I use my car for Time Trials in NASA and want to add an oil cooler. I have a Canton road racing oil pan but when the oil gets hot after a few laps, the oil pressure starts to fluctuate in hard turns. I was thinking about buying a Be Cool automatic transmission radiator and using the built in transmission cooler as an oil cooler. Has anybody tried this or know if it work? I like this idea as it will keep the oil warm enough and I won't have to add another radiator.

 

the tranny cooler in the radiator tank is waaay too small to use as engine oil cooler-just get seperate oil radiator and plumb it in with -10 or -12 line.i got most of my oil cooler setup off '83 impala cop car;the cop setup used the same block adaptor also used in '80s-90s pickups/SUVs with towing pacs or H/D cooling-in stock form the GM block adaptor can really benefit from a little"porting" as some of the "as cast"passages are a little restrictive.From this adaptor i ran -10 AN line to oil radiator from the cop impala that i mounted in the charcoal canister area to the left of the coolant radiator and mounted a thermostat controlled high power fan to the oil radiator so that oil temp can be controlled better than if oil cooler was mounted to recieve ram airflow.

 

OK, thanks. I'll use a separate oil cooler mounted maybe mounted in front of the radiator and then use an oil thermostat so it doesn't get too cold.

 

you could also look into the factory water cooled oil cooler used on certain C4(84-96)corvettes and some later thirdgens-this cooler fits between the block and oil filter and uses engine coolant for cooling-eliminates the need for oil lines,but coolant plumbing work will be needed.

 

The 90-95 ZR-1 Corvette has a factory oil cooler that works perfectly and I think it is thermostatically controlled. It is about the same size as our cars so it should fit perfectly or close enough. It also has the hoses that fit it to the oil sender assembly that you could integrate as well. The LT-5 engines hold about 16-18 quarts of oil so it should be big enough cooling wise to get rid of the heat.

 

Thanks. I've looked into that option and I don't think it will drop the oil temp enough. I think I'll stick with an external oil cooler.

 

That's not a bad idea but it might be easier to piece something together with aftermarket parts?

 

Research on the subject of "fin and tube cooler and plate cooler" and it seems that the plate coolers are more efficient than fin and tube. Thats why they are more common in race applications. A smaller plate cooler can do the job of the larger fin and tube.So you may want to use the plate style cooler.

Here's one that incorporates the best of both worlds and even comes with a thermostatic 180*sandwich adapter allowing the oil to reach operating temperature before engaging the cooler.
http://www.etrailer.com/Engine-Oil-C...le/D15405.html
I'm sure you can find it at a lower price its just that this add has more details than others Ive seen.

 

That's what I think I'll do except I have a manual so I won't need the transmission cooler.