incorporates an oil thermostat so that it bypasses the cooler untill the engine oil gets up to temp.



It's worked out neat and tidy and all the lines are easy to get to but up out of the way.

Cheers

[boxhead]

Hey Mike, Can I ask where you bought the oil filter adaptor from?
Looks tidy.

[Aussie Mike]

The cool thing is the adapter doesn't change anything on the stock filter setup. It just bolts to the side of the sump in place of a little bypass plate that the factory install.

I got it from Improved Racing:

Improved Racing | Adapters & Thermostats

The've got a new billet version now.

Cheers

[boxhead]

Is that the type that includes a thermostat?

[Aussie Mike]

I think there is a thermostat and non thermostat versions

[boxhead]

They advise wont fit on front hump sumps like mine, is there a possable clearance issue you can see with yours? (I know you have rear hump)

[Aussie Mike]

I've got a front sump at home. I can check it against that and see if you like. It may have problems clearing the engine mount or the alternator on a front sump.

Cheers

[Zedn]

Nice work.

Is that a little port for an oil pressure sensor also? Looks like a neat little package.

[Aussie Mike]

Originally Posted by Zedn

Nice work.

Is that a little port for an oil pressure sensor also? Looks like a neat little package.

Yep, I already had my oil pressure gauge plumbed into that point so it's just a matter of putting an AN# fitting in there and connecting the hose from the gauge.

You can also see in this pic the plate you remove to bolt the oil cooler adaptor on.



Cheers

[stiffy]

Mike,

I use the same one, great service ( Improved Racing ) and bolt

on fittings... cannot go wrong.


STIFFY

[Modena]

very tidy Mike, nice.

[DaveW]

Box meister,
Dont get the one Mike has, it wont fit the LS1 style front sump, it interferes with the alternator, or the engine mount depending which way you orientate it.up or down, Gregg and I have experienced this first hand.
Improved racing do make an adaptor specifically for the GTO, Holden front sump fitouts, even stating Holden Commodore and Monaro LS1 on thier site,
This is mine fitted, part number IR-EGM-1007



includes a 1/8th NPT ports for pressure and temp.
http://www.improvedracing.com/adapte...-pan-p-82.html
comes in two versions, -8AN and -10AN
regards
"the other Dave"

[Aussie Mike]

There you go. Good pic Dave.

I bought one similar from Proflow ages back. The only issue I had with it was it didn't have a thermostat built in. I bought an external thermostat and was all set to go but then I saw the Mocal one with all in one.

I now have a very nice Earls oil thermostat that I'm thinking of selling. Same as this: Earl's Performance Products Engine Oil Thermostat 501ERL - SummitRacing.com

Before these neat adaptors were around I machined up a low profile filter adapter that Phil N was using.



He has an external filter setup but I think he's switching to one of the new adapters now too.

[boxhead]

Cheers Dave, I was not sure if being in a Cobra would allow for more room to run hoses and clear items etc?
Sounds like probably not.

Does that one have a built in thermostat?
As a good mate is the local Aeroflow rep and i can get one at cost price through him. But no thermostat built in.

[Aussie Mike]

Originally Posted by stiffy

Mike,

I use the same one, great service ( Improved Racing ) and bolt

on fittings... cannot go wrong.


STIFFY

I agree, they were good to deal with.

I think Ben Gosper (Fanta Orange CR Cobra) bought one of their baffle kits. I remeber seeing it and think it looked pretty good.

Cheers

[boxhead]

I have a baffle kit to fit at some stage, Ben bought a few in at same time.

[DaveW]

Dave,
Have you experienced oil starvation problems with the front sump?

Mike,
The Improved Racing adaptor for the front sump version doesnt have a thermostat in it, I bought the Mocal version which i will mount to the chassis, it has a by-pass in it when the oil isnt up to temp, Comes with a reasonable mounting bracket.
Dave







Mocal Remote Oil Cooler Thermostat

[Aussie Mike]

Looking good Dave.

[boxhead]

I havent as of yet (I must be driving too slow)