First, let me say that she's a dirty pig right now. I've been busting my ASS trying to get it ready for a local SCCA autocross tomorrow. Rumor has it that it's the biggest lot we've ever run in at the speedway. As most of you know, my oil temps were hitting 275 at Buttonwillow. That doesn't make a guy feel to warm and fuzzy. So in typical fashion, I buy the 2nd biggest oil cooler Earls makes.(50 or 52 row) It was like stuffing a square peg in a round hole. I built a bracket and the oil hoses wouldn't clear the front facia. I built that bracket on the same angle as the grill. Then I designed a bracket that would put the oil cooler square to the radiator. It turned out bitchin. I had to re do my entire oil system. I moved the sender out to the oil t-stat. The oil lines go in around the Z bar area and it's a tight bitch with the 2 1/8" headers coming in to clear the steering shaft. I'm stoked with how it turned out. I'm going to redo the top aluminum cover plate and the hardware will change. I just flat ran out of time. My oil pressure is up 10-15% over the old set up. I don't know if it's from moving the sender or the heat exchanger was that restrictive. Dad and I took it around town today and it's definitely running 10-15 degrees cooler in traffic. I think it's going to work well in the summer and on the road course. I'm a little concerned with the cold weather cruise condition. I may fabricate up a cover for the oil cooler. The t stat is working but I think it's still doing some cooling just being full of oil. I switched over to Redline 15w-50 and it now takes 13 qts for an oil change.
One of my major goals was NOT to cover up a majority of the radiator but allow enough room between the core and radiator support for flow. It's a god mix of flow through the oil cooler, condensor, radiator, and through the oil cooler and into the radiator support and where ever the air wants to go.
The front brakes are TOAST. They were good in the last session at Buttonwillow. Today, they were spongy and it was 4 and I had a party to go to tonight. So I bled all four corners tonight. The front fluid was a little toast but the front rotors are done! Cracked and blue. They have been on there for 2 years. I hope they make it through the day tomorrow.
Oh yeah, I pulled the jabroni move of the century. I drilled a hole in my radiator. I was to lazy to remove the radiator. Long story short, I had about a half inch and was enlarging the t stat holes and went a little deep. It's epoxied up so it's getting replaced after this race. It will only be the 3rd radiator in this car.
I was going to throw the towel in on this deal after the radiator incident. Dad called and I told him the car probably wouldn't be ready. I could hear the disappointment in his voice and I manned up and I've spent about 15-20 hours out there this week getting the car ready. I even put his ass to work today. He cut the zip ties on the wiring harness above the t stat. ha ha After we got her running and warmed up I broke the news about letting him drive tomorrow. I hope he doesn't kill a cone worker.
Rich, it's an Earl t stat. Seems to be performing as advertised. When I inspected it, one cooler port is open all the time. If that wasn't the case, you could have a pressure drop upon t stat opening along with temperature shock. Worked great today. Car didn't get over 195 and we were running it back to back with heat soak.
Dad and I had a blast today. We lucked out and ended up in a huge lot and my best tiem was 75 seconds! When we walked the course, I specifically told him to be careful through a section. It was pretty straight and had a fence about 30-40 yards from the corner. I let him take the first run and he's barreling down this section and we damn near went through the fence. Jumping in my car and going fast isn't a cake walk. He ended up doing pretty damn good. He was about 8 seconds off my best lap. He afforded me the luxury of giving him hell until his dying day. He took out about 8 cones at the finish line. My spoiler is in pieces at Las Vegas motor speedway. He came out of the last corner and got a little greedy on the loud pedal. The rear end went one way and the other and you can guess the rest. I'm pretty certain it's payback for that 6k launch in his 199x Jeep Commanche that scattered his rear end. HA HA He was pretty jazzed at the end of the day. He drives one of them limp wristed C6 LS2's.
Yep, it's priceless. Everybody got a kick out of it. It was fun to watch and ride along. I could hear him bragging up the car to a group of guys when I was getting ready to run. My dad is a man of few words and he doesn't get to excited about much! 666hp tends to put a smile on about anybodys face.
Brian Hobaugh SCCA National Tour June 2014
First Hemi 'Cuda Convertible Ever Built
Short clips: Goodguys Pleasanton autocross and pit videos
I built a bracket and the oil hoses wouldn't clear the front facia. I built that bracket on the same angle as the grill. Then I designed a bracket that would put the oil cooler square to the radiator. It turned out bitchin. I had to re do my entire oil system. I moved the sender out to the oil t-stat. The oil lines go in around the Z bar area and it's a tight bitch with the 2 1/8" headers coming in to clear the steering shaft. I'm stoked with how it turned out. I'm going to redo the top aluminum cover plate and the hardware will change. I just flat ran out of time. My oil pressure is up 10-15% over the old set up. I don't know if it's from moving the sender or the heat exchanger was that restrictive. Dad and I took it around town today and it's definitely running 10-15 degrees cooler in traffic. I think it's going to work well in the summer and on the road course. I'm a little concerned with the cold weather cruise condition. I may fabricate up a cover for the oil cooler. The t stat is working but I think it's still doing some cooling just being full of oil. I switched over to Redline 15w-50 and it now takes 13 qts for an oil change. 
I was to lazy to remove the radiator. Long story short, I had about a half inch and was enlarging the t stat holes and went a little deep. It's epoxied up so it's getting replaced after this race. It will only be the 3rd radiator in this car. 
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