Front Oil Cooler for Racing 2.8 Liter Six, How Big Do I Need to Go? Options

[motorvated]

Working on my Vintage racer to upgrade to a 2.8 liter six race engine and was looking for recommendations for sizing my front oil cooler. This race motor has an oil filter installed in place of the stock oil cooler on the engine, so my front oil cooler has to do the full job of cooling the oil up front. I have been looking at the Setrab coolers and specifically their model number 50-150-7612, which is 16" X 8.25" with 50 rows. Smaller option is their Series 9, 20 row model number 920F22 which is 16" X 6", which might be undersized. I'm curious to learn what you racers out there have found to work best.

Also I'm trying to size a differential cooler for the Wevo 915 transaxle. It had a Tilton pump and cooler on it when it ran in the prior race car, but unfortunately they stayed with that car. So any recommendations for sizing that, with or without fan also would be helpful.

Thanks Mike S.

[technicalninja]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif)

Above 30 mph the fans are a restriction.

Below 30mph the fans are needed.

Stopped in traffic an absolute requirement.

I don't think I've ever seen fans for anything on a dedicated track car.

[stownsen914]

Think big when it comes to oil coolers for a tracked car with some hp.

For a data point, for my 2.7L 6 I have B&B's biggest cooler (I think the core is 24x6x3). That has kept temps below 200 degrees where I wanted them.

In fitting the cooler, make sure to properly duct air to and from the cooler. In front of the cooler, make sure the incoming air has nowhere else to go except into the cooler. Or else it'll just flow around the cooler and you'll lose a lot of efficiency. I once sealed up gaps of 1/4-1/2" in ducting on a front mounted cooler and the oil temp dropped 20 degrees on track. (Sealing was done with weatherstripping foam tape.)

Just as important, make sure the air is exhausted efficiently without restriction into a free airstream. If you're exhausting it GT style through the trunk, put a downward facing lip at the leading edge to trip the air.