ERA 753 - Final Assembly in Progress

[ZOERA-SC7XX]

Mobil One 5W-30 or a similar synthetic oil will work well in low temp conditions.

I cannot understand why all these street driven Cobras have oil coolers, especially in cooler regions. I know you gotta have them for looks, but they don't allow the oil to get to proper operating temps. My oil temp runs about 180 in cool weather without the cooler hooked up, and I haven't ever seen it go above 200 in hot weather.

[ERA Chas]

Originally Posted by ZOERA-SC7XX

I know you gotta have them for looks, but they don't allow the oil to get to proper operating temps. My oil temp runs about 180 in cool weather without the cooler hooked up, and I haven't ever seen it go above 200 in hot weather.

You echo my findings exactly ZO.

[Excaliber]

I'm thinking about adding a cooler to mine, I just HATE the open hole with nothing in it in the front.

...but I have no plans to make it actually work. Even here in Hawaii it's a struggle to get the oil temp up without a cooler!

[Mooch]

In regards to the discussion of oil temps, what are the thoughts regarding this:

http://www.beaumontmetalworks.com/oi...lve-final.html

[ERA Chas]

It's a hellishly expensive on/off switch since no one needs it.
We've seen that coolers are only needed for track use, so it's far cheaper and effective to plug or remove adapters/remote filters (another expensive waste for cosmetic purposes) and tie the cooler lines in a safe place.

[patrickt]

It is expensive, but kind of cool. It's been too long ago for me to remember my conversation with Doug at ERA and the reason the sandwich thermostat wouldn't work with my remote filter, but had ERA offered an option for a switch like that on top, or on the side, of my filter adapter pictured below I would certainly have gone for it. Anything under $500 for that seems like a reasonable price, I doubt I would have gone for much over that (and truthfully I don't even need it).

[fkemmerer]

Well, I got part way with my Oil Cooler Thermostat installation today. I decided to make some custom brackets to allow the Canton Oil Thermostat that I am using to be mounted up front between the radiator and the frame cross brace where it is not going to be real visible. I fabricated the setup shown below to allow the Canton Thermostat to be mounted on the frame gussets for the tabs that hold the steering rack:



The machined aluminum clamps that are used to mount the Thermostat to the bracket are from Canton also.

The bracket raises the unit just enough (about 2") so that the side fittings will clear the lower radiator hose. As you can see from the pictures below, in a tight but nice fit:





And here's a closer shot of the installed unit:



I mached everything up with -10 AN hose ends and there will be plenty of room to route all of the hoses to the engine, remote oil filter housing, and the cooler. The brackets are off to the powder coater to be finished to match the rest of the ERA frame and then I'll do the final hoses and installation. I will post more pictures when the job is complete.

- Fred

[ERA Chas]

Fred,
Your work is impeccable but I will tell you-that's the exact location my long torque wrench with small extension and 5/8th socket goes (to rotate the balancer bolt) when I adjust valves or any time I have to rotate the motor by hand.

Can you see the marks on the balancer to set timing? I hope you don't have conflicts.

[fkemmerer]

Originally Posted by ERA Chas

Fred,
Your work is impeccable but I will tell you-that's the exact location my long torque wrench with small extension and 5/8th socket goes (to rotate the balancer bolt) when I adjust valves or any time I have to rotate the motor by hand.

Can you see the marks on the balancer to set timing? I hope you don't have conflicts.

Chas,

The thermostat (and all of the lines) are in front of the cross brace in the car. The balancer, timing tab, and the area you need to get at to turn the balancer is behind the cross brace so there is no interference. On a happy note, I have a hydraualic roller camshaft in my car so I don't adjust valves very much .

- Fred

[ERA Chas]

Understood Fred but I was concerned you might not have clearance between rad and thermo to swing wrench. It's clear you do your homework.

I knew you had a juice cam but there are times to get to the balancer and pulley area.

Nice work Fred.

PS-Please post oil temp testing results as this cool spell is upon us. Hope you get that 10-15 degree cushion you're looking for.

[fkemmerer]

Well the brackets for my Canton Oil Thermostat came back from the powder coater and I completed the installation in the car tonight. Here is a picture of the oil thermostat mounted on the powder coated brackets ready to go into the car:



It took me quite a bit of time to fabricate a new set of lines for the remote filter/ oil thermostat/ cooler combination. I used -10 Aeroquip fittings and braided stainless steel lines for the entire installation. Its important to take the time to make sure that all of the lines and the thermostat are completely clean before installation. I used a combination of a parts washer tank and an air hose to make sure that everything was clean and free of any fillings from the stainless braid on the hose. I also have an AN pressure test kit which I used to ensure that all of the lines did not leak before installing them.

Here are a couple of pictures of the final installation:





As you can see, everything is tucked up nicely down low between the radiator and the front frame cross brace. As you can see from the next picture, the thermostat and plumbing are hardly visible when viewing the engine bay from a normal angle - exactly what I was looking to achieve.



Before installing the thermostat, I could only get the oil temperature up to about 65 degrees C (150 degrees F) in the cool (50 degree F) fall weather here in New England. This was the case even with the oil cooler blocked with cardboard. It was too cold to take the car out at midnight when I got done but I did see the oil temperature rise to 80 degrees C (175 degrees F) with the car idling in my garage. I have never been able to get my oil this warm before so I'd say that the thermostat definitely helped. I will post some more temperature info when I get a chance to drive the car.

- Fred

[cobra]

fkemmerer

What a great work, it's a pleasure to look your pictures. Congratulations !
Do you have a second bracket for sell ?
Greetings from Switzerland
Walter

[fkemmerer]

Originally Posted by cobra

fkemmerer

What a great work, it's a pleasure to look your pictures. Congratulations !
Do you have a second bracket for sell ?
Greetings from Switzerland
Walter

Hi Walter,

Thank you for your kind words on my project. Unfortunately, the bracket was custom made for my car and application. Given the time required, I don't think that I'd want to make them to sell (it would be cheaper to get them made of silver I think ).

- Fred

[RedBarchetta]

Fred (Dad),

Will you adopt me?

Sincerely,

Your long lost son, Dean

P.S. A really clean install...love the custom brackets!

[fkemmerer]

Originally Posted by RedBarchetta

Fred (Dad),

Will you adopt me?

Sincerely,

Your long lost son, Dean

P.S. A really clean install...love the custom brackets!

Dean,

Sure, as long as you have big garage to put a shop and lots of cars, I'd love to adopt you! Thanks for the kind words.

- Fred

[Bobcat]

Fred ... some questions on the Canton unit . I talked to my engine builder ( Robert Pond ) and looked at my dyno sheets . During the pulls , oil temps never got above 160 degrees F. Robert said it was real hard to get the temps any higher and that the aluminum blocks just seemed to run cooler on oil temps .... which brings me to my question . Do you know what is inside the Canton unit that could allow the oil to heat up to the 170 degree range while idling ? Sounds like there is some type of orifice that they force the oil to go through . GPM through an orifice equals pressure drop equals heat generation ... and in this case , it sounds like a good thing ( here I`m being an anal engineer again).
I went for a drive Sunday ( 80 degree day ) and never got over 160 while cruising . Robert didn`t sound too concerned about being below 180 to 200 degrees on the oil .
I also went to Canton`s web site and couldn`t tell what was in the unit .... however , depending on your outcome , I may have to get one .

Bob

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by Bobcat

Do you know what is inside the Canton unit that could allow the oil to heat up to the 170 degree range while idling ? Sounds like there is some type of orifice that they force the oil to go through . GPM through an orifice equals pressure drop equals heat generation ... and in this case , it sounds like a good thing ( here I`m being an anal engineer again).

I don't think that's right. The instruction sheet says that it simply bypasses the oil cooler until the oil reaches 215 degrees. I don't believe it increases the temperature by reducing the volume passage, increasing pressure through an orifice, etc. I can see problems if it tried to do that. http://www.cantonracingproducts.com/...PDF/22-480.pdf

[patrickt]

Which begs the question....... Fred, on the hottest days of the year were you ever able to get your oil temp up to, say, 200 degrees (figuring that maybe your cooler shaved off 15 degrees)? You can probably tell, I'm wondering if the Canton will ever open up at all.

[fkemmerer]

Originally Posted by patrickt

I don't think that's right. The instruction sheet says that it simply bypasses the oil cooler until the oil reaches 215 degrees. I don't believe it increases the temperature by reducing the volume passage, increasing pressure through an orifice, etc. I can see problems if it tried to do that. http://www.cantonracingproducts.com/...PDF/22-480.pdf

I agree with patick, the thermostat does note pose any significant restriction - instead the rise in oil temperature at idle is due the removal of the cooler circuit and the elimination of all of the associated area in cooler and associated lines which disipates the heat of the oil.

- Fred

[fkemmerer]

Originally Posted by Bobcat

Fred ... some questions on the Canton unit . I talked to my engine builder ( Robert Pond ) and looked at my dyno sheets . During the pulls , oil temps never got above 160 degrees F. Robert said it was real hard to get the temps any higher and that the aluminum blocks just seemed to run cooler on oil temps .... which brings me to my question . Do you know what is inside the Canton unit that could allow the oil to heat up to the 170 degree range while idling ? Sounds like there is some type of orifice that they force the oil to go through . GPM through an orifice equals pressure drop equals heat generation ... and in this case , it sounds like a good thing ( here I`m being an anal engineer again).
I went for a drive Sunday ( 80 degree day ) and never got over 160 while cruising . Robert didn`t sound too concerned about being below 180 to 200 degrees on the oil .
I also went to Canton`s web site and couldn`t tell what was in the unit .... however , depending on your outcome , I may have to get one .

Bob

Here's what I think was going on with my previous setup and why the canton unit helped. It is true that with an Aluminum motor, its hard to get the oil temps very high. The block is a good natural disipator of heat and the fact that most folks don't paint an aluminum block only helps to improve its ability to disipate heat. The cooler has alot of bare aluminum serface area (fins, top and bottom supports, and the aluminum duct work in the nose) as well as a long set of lines running outside the hot engine bay area. By installing the canton unit inside the engine bay, all of the natural cooling surfaces associated with the oil cooler are bypassed and the thermostat and lines are contained in the engine bay where the surrounding air is not as cool. I think that this explains the higher oil temperatures during prolonged idle.

- Fred