OIl Coolers

[Roy]

See, here's the thing: the two options I am researching are in the order of $400, not $800. And over $1000 is just silly.

Is that for just the oil cooler?

I use a Serck Marston and Earl remote locator sandwich/lines - all non Japanese. The parts are pretty cheap. Total cost was less than any Japanese unit..

Id go this avenue as well. You can get a 15 row cooler for about $180-200, or a 19 row Serck cooler for round th $250-300. Thats a good quality core that is used in motorsport and OE performance cars.

Then you can get the Earls sandwich plate for $50, the relocator flange is another $45 (going from memory so prices are approx)

Each Speedflow fitting will cost about $35 and 1 metre of braided line will set you back about $45. Hydraulic hose is cheaper at about $15-20 mtr

So assuming $300 for a 19 row cooler, with $50 sandwich plate, you will need 1.5mtrs of braided hose and 4 Speedflow fittings - Total = $550

OR including oil reolocator kit, add $50 for flange, another 2 Speedflow fitings and another 1mtr of braided line...So Total = $670

And something i thought of after i had bought all the bits for mine, is instead of getting an oil relocator flange for Nissan RB series, get one for something like a 351 Cleveland as the filter would be much bigger, and increase the volume of oil that little bit more

I dont believe you need to run a thermostat, some ppl do, but its another 4 Speedflow fittings and i cant see the value.

So its cheaper and arguably better to piece together your own setup, and the above prices are allowing for braided line so can be had cheaper if you run hydraulic hose and shop around for good prices on oil cooler.

So the only additional cost is a case of beer for the job, about $10 for 500mm of 25x3mm flat bar and some bolts and you can mount it yourself.

[JAGR33]

Roy- where would you mount this setup you're talking about??

[Roy]

Roy- where would you mount this setup you're talking about??

I mounted the oil cooler behind the intercooler pipe on the drivers side. I cut out about an A4 sized piece from my inner guard and lined the cutout with some black aluminium mesh leftover from my front bar. In an R32 its a tight fit especially with crappy HKS cooler pipes that use up all the space...but it does fit.

I dont like the idea of mounting it after the intercooler and before the radiator, heat transfer thru IC then thru Oil Cooler then thru radiator, may not make a huge difference in the real world but on paper it seems to be a pretty big compromise.

Thought about the passenger guard as there is plenty of space over there, but i thought there could be issues with draining all the oil out of the lines come servicing, and braided line aint cheap enough to justify the additional $100 in runnng to a cooler located on that side of the car.

[JAGR33]

Roy- I'm pretty sure in this thread we are talking about 'oil coolers for GTR's', so in this case mounting the oil cooler on the driver side is a waste of time, since the blow off valves are located there, therefore the oil cooler must be placed on the passenger side inner fender, therefore costing more in braided lines....

[Roy]

Roy- I'm pretty sure in this thread we are talking about 'oil coolers for GTR's', so in this case mounting the oil cooler on the driver side is a waste of time, since the blow off valves are located there, therefore the oil cooler must be placed on the passenger side inner fender, therefore costing more in braided lines....

Is it really that cramped up in there? I have seen several R32 GTRs with oil coolers in the drivers side guard.... so can be done in an R32, R33...who knows but on the GTSTs the R33 has more room again!?!?!?!

Im dribbling sh1t so dont listen to me :Oops: , but its still not a bad idea to buy the cooler you are after, then rip the bar off and see where the best place for it to go is, then be sure to buy the correct Speedflow fittings (90deg bends, 180deg bends etc) to squeeze it in there. still going to be cheaper then 80% of the jap kits...i say 80% because there are always ppl who need to get rid of gear and you need to be in the right place to pounce on a good buy

...ramble...ramble...ramble :Oops:

[calvintys]

Here is a cheap TRUST oil cooler core....

http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?View...5&since=-1&rd=1

[bambinator]

I feel I may have misrepresented myself - I'm not being cheap, and if it takes $1200 to get a good oil cooler then that's what I'll pay. My question really was: I can get a perma-cool (US made) oil cooler with a 21"x7"x1.5" core with oil relocation kit for $390AUD brand new, or a MOCAL kit with a 16row x 50mm x 235mm core for approx $500AUD brand new, but I have not seen any reports of how effective the perma-cool is. If the [insert jap brand] here is really 2-3x more effective than either of these options, then I'll pay 2-3x more. Roy seems to be in tune with my way of thinking - surely it's got to be cheaper and just as effective to build my own "kit" from assembled parts purchased independently. Have also had a look at sertrab cores - reviews?

Thanks for those who have offered suggestions - will take a harder look at earls and serck stuff...

[Trust33]

This is what i got from earls australia at their online assistance.Keep in mind you can go bigger care sizes than the one i have been quoted for.

Hi Craig,

Thank you for your enquiry.

We do not carry oil cooler kits, all parts are individual.

Parts you will probably need Price including

GST

Cooler - 19 row 12" x 6" x 2"

$388.00

Sandwich adapter # 510 $58.00

Hose adapters # 981611 x 2 $23.00

Braided hose ends Straight $23.00

90 or 45 deg

$52.00

Braided hose # AN-10 $60.00

per metre

or plain rubber hose 5/8" ID

$31.00 per metre

Regards

Geoff

[ferni]

picking and bits and pieces is all well and good if you know what your doing, unfortunatly, i'm not one of those people that know what they are doing... i just drive (badly)

[Craved]

i put together a kit myself getting the parts from motorsport connections in seven hills - nsw

cost about $550 in parts, would have been cheaper if i didn't get the thermostat.

i used an oil cooler from a 7 series BMW, they are real big tube and fin alloy cores(as wide as my FMIC!

got it for $50 so im pretty happy, there is alot of fiddling to get it in there but it can happen...

that kit like jlnewton would be ideal if you can get a kit like that! really depends on what your gonna do with your car bambinator!

[Roy]

This is what i got from earls australia at their online assistance.Keep in mind you can go bigger care sizes than the one i have been quoted for.

Hi Craig,

Thank you for your enquiry.

We do not carry oil cooler kits, all parts are individual.

Parts you will probably need    Price including

GST

Cooler - 19 row 12" x 6" x 2"      

 $388.00

Sandwich adapter # 510                                    $58.00

Hose adapters # 981611 x 2                            $23.00

Braided hose ends    Straight                            $23.00

90 or 45 deg    

$52.00

Braided hose # AN-10    $60.00

per metre

or plain rubber hose 5/8" ID

$31.00 per metre

Regards

Geoff

i put together a kit myself getting the parts from motorsport connections in seven hills - nsw

I got my flanges from Earls in Silverwater as they were an ok price, but fittings, braided line etc i got from a place called Star Performance in Five dock NSW, try $130 cheaper for the same size cooler, $13 / mtr cheaper for the braided line and a few bob cheaper per fitting....and Motorsport Connections were also a little more expensive then Star Performance....

Shop around ppl and dont forget to also talk to old school V8 workshops who dont seem to operate on such high mark ups

[GTRgeoff]

I have to kick in for the DIYers guys. Shopping around can find you good stuff. For hoses and fittings I always check out the local Pirtek as they are usually pretty affordable.

You can also get oil coolers from RX7's and GT4 Celicas for just over $100 from many wreckers, and they come with a drain plug on the cooler for servicing. Thats a further reduction of cost. You don't need to have the brand name stuff.

I tend to just keep an eye on my oil condition during events. It isn't going to fail catastrophically and so as long as you monitor it there should be no reason for the cooler until you start doing massively long straights at full throttle for the whole time for multiple lap sessions of 10-15 laps or more eg Sandown with 2 long straights.

If your oil cooler is just for drags or show, well save your money.

I'd be interested to see if many of the guys "needing" oil coolers can give me a detailed reason for their fitment, supported by data on oil condition and temperature..........but if you can justify it, why spend more than you have to?

[Craved]

in my case, i used to do alot of track days, and with the front mount etc the cooling efficiency is greatly reduced through the radiator! the addition of the oil cooler not only maintains the effectiveness of the oil your using, it adds the total engine cooling!

[EnricoPalazzo]

im not sure if i need one, as

a. Im not sure if my car will ever hit the track

b. I only really thrash the car in the hills, but i have cool down periods basically every 20mins.

Would i need one

[Craved]

i wouldn't think that you would need one if thats all you really do.... all about how far your gonna go with it! if you get into track days (which you will if you get out to one) it might come in handy.. just a prevention thing more than anything else!

[51jay]

Buy local is usually the cheapest way....does not have to mean lower quality....just make sure you get one with offset fin design..airflow is through the core at 45 degrees makes more area and more time for cooling.

addit:I think a thermostat is good if you use the car on the road as well. GTR properly set up for track with oil cooler big sump/baffles etc takes too long to warm up in normal driving