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.

[Justinp71]

I talked to a race engine builder a couple years ago, for a race 2.5L they elected a pretty healthy sized Fluidyne, said the Setrabs don't offer enough cooling. If you go too large you can always add some tape on the front. The factory had those circular holes for that reason, so you can adjust oil cooler temps with a larger cooler.

I have a healthy 3.2 (warmed over with headers, cams, carbs, etc.) with the factory GT Setrab cooler it only lasts on track with cooler days about 10-15 mins then I pull off as it approaches 215f. It's been on my list to upgrade the cooler size but its more of a street car so it's not a big issue for me.