<VV> external oil cooler

[Bruce Schug]

On Apr 6, 2008, at 4:40 PM, ScottyGrover at aol.com wrote:

> I wouldn't mount the thing above the fan; the air passing through  
> the oil
> cooler heats up, THEN has to go through the cooling system, which is
> overstressed for anything more then flat-country driving.  Perhaps  
> those  living in
> Florida or the Netherlands could cope with this, but when you have  
> any  hills to
> contend with, the heating system becomes seriously overloaded; if   
> you drive in
> other places in Europe than the Low Countries, you might regret  it.
> The factory mounted the air conditioning condenser above the fan, at  
> least
> on the '65 models; moved it elsewhere for the '66 model year.
> Perhaps others, who use the oil cooler for racing, could give you  
> better
> advice about locating the cooler.
>

It doesn't matter whether you mount either the oil cooler or the AC  
condenser or both above the fan or in the intake plenum, as the  
condenser is on later models. Either way, the air is pulled through  
them, then blown over the engine to cool it. Of course these devices  
heat the air, but with a properly deflashed, clean engine, the cooling  
system can handle it just fine.

If you looked at how my oil cooler is mounted on the web link I  
supplied, you saw it's mounted in the plenum, ahead of the condenser.  
It works fine. I drove the car this way at VIR, even with the Otto fan  
set on a slower ratio in hot - 90 plus - weather. Yes, the oil got hot  
after several laps, but probably no hotter than many Corvair engines  
run on the street without an oil cooler. I was watching both the oil  
temperature and the head temperature to be sure everything was okay.

On all-out purpose-built race cars, you don't want to do this (you  
also don't want to run air conditioning!). On those cars a front- 
mounted oil cooler is the proven location for mounting.

But for hot street cars with built-street engines this works fine for  
street, autocross and moderate track use. At least mine does.

Bruce



Bruce W. Schug
Treasurer, CORSA South Carolina
Greenville, SC
Stock Corvair Group Member
bwschug at charter.net

CORSA member since 1980

'67 Monza. "67AC140"