Chad's 68 Camaro V3.0 build. LS3 & TCI goodies

[Ron in SoCal]

Originally Posted by Chad-1stGen

The first time I got to hear my own car come down the straight redlining second gear I about jizzed my pants!!! lol. I didn't have the coolest engine their and there were folks making more power, but damn did my car sound good coming down the straight!!

That's gold right there Bro! Glad you had fun

[Chad-1stGen]

I've had my oil cooler setup planned out for a while now and in order to fit a bigger cooler I've planned to mount it sideways. I had also read that this is good as it allows you to change more of your oil during an oil change.

The one thing I didn't think about was filling the oil system. So if my oil pan is a 5.5 quart pan and the cooler and lines add another 2.75 quarts is it ok that the pan will have ~8 quarts at start up until the oil cooler is refilled?

[Vegas69]

You are over thinking it. With an oil t stat(Which you should run on the pressure side), 90% of the oil should be bypassed back to your engine filling your cooler slowly. This will build oil pressure faster and avoid thermal shock. The windage experienced isn't worth debating at start up.

If you oversize your oil cooler, it can cause low oil temperature during street operation. Not a huge problem if you are running a real street oil with detergents. The oil t stat will still flow enough to cool your oil. My temps dropped substantially with my oil t stat and cooler. (Vs. my heat exchanger which you may consider?)I had way more metal flying around and likely put in a bigger cooler than you are planning. Moral of the story, you either need to install the right size cooler, or build a shroud. Rely on experience, there are plenty of LS engines in a dual purpose application, find out what size cooler at t stat they are running and the results.

[Chad-1stGen]

Originally Posted by Vegas69

You are over thinking it. With an oil t stat(Which you should run on the pressure side), 90% of the oil should be bypassed back to your engine filling your cooler slowly. This will build oil pressure faster and avoid thermal shock. The windage experienced isn't worth debating at start up.

If you oversize your oil cooler, it can cause low oil temperature during street operation. Not a huge problem if you are running a real street oil with detergents. The oil t stat will still flow enough to cool your oil. My temps dropped substantially with my oil t stat and cooler. (Vs. my heat exchanger which you may consider?)I had way more metal flying around and likely put in a bigger cooler than you are planning. Moral of the story, you either need to install the right size cooler, or build a shroud. Rely on experience, there are plenty of LS engines in a dual purpose application, find out what size cooler at t stat they are running and the results.

Thanks Todd. I am using the Improved Racing adapter with built in 180* thermostat. Though it doesn't block the cooler so I'm expecting it to fill the cooler shortly after start.

I also used the Setrab documents to pick my cooler. According to their site: http://www.setrabusa.com/products/oi...ine/index.html

A 34 row 13" wide oil cooler is good for 400-475hp and is about the biggest I could go with my setup without more serious fabrication. So while it seems my cooler will be bigger than most I've seen, according to Setrab it is still undersized a bit.

[Chad-1stGen]

Well I installed the cooler. I thought the mounting of the cooler and making the lines would be the hard part. Turns out getting the lines routed and connected to the adapter was the hardest part. I'm not really happy with how close the lines are to the headers.

Here is the cooler and Improved Racing adapter with thermostat.



The bracket hat goes down in front of the radiator. I tried to fab my bracket to follow the mounting bracket on the cooler to block the least amount of air.



The two homemade mounting brackets painted and ready to install. These are two strips of 1" x 1/8" aluminum. The top of one bolts to the vintage air bracket that goes to the top of the AC condenser and the other bolts to the core support. Both bolt to the lower valence.



One of the hoses. These are XRP pushlock hoses. I mistakenly believed when I ordered them that these had the highest temp ratings. I'm also using the XRP fyre sleeve rated to 800* (went with that since the silicone sleeves were only rated to 500*).



Here is a shot of the cooler mounted



Finally, the routing i did with the lines is a bit funky. I wasn't able to route both lines along the block as there just wasn't enough room with the headers. This routing gives the most space around the line from the header, though it has header pipes on 3 sides. The other line against the block is also close to a header pipe. At the closest point both lines are about 0.5" from a header pipe.

What do you guys think? I'm leaning towards trying to redo these lines with hard lines at least until well clear of the headers.



Results.

The Improved Racing adapter with built in thermostat works excellent. The thermostat begins to open at 180* and fully opens by 200*. Driving around on the surface streets I was seeing consistently about 195* oil temps (previous was around 220*) and on the freeway I see about 200-205* (previous was 250*).

Oil pressure is significantly improved at these temps. I'm seeing idle of 25 PSI (prior 18) and high RPM tops out around 60 PSI (prior was low 40's).

[Vegas69]

To close for comfort. While it may be functional, I'd be concerned about a hose failure and potential fire at a time yet determined. Different block adapter or fitting configuration to run it along the oil pan? Or out behind the headers by the firewall?

I'd also have to wonder about freeway oil temps of 250 before the cooler. Are you sure your tune isn't to lean? It should run cool down the freeway without an oil cooler. Lower oil temps mean longer engine life. 230-250 road racing would be great. 210-230 on the street would be optimal.

[GregWeld]

I agree with Todd.....



Heat RISES... so whenever I'm working around the headers - I want to be UNDER them not over 'em.

I'd re-route the line close to the block away from the header.

[Chad-1stGen]

Originally Posted by Vegas69

To close for comfort. While it may be functional, I'd be concerned about a hose failure and potential fire at a time yet determined. Different block adapter or fitting configuration to run it along the oil pan? Or out behind the headers by the firewall?

I'd also have to wonder about freeway oil temps of 250 before the cooler. Are you sure your tune isn't to lean? It should run cool down the freeway without an oil cooler. Lower oil temps mean longer engine life. 230-250 road racing would be great. 210-230 on the street would be optimal.

Yeah we will see about the temps on the road course.

I'd like to try and keep my existing adapter because it appears to be one of the few oil thermostats that actually works and allows the oil to heat up. This is why I'm leaning towards hard lines. I tried to run the lines out the back but it is stupid tight there too. These headers are just super tight to the block on the drivers side. I think the only way to get a lot of clearance would be to use an adapter that spins on in place of the oil filter and run a remote oil filter.

Thanks for the feedback Todd.

EDIT: I'm planning to take the car for a dyno tune but I'm 99% sure it is running too rich.

I'm seeing coolant temps of around 205-210 so I don't know if that had something to do with the higher oil temps in the past. I've been trying to chase down the vintage air peeps because I appear to have a coolant flow issue. My temps will be 205-210 in 6th gear at 70mph but if I shift down to 4th at the same speed the temps will drop below 200 and run high 190's.

[Chad-1stGen]

Originally Posted by GregWeld

I agree with Todd.....



Heat RISES... so whenever I'm working around the headers - I want to be UNDER them not over 'em.

I'd re-route the line close to the block away from the header.

Thanks Greg.

There is no room along the block for two soft lines with these headers. I'm hoping i can make it work with hard lines otherwise it means a different adapter

[efs69]

Hey Chad,

I know what you mean about space but I agree with others about the line. I would look at a remote filter set up and run the lines along the side of the pan if you can. I'm not sure what you're frame and engine look like from the bottom but I would think there has to be a way to do it.

Also my temps don't get as high as yours. What temp do you have the fans set to?