The forum has advised in the past that an oil cooler was only necessary for racing.
I have a track day at Thunder Hill planned for the future.
I have a strong engine that runs well w/4 core rad.
I will be adding AC and going to HAN this summer.
I do not want to sweat the temps.
Where should I add an oil cooler?
Any suggestions are appreciated!

R

 

I have toyed with the idea of a DeRale fan powered heat exchanger mounted inside of the gill vents on the left side of the engine. On my 1968 C3 there is lots of room down there as well as airflow. A fan powered unit with a thermostat would be my first choice with hoses attaching it to the oil filter assembly.

 

Seems track near Willows is a pretty good hike from Stockton ...stuff happens. Have plans to trailer it back ?
Is your brake system up for that additional heat+stress ? Are you ?

Not so sure any corvette forum is a go-to for racing oil cooler advice.

Real racing IS hot and dirty. While plenty lite-mid pickups have OE EOC engine oil coolers.

What is HAN (do you mean head + neck restraint system) ?
A properly setup HANS + helmet highly recommended. A future without HANS could be grim !

Will you actually attempt running AC while on circuit ?

 

Hot August Nights!
Not interested in racing, just want to do some quick laps safely.
Too much time/money invested to be stupid!

 

I've had mine mounted in 3 locations all worked fine, under the passengers seat below the car with a dedicated fan, under the gas tank with 2 dedicated fans and now in front of the radiator with no dedicated fan other then the radiator fan.
The engine in my car generates a lot of heat and would not stay cool without the cooler.
I would suggest installing a thermostat along with the cooler as most of the cooler manufactures suggest.

Neal

 

You may want to try your question in the Autocrossing & Roadracing - CorvetteForum - Chevrolet Corvette Forum Discussion

 

You would need the HANS specific to the available belts. A full HANS requires a six point belt system, which in turn means you have a minimum of a roll bar to anchor the belts, and preferably a full roll cage. There is a HANS for three point belts but it isn't nearly as much protection at track speeds.

 

I assume you're talking about doing an HPDE event at Thunder Hill? I don't know much about the track but I think (like many tracks) it can be configured into different lengths and configurations. If so do you have any idea of the track length you'll be running on, and do you know how long the sessions will be? I'm assuming either 20 or 30 minutes? If you're going to be running in a novice group with an instructor, and in 20 minute sessions on a 2 mile track with a couple decent length straights, oil temp main not be an issue.

The ideal spot for an oil cooler is usually in the nose of a car behind the grill, but on a stock Corvette with stock headlights there's not much extra space in that area (especially if you have an AC condenser in there too). As was mentioned above, if you can't mount a cooler in a location where it will be getting direct air flow you'll need to either use a dedicated fan for it or create some duct work to direct air too it. If you can't find space for a cooler behind the grill you might to try behind the left front tire in place of the splash apron. You could mount it flat in there below the master cylinder, and fabricate some duct work to draw air from under the car into the cooler. None of the Corvette vintage racers I work on these days have headlight assemblies, so it's pretty easy for us to mount a cooler behind the grill (though with the 65 we race there's be plenty of space even if we had stock headlights installed). We often have to tape up a portion of the oil cooler on the 65, just to get enough oil temp when the outside air temperature is below 80. On a 69 we raced a few years ago the oil cooler was mounted in an opening cut in the rear of the left inner fender skirt so air coming through threw the wheel opening went through the cooler. We fabricated some dust work to exit air from the cooler through the side vent louvers. In a configuration like this the cooler needs a screen, or some other form of protection from road debris thrown up by the tire.

What are you using for a front air dam? For track days if it's just the stock plastic air dam, I would be more concerned with getting enough air to the radiator from below the car. With stock headlamps in place very little air flows to the radiator through the grill. Instead most of the cooling air is directed to the radiator by the air dam under the nose. Late 70's L-82 Corvettes came with an extension riveted to the stock air dam to increase air flow to the radiator. If you're not using a larger aftermarket front air dam, I'd seriously consider modifying the stock air dam similar to how Chevrolet did the L-82 air dams. The link at the end here has pictures and information on extending the air dam. Also, make sure that every possible opening in the front of the car around the radiator is sealed up so that air has no choice but to go through the radiator.

Just like with the radiator, I might also be as or more concerned with brake cooling than oil for HPDE days. Stock Corvette D8 calipers with good performance pads are usually adequate for track days, though a hose ducting cooling air to each front rotor/caliper is a worthwhile addition. Wilwood's stock replacement D8 calipers are mostly for show on a street car, but for track days or autocross their aluminum casting are a plus because they dissipate heat quicker than the stock cast iron calipers.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...extension.html

 

GBVette: This is the info that I have been looking for.
You seem to understand what I am trying to do. Thank God.
My research had said that a stock car is only good for a few laps before things heat up.
I have a 4 core rad w/dual spal fans, no problems so far.
I am concerned that caught in traffic jam at Hot Aug Nites W/AC might push up the temps.
I am a rookie that is open to instruction at HPDE event.
Thunder Hill, Laguna Secca and Sears Pt ar doable.
I just want my car to survive, it has so far.
Driving my cat to the track for a few laps and then driving home is the goal!
I am working on a 12 sec quarter and a 160 mph top end.
It's just a matter of Money!

Thanks
R

 

I ran my basically stock '70 LT-1 Z28 at several high speed tracks in HPDE events.
Even hitting 140+ I had no overheating problems.
And Summit Point has a long front straight.

However when I drove the car to 100 mile away events, on the turnpike, the oil would get hot.
I had an oil temp gauge and a oil psi gauge, both manual, not electric.

At 3000 rpm cruise the oil would level out around 300* after 15 min or so. About 65-70 mph.
But if I went a little faster, 3200-3500 cruise, the oil temp would climb quickly, after just 5-10 minutes. About 75-80 mph.
Time to slow down a liittle and let it cool off.
No oil cooler.
Just change the oil more frequently if you abuse the oil like that.

That LT-1 did not mind revving, it was just hitting it's power band LOL.
But the oil temp determined for how long....

Same on the track I guess, but I was too busy to look!