functional oil cooler for SPF

[easystep]

Dean,

Living in Southern California, will you receive much benefit in your around town driving from the larger oil cooler? I would think not, but want to get your opinion. I'm in Southern Florida and it is already mid-80's to low-90's.

Thanks

[RedBarchetta]

Originally Posted by easystep

Dean,

Living in Southern California, will you receive much benefit in your around town driving from the larger oil cooler? I would think not, but want to get your opinion. I'm in Southern Florida and it is already mid-80's to low-90's.

Thanks

I'm not changing the oil cooler, merely adding a provision to regulate the amount of oil I wish to flow through the existing cooler. As others have said, running too cool oil temps is not good. Yes, SoCal is warm during the summer months, but a typical Spring/Fall evening will yield temps in the low 60's, and Winter will yield evening temps in the 40's-50's. Trust me...it takes FOREVER for my oil temps to increase with the current setup, hence the existing cooler is quite efficient afterall! I presently use a clear lexan panel to cover up the cooler presently during those colder cruise events (which also doubles as a rock guard, I suppose).

Rob's components (pics above) are a work of art. 100% CNC-milled and (I estimate) a two-beer project to install for the SPF owner. Some additional fittings and hose to purchase (I personally prefer the strength of Aeroquip), but if you give your wife the money she's just going to spend it on more war paint and useless crap around the house that YOU will be selling at the next garage sale anyway!

-Dean

[rob frink]

Thanks for the kind words Dean and Woodsy!! Congrats on your new car Aron. Eric certainly has a terrific track-record of statisfied customers and it sounds like he's just added one more to the list.

Have fun with your new car!!

[Jim Vander Wal]

I'm running AN-12 lines for all connections, the Canton cannister oil flter and thermostat and Rob Frink's remote oil adapter. Seems to be working well with oil pressure at 50-55# during normal operation. Hasn't been warm enough for the t-stat to kick in and send oil to the cooler. The Canton t-stat seems to pass oil very well. This is much better unit than most of the other t-stats that I evlaluated and read about.
The cooler is an Earl's piece of the same size as the stock SPF unit but with AN-12 fittings.
I had all of these pieces and an Accusump before Rob's filter / cooler switch was available or I would have gone with Rob's setup.
I can only second the great reviews of Rob's work. Great machining, clean simple design.
Running on the track and ambient temps of about 80f you will need the cooler. With the cooler in place I run up to 120c; I wouldn't chance track time w/o the cooler.
Jim SPF 1855

[Badger]

One thing I've noticed in all the conversation about oil temps in our cars is the mention of not enough heat in the oil at cruising speeds. With the standard electric gauges that have only a 90 sweep in the needle it's almost impossible to tell exactly how much heat is in the oil when the engine is running, as the needle barely moves a 32nd of an inch off the peg when cruising. I'd have to agree that oil temps do tend to spike up (around 230 degrees) when running the standard SPF set up on track and usually tend to stay well below that when running on the street. I intend to modify my system to run larger 12AN lines but, BEFORE I do any of that, I also plan to install 270 sweep gauges so I can get a more accurate reading of what is actually occuring to the system's oil temperature in the car at speed. Since Stewart-Warner does not make any 270 degree sweep electric gauges, those of you trying to adhere to some sense of authenticity will have to switch to SW's Bourdon tube "mechanical" gauges. This is an easy swap and looks even better in the instrument panel. (keep the electric gauge and plug it into the transmission for more data) If you'll check out the historical photos from "the era" you'll also note that many of the factory racers converted from the 2 1/16" gauges to the 2 5/8" gauges...much easier to read! Especially if the gauges are all "clocked" so the needles point stright up when all the temps are normal. Generally speaking the water and oil temps should rise and fall together as speed increases. If you find that water is staying in the 190 range and oil is going to 230 when you track the car you'd better think about modifying your oil cooling system. No problem here for guys who keep it on the streeet but if you track your car it's a good idea to know where your temps are! Badger