Oil Cooler Placement?

[Glenno]

How do you protect the cooler in the wheel well from damage?

[Datman]

Alex,

We can't cut the radiator support panel...except for allowing the passage of intercooler piping. It looks like there is heaps of room there.....but the cooler does not even go close.

I thought about the wheel well.....but damage does concern me.

[260BC]

How do you protect the cooler in the wheel well from damage?

For a race car I'd use aluminium sheet and wire mesh. Don't Porsche use wheel wells for some of their radiators? If so have a look at them.

[Zac]

Will IPRA allow holes in the bonnet?

260det, wheel wells are high pressure areas especially the front of the wheel there is a stagnation point.

[Emre]

How do you protect the cooler in the wheel well from damage?

It doesn't help Datman or 260DET but the Skyline has a plastic liner in the wheel well. So cooler is mounted in between the front bumper (which gives direct air feed) and the liner.

GTS-Ts have their intercooler mounted in this area and also have louvred holes in the liner to create flow through the cooler.

[Datman]

no holes in bonnett

[Fatboy]

Mark, Harmo had his sitting flat, and it promptly banged an engine. We later discovered a dodgy oil pressure relief valve (i think that's what Billy called it ??) which has been causing heartache on the last few engines he has run.

Hopefully all sorted, and yes, the oil cooler will remain laying flat, with suitable ducting...

[Datman]

Thanks Paul

[Billzilla]

I think the tricky part would be getting the air out the other side of the oil cooler. At that point it would be travelling in the opposite direction to the air leaving the radiator. With some careful ducting on both sides I'm sure it could work.

Yeppers.
The most important ducting is the exit, to create and exit the airflow into a low pressure area behind the cooler. Air will always find a way into it, no problems.

[AlexinPerth]

We can't cut the radiator support panel...except for allowing the passage of intercooler piping. It looks like there is heaps of room there.....but the cooler does not even go close.

Are there limitations on how much bigger the hole can be?

The lancer evos have the oil cooler in the LHS of the front bar, and the plastic shroud in the wheel well is louvered too. Also helps provide brake cooling.

Alex.

[260BC]

It doesn't help Datman or 260DET but the Skyline has a plastic liner in the wheel well. So cooler is mounted in between the front bumper (which gives direct air feed) and the liner.

GTS-Ts have their intercooler mounted in this area and also have louvred holes in the liner to create flow through the cooler.

I wasn't very clear, mine has a plastic liner too, so between that and the front apron. But if no liner then fabricate some protection, would not be difficult.

[FiXXXeR]

I got a 14 row cooler place verticle on front of the radiator..

Use to sit around 95 degree's around town.. now i'm hardly see'n over 78 very happy with it!!

Below was my old set up in the brake duct of the front bar, but i had to move it due to the front mount cooler piping

[edo]

Is there any room in the area where the firewall curves down to become the floor, on either side (well there wont be on the exhaust side). I have mounted them there on an angle.

[lukevl]

An oil cooler doesn't necessarily need great airflow. It benefits greatly from just being in ambient air and running through the fins. I have mounted mine behind the rear bar on the very side and while it appears to have good airflow from a stagnant and stationary point of view (and good exit into the wheel arch area), I didn't see great flow through there on the dyno. While the fan was going the water I was spraying liked to go around it thanks to the front bar blocking most of it regardless of the factory slits in there.

Long story short it used to run 90C all day and up to 110C if I gave it a bit- not a lot, just a bit. Now it runs on thermostat (80C) or just over and goes up when it sees some action but on a cold night it will be back to 80 in about 1 minute.