DIY: Oil Cooler (scratch built install, lottsa pics).....>.

cab83_750

Naive question (and lazy on my part), but

Does the sway bar move up or down when driving? I am going to assume that, since most installs have the hoses under the sway bar, it moves up and never down.

Thanks.

Mike

the part that is bolted to the subframe never moves up and down, just twists. The ends, that are mounted to the control arm move up and down. The twisting resistance is how the bar works to limit body roll. I would say that the area near the radius in the bar probably moves about 1/4th of what the ends move, so if the car has 4" of suspension travel (don't know the exact amount, just a hypothetical), it will deflect about an inch in either direction.

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cab83_750

The sandwich plate has the following description:

This compact, lightweight, high-flow sandwich plate incorporporates a 180o oil thermostat to regulate oil flow to the cooler until the engine is properly warmed up. The sandwich plate is 1-5/16" thick with 1/2" Parallel ports.



I understand that 180 should 'probably' be the minimum/ideal oil temp. Can someone clarify this:

1. Based on the description above, does that mean that oil flow gets 'cut off' when the oil temperature falls below 180 deg?

2. If the thermostat acts like an on-off switch, where and when could ' overcooling' occur?

Thanks.

jpit

180 to 210 appears to be the ideal oil temperature. The oil never gets totally shut off and there is always some going and coming from the cooler. Depending where you live you could get overcooling and some have devised a partial hood to cover some of the elements. See modshack's first post and he goes into this in some detail.

cab83_750

I saw Modshack's 'hat'. I am just trying to understand the thermostat's engineering. You are correct as when I was playing around, I noticed that the cooler gets warm even though the oil temp has not reach 180. I thought mine was broken (i.e., oil flows even though temp is way below 180.

Billy830

For guys in the northern parts and have problems with low oil temps you may try a 200 deg thermostat. In south Fl we don't have that problem of low oil temps.
The 200 deg thermostat will bypass most of the oil until temps reach 200deg
then fully open to the oil cooler.
Just a thought.

Billy830

info on mocal thermo sandwich plate

http://97.74.103.94/files/thermos$.pdf?Submit1=More+Information+and+Pricing

ChrisSlicks

Race Parts Wholesale will customize their standard 180 degree thermostatic plate to 200 degrees on request (for a fee of course).

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cab83_750

180 minimum is good for me! At the present my temp range has been 185-205.

JimZ

My understanding is that with thermostatic sandwich plates (Mocal) flow below the temp setting i.e. 180 is 90/10 meaning the flow through the sandwich to the oil cooler is 10% of max or 90% restricted. As temps climb above 180 the ratio changes and thus more oil is allowed to enter the oil cooler. I opted to scratch build my oil cooler and the process was quite easy with the help of this and Vipors DIY. Of note, I did prefill my oil cooler just prior to final intall

cab83_750

Jim,

did you do the socketless? How many miles so far since the install?

JimZ

No, stainless steel AQP (Aeroquip). Only 300+ miles since install and reinspected last night....everything intact. I used 3/4 heater hose split with clamps at all contact points. The cooler is a Setrab series 6, 24 row. I dont track the car and drive pretty conservatively but easily run 20-25 deg cooler....will see this summer as temp here are still pretty mild. I have read most of the comments about the hose failures and I too am concerned...not with my fittings or hose but with the amount of slack that may need to be required....when you do this install you will see that there just isnt that much room to play with. I routed my hose according to Vipors technique with no problems. However, the gap between the sandwich fittings and the bottom panel is essentially nonexistent. I wanted to use straight fitting off the sandwich, and actually purchased these, but the sway just wont allow it. My saving grace is probably the fact that I just dont 'get on it' much and consequently motor movement is low.

cab83_750

This 'slack issue' appears to be the unknown and the biggest concern. What is unknown, at least to me, is the direction of the pull against the hose. In other words, is the motor pulling, pushing....? Coupled with the sway bar movement, is the hose being pulled up and/or down?

My hoses were routed in an 'S' shape form to allow for left/right/up/down/forward/back movements of the motor and sway bar. This of course, is my non-engineering guess/solution. I will post pictures soon and will welcome any type of input/flame.

So far, I do not have any issues with the socketless setup. I do plan on removing the 'collars' where the hoses end. I believe they are there for aesthetic purposes. Once removed, I will use one (just 1) small clamp or zip-tie. I do not think having once clamp at the very end of the hose will Not destroy the inner lining of the hose.

Billy830

From a previous post from Modshack I believe he said not to use any ties or clamps on socket less hose ends. Also the collar on the socket hose ends are not there for looks they help hold the hose onto the fittings, I don't think it would be a good idea to remove them, they are there for a purpose.

If you get your hose lengths correct ( measure once, measure twice) an inch or 2 longer can't hurt. You can have both hoses made with crimp on fittings for $120 including shipping. Hosemachine.com.

I have said this before routing and clamping is the main focus on these lines.
I have not installed mine yet. I have the parts but not the hoses and I am certainlly going to use crimp ons. But I want to look at all possibilities for the install.

On all the posts the hoses are at the bottom of the mocal sanwich plate. Has anyone looked at other positions for the mocal plate. The bottom looks like its easy but is it the best position.

cab83_750

Those collars do NOT hold the hoses. They are there just to have a clean finish look.