ERA 753 - Final Assembly in Progress

[fkemmerer]

We've been enjoying ERA 753 all summer. The car is running great. I do have a problem that I need to solve and I'd like to get some ideas from others on this forum. Now that the weather in New England has cooled down, my oil temperatures are running too low (50 - 60 degrees C typically). I ordered a Canton thermostat that I plan to put on the car in the next week or two. Only problem is the size of the unit. I don't want to put it anywhere obvious as I'm concerned it will spoil the "original look" of the engine bay. Has anyone found a place to put the Canton Theromstat somewhere out of site on an ERA?

- Fred

[fastd]

Please keep us posted as the progress and functionality of the canton thermostat - how well is works when you finally get it in...thanks.

[ERA Chas]

Originally Posted by fkemmerer

We've been enjoying ERA 753 all summer. The car is running great. I do have a problem that I need to solve and I'd like to get some ideas from others on this forum. Now that the weather in New England has cooled down, my oil temperatures are running too low (50 - 60 degrees C typically). I ordered a Canton thermostat that I plan to put on the car in the next week or two. Only problem is the size of the unit. I don't want to put it anywhere obvious as I'm concerned it will spoil the "original look" of the engine bay. Has anyone found a place to put the Canton Theromstat somewhere out of site on an ERA? - Fred

Fred,
Here is my best advice for the too-cold oil problem. Send back the Canton thermostat and simply disconnect your cooler lines, plug them, then plug the in and out at the filter. Zip tie the lines out of sight somewhere on the chassis. I'm sure you don't want to hear this.

I've tried every trick and thermostat in the book over many years. The truth of the matter is that none will even arrive at, much less hold, 160+ oil temps below about 55 deg ambient. Even with the cooler face blocked with all sorts of tapes, lucite, aluminum, cardboard, rubber or concrete, the lines and cooler act as a giant heat sink and bleed off temp at highway speeds. Can't get to or hold 140 deg. There are a thousand threads on here of how guys covered the cooler with all the above and it's just fine. Well, that's just not my experience. I'm in the frigid NE as you are.

The only sure effective way to avoid heat loss is to not drive the car in cool/cold temps. Aside from the oil not reaching safe operating temps (especially when using elevated RPM) other negative factors arise-such as rock hard tires (unsafe) and rock hard shocks (not a fun ride).

This was proven on my bud's 600HP, 11.5:1, Windsor FIA which we tested. We found that just running the oil in the pan only (Canton RR), without cooler, that the pan's surface area prevented oil from reaching safe temps. Only at slow speed and stop/go driving did it rise above 160+. This was in 40 deg ambient.

I have a Mocal thermostat in place for 5 years now which does nothing to hold temps at highway speeds in cool/cold weather. Had the Earls from ERA and considered the Canton. The cooler is excellent in hot weather at maintaining 180-225 deg oil temps. You have an expensive engine and I would not run it (and mine) at low oil temps.

I marvel at the guys that have tops, heaters, (which bleed coolant temps!) seat warmers and horse blankets but ignore the oil temp sitting on the peg while they're driving to dinner parties in January.

Worse is autocrossing in October. You sit in the staging lanes for an hour at a time, start the engine, then you're screaming on the rev limiter in 2nd and 3rd for 40 seconds, then shut down.

JacMac on here has a neat piece he fabricates for his racecars. It's a lower rad hose which has an aluminum canister inserted through which hot coolant and oil pass through tube-in-tube. A heat exchanger. He reports it's excellent at maintaining good race oil temps but the warm coolant does not elevate the oil temps from cold.
GM has a similar oil filter-mounted exchanger on I think, C5's.

Just my experience and I hope it helps you decide.

[patrickt]

I agree with Chas. and I think he's right. Redbarchetta had a nice thread about mounting the thermostat about two and half years ago. I can't find any pictures of it now but I remember thinking what a nice job he did. In fact, I remember thinking that if I ever drove my car when it was below mid-50s I might do the same.

[RedBarchetta]

Originally Posted by patrickt

I agree with Chas. and I think he's right. Redbarchetta had a nice thread about mounting the thermostat about two and half years ago. I can't find any pictures of it now but I remember thinking what a nice job he did. In fact, I remember thinking that if I ever drove my car when it was below mid-50s I might do the same.

Thanks for the kind words, Patrick. Pics are in my gallery. Not sure if Fred would mount his the same way, as it sounds like he wants a more stealthy look. I mounted mine where I thought it made the most sense, that is all.

Fred, you have told us how great the EFI is. What about the active suspension controls that you installed?

Regards,

-Dean

[fkemmerer]

Thanks everyone for the advise on the oil thermostat/teperature. I think what I will do next is make a cardboard block for the oil cooler and drive the car in cool weather with it for a day. This should give me an idea on whether the oil thermostat will be effective or not. I will let everyone know what I find.

Dean, I have not yet had a chance to really play with the electronnic traction controls on my car. I want to get all of the little problems relative to the egine (like oil temperature) straighten out, then do a full dyno tune to get the engine at peak performance, then I will calibrate the ETC. I am not having alot of problems with rear wheel spin (I am running the Goodyear gumballs which stick pretty good and my cam is radical enough to limit the low end torque somewhat). I will post the results of all of this as I work my way through it.

- Fred

[Bobcat]

Fred ... my car is ERA 757 , .... I blocked off the oil cooler this summer and ran oil temps in the 140 to 180 degree range when just cruising . If I get on it , they will go to the 200 degree range .... and our ambients down here in summer are in the mid 90 to upper 90 degree range . Since we haven`t seen any cooler weather yet ( still in the upper 80`s ) , I don`t know what the oil temperature will do in cold ( for us ) weather. Our typical winters are lows in the low 30`s and highs in the mid 40`s . I made a cardboard template and then cut a piece of 1/8" Lexan out for the shield so the oil cooler could still be seen . I followed Doug`s advice and put a small piece of tape on the oil temp. gauge to remind me the cooler was blocked .

Bob

[fkemmerer]

Originally Posted by Bobcat

Fred ... my car is ERA 757 , .... I blocked off the oil cooler this summer and ran oil temps in the 140 to 180 degree range when just cruising . If I get on it , they will go to the 200 degree range .... and our ambients down here in summer are in the mid 90 to upper 90 degree range . Since we haven`t seen any cooler weather yet ( still in the upper 80`s ) , I don`t know what the oil temperature will do in cold ( for us ) weather. Our typical winters are lows in the low 30`s and highs in the mid 40`s . I made a cardboard template and then cut a piece of 1/8" Lexan out for the shield so the oil cooler could still be seen . I followed Doug`s advice and put a small piece of tape on the oil temp. gauge to remind me the cooler was blocked .

Bob

Thanks for the suggestion Bob. I like your approach and will see how things work out when I block the oil cooler inlet and drive the car.

- Fred

[ERA Chas]

Originally Posted by Bobcat

Fred ... my car is ERA 757 , .... I blocked off the oil cooler this summer and ran oil temps in the 140 to 180 degree range when just cruising . If I get on it , they will go to the 200 degree range .... and our ambients down here in summer are in the mid 90 to upper 90 degree range . Bob

Bob,
That's a reinforcement of what I described with my testing. If highway speed in 90 ambient only permitted 140-180 with it blocked, you can expect 50 deg lower when the ambient is 50 lower. Keeping the oil in the engine only, is the only help you'll get when it's 40 outside-and not much at that. Remember, there's a quart and a half in the cooler and lines of an ERA, plus the bottom surface area of a Canton pan-all are a heat sink which is exposed to 70 to 100+ MPH, 40 deg wind.

Coolers are excellent on the race track and worthless any other time. They are a defining component for the S/C look which we all love, so many of us tolerate their bad points.

200 deg oil is a wonderful thing for power and longevity but you'll never see that in winter, even with a fur coat on the cooler.