Oil cooler position, Upright or flat on floor Options

[billd]

I have a B&M oil cooler with integral fan that measures 12 x 9 inches. I'm debating whether to lie it flat on the floor (where the spare tire normally goes) as Dan Thompson did with his cooler, or whether to stand it up right behind the front bumper.

The flat installation is simpler - I just drill some holes in the floor and mount the cooler on four shock mounts. The upright installation will require making a pair of brackets that run vertical from the floor and then forward to the front of the car. However, the upright installation will let me run the fan in the "correct" direction - its a puller fan - and would seem to capture ram air from the cutout in the front bumper and valence better.

I'm leaning toward the flat installation, but would be interested in hearing the collective wisdom of this board.

Any opinions one way or the other?

----Bill

[Aaron Cox]

no offense, do you want it to work ok, or to the best of its potential?

if you want it to work best, vertical. this way it gets "ram air" thru it. requires a duct out the floor.

need marginal cooling? ie - where just the 25 feet of line will do most of the cooling, then mount it flat, mount it whereever....


do it once, do it right. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

BTW - B/M - is it a tranny cooler? what size are the ports? -6?
a /4 uses -8, or -10 (some use -12), a six REQUIRES -12 or larger

[GeorgeRud]

I used a Turbotrol cooler of a similar size to cool my 2.7 hot rod, and have it laying flat on the trunk floor with no fan, but I did have a local sheetmetat shop fabricate a duct that directs cooling air from the front grill opening ( I have a 914-6GT front bumper and valance) to the sealed cooler, and then I cut a hole in the floor to exhaust the hot air. This system cools the engine so it never goes over 200 degrees even on a 90 degree day at the track.

The fan will certainly help, but a well built duct should provide enough cooling I would think. I don't know how large an engine you're cooling however. I used -12 lines back and forth, but I'd use -16 if the car was a track only car with a large engine.

[Trekkor]

Mine.

I cannot get the oil above 210° no matter what I do.
No shroud, air coming through bumper grommets.


KT

[J P Stein]

Mine.

I cannot get the oil above 210° no matter what I do.
No shroud, air coming through bumper grommets.


KT

Add 100 hp & report back.

[Trekkor]

Someday (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif)


KT

[brant]

I'd agree with frontal air if you want the maximum coolingout of the cooler.


brant

[East coaster]

If properly ducted, the lay flat mounting should work as well as the verticle mounting. Not sure how well it would work without ducting though. It probably matters how much you need the cooler. If it is just supplimenting an engine mounted cooler and it's not the primary cooler then you can probably get away with a less than perfect setup. On mine, it's the only cooler and I was concerned about proper ducting.

Do what you'll be most happy with!

Here's my swag approach..........

[BarberDave]

SWAG APPROACH HELL!!!!!
Nicest one I have Ever Seen!!!!! I remember your thread on how you did it, inventive,with imagination. Dave

[brant]

I remember that thread too.
and its nice NICE work...

I'm a tiny bit concerned about the corners in your duct work as a restriction.

general rule of thumb is 2x the exit as compaired to entrance.
those corners look a tiny bit tight.

my guess is that they are more than adequate for street work, but may leave a little bit to be desired on a big motor or track work.

I know how important exit duct can be since I redid my exit duct 3x before I ended up with adequate cooling (all with the same cooler) on my ex-race car.

same reason I went for overkill on the current race car.
brant

[East coaster]

Brant, I think your setup is about the cleanest I've seen and probably one of the most effective, I bet. It's a shame it can't be done on a street car.

[DanT]

Bill,
you need to mount it where you think you will get the most bang for your effort. A pic of your cooler and fan set up would be nice. I agree that most of the b&m setups I have seen are tranny coolers. Are you sure this will be big enough for a hot 3.2L motor?

Especially if you decide to take it to the track and not just use it as an AX weapon.

I tested my setup this weekend at BW and it worked very well, and yes it was only ~75degrees ambient.
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/driving.gif)

[brant]

My ex-race car is now turned back into a street car.
I run the same firewall mounted spare in it as you do.

I ran 3 different cooler exits on it when it was a track car until I finally achieved the oil temp I wanted.
Each different exit dropped between 10-20 degrees F from my oil temp.

here is the 3rd iteration:

[billd]

Thanks for the replies. I'm still working on a plan.

How much of the front of the car needs to be cut out to feed air? I suspect its going to take more than removing the plugs from the holes that are there.

[GeorgeRud]

I just pulled the plugs and then used a hole saw of the same size to cut additional holes between the factory locations. It seems to let in plenty of air.

Kudos on the fiberglass ducting, very professional looking. The mold could probably make more if there was a need? Hint, Hint! See resources pages!

[Eric_Shea]

Promised Aaron some pics of my cooler mod for the GT shroud a while back... finally had some time and space.

Consists of weldng an aluminum plate across the ends and threading some AL rod 1.25 I believe and welding that to the plate where the original GT shroud mount holes are.

[billd]

Promised Aaron some pics of my cooler mod for the GT shroud a while back... finally had some time and space.

Consists of weldng an aluminum plate across the ends and threading some AL rod 1.25 I believe and welding that to the plate where the original GT shroud mount holes are.

Very nice use of the GT shroud. What type of cooler is that. I'm about to ditch my B&M cooler and look for one that is wider and shorter to fit better in the space available for a vertical mount. Also, where can one get the GT shroud? That would make my ducting work very simple.

[Eric_Shea]

It's an RX7 cooler. (Rich weigh in here, after you send the gauge pictures!) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/lol3.gif)

[brant]

It's an RX7 cooler. (Rich weigh in here, after you send the gauge pictures!) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/lol3.gif)

correction...
its a MODIFIED RX7 cooler.

big difference between a stock rx7 cooler and a modified one.

pretty! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[Aaron Cox]

eric. looks nice. make sure to put it on rubber isolators (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

too cool. mine is a 13x3" setrab.... gonna make AL ducting for it