I'm looking for an oil cooler that fits good under a GT shroud. Patrick has the best fit, but its close to $500. Setrab has a close fit for around $200. Are there any other options? Also, if you installed a GT style cooler how 'bout some pics of the install if you gottem?

http://www.pbase.com/9146gt/9146gt_front_mounted_oil_cooler

Check out the Mazda RX7 oil cooler.

I knew that was option, but it looks better than I thought. And the orientation of the inlet/outlet looks like it works for a 4 cyl. Are there any inlet/outlet mods required to use those?

Most people take the T-Stat out of the RX7 Cooler and Weld on AN Fittings.

I have a RX7 Cooler that needs to be Mod'd that you could get Cheap

Do you know anyone who does the mods TC?

Any competent Welder ( of which I am not) should be able to do it.

Jason,

Here are some old pics I took while I modified my car for a front oil cooler several years ago.

I too looked at the cost of over the counter oil coolers, and decided on a RX7 cooler sourced from a junkyard for about 25 bucks.

I modified my cooler by removing the T-stat, and making the end tank removable. I also had to remove most of the Turbulators that were in the individual oil tubes after I got everything hooked up in the car and running.

FWIW, a Turbulator is a strip of aluminum that is shoved in every oil tube in an RX7 cooler that slows the flow of oil through the tubes.

When I first got it going, my car (w/a 3.6) would begin to run hot. The more I took the turbulators out, the cooler it would run, until it settled down to around 195-200 degrees on a hot day.

Good Luck, Ron

Yeah, I saw yours Ron. Its impressive work. Today I'm leaning towards just buying the Setrab from Patrick. I don't really want an oil cooler project. Tomorrow I might feel different.

The oil cooler from mid 80's MB diesel cars work good too. That's what I use on my 3.0 conversion. Made by Behr it is very stout and no thermostat to remove. Has fittings on each side facing back I just welded on AN fittings to the stock metal fittings that came with the cooler. Payed about $60.00 for everything.

One additional word.

The aftermarket fiberglass shroud did not even remotely come close to fitting over the RX7 oil cooler.

I had to saw and section it in several places, then fiberglass it back up and paint it before it was usable.


You might want to plan on that with any cooler you choose to use.

Ron

not intended to be negative to anyone on this thread...

but many engine builders will not take the risk of even reusing oil coolers unless the entire lifespan history of the cooler is known.

it can be roulette to buy a junk yard cooler.
if you introduce one piece of metal from a motor that may have blown in the coolers previous life you trash your whole motor.

a 7K motor isn't worth gambling over to save a few hundred dollars.

the rx7 cooler may be a little bit safer because rotaries tended to die by blowing apex seals rather than blowing chunks

I know about ultrasonic cleaning and would recommend that for any cooler....

still often an engine builder will not reuse a cooler from a blown motor... and requires cleaning any coolers from good motors that did not blow up.

so use caution about used coolers in general.

brant
(running 2 front mounted twin-pass fluidynes, plus the stock motor mounted cooler)

Which is why I have the Canton 8 micron oil filter as shown in the pic is mounted on the outlet side of the cooler.

In actuality, my car has 3 oil filters on it.

Good Catch Brant.

Yeah, I saw Brants point in other threads. I'm really leaning to the Patrick custom version. It fits the shroud, its Setrab, its AN-12, if I go 3.2 in the future I'm good. This motor is a 2270-4 and I'm blocking off the factory cooler. My only hangup is, its $500.

For pics, check Andy's build thread--nice detail on oil line routing. I'll try to post some of mine soon.
Another Caution about the RX7 cooler. Definitely do what RonS did & disassemble it to get the turbulators out--they're a major restriction for our weak oil pumps and thick oil. I put in an RX7 with the thermostat removed and the bypass hole plugged. I had noticed that the cooler seemed restrictive just blowing my breath through it but put it in anyway. My install has the thermostat (Mocal) located under the passenger side rocker panel. Well, my oil pressure would take a major drop for 5-10 seconds each time the thermostat opened.....that's a looonnnnggg time watching the oil pressure light on! Worst was on a cold day--seemed to take forever for the pressure to come back up.
I finally figured that what was happening was the backpressure on the oil pump (and filter) must have skyrocketed with cold 20W50 being pushed against when the thermostat switched, meanwhile starving the engine itself.
I finally went with an ex-NASCAR Fluidyne well flushed which is much less restrictive. I'm guessing that the RX7 with the turbulators removed is similar, and you'll know that it's clean of debris also.

I used the Mazda cooler and ended up with the following bracket I made and rubber isolated:





I also decided to go with dual thermostatically controlled electric fans:



I opened up more holes in the front with a cool tool I found that punches out perfect circles:






Good luck!

OK, here's some pics....
I opened up the sheetmetal across the cooler inlet area--can't see the screen in the frontal shot but it's there. This Fluidyne is stronger than the rest of the car so I solid mounted it...don't think it'll cause trouble.
Opened up the primer/paint drain holes and cut more venting area into the steering rack space and opened up the tray under the rack. I put small baffles at the leading edge underneath to help pull air out of the trunk space.
I ran the thermostat and oil AN10 lines under the rocker then up and over into the space behind the fuel tank rather than what is probably the better route down low passing through the passenger side kick space. That stainless line cover is tough as hell, so I'm not anticipating any real trouble from debris--we'll see....might cover the lines with sheetmetal if I get antsy about it.

I also tried the RX7 cooler and noticed that it would not fit under my Getty Design aftermarket GT shroud. I didn't want to cut up the shroud either so I bought the Setrab from PMS. It fits perfect under the shroud. Check out my blog for pictures.

Oh yeah, mine does NOT fit under the stock shroud...