Need some thoughts/input here guys. I was installing the radiator, efan, and oil cooler las weekend and ran into a little bit of a snag. The bottom oil cooler port on my 81 is interfering with the driver's side steering rack on my Re-Speed rack kit. I'm pretty sure the interference is being caused by the Ebay aluminum radiator as it's quite a bit thicker than the stock one and the oil cooler mounts to the bottom of it.

Either way, I've been tossing around a few ideas for solutions. At first I was going to pick up an FC cooler since the ports are on the sides and bottom, respectively. Of course this would the cost of the FC cooler, plus AN lines and fittings to make it work. Which was a little out of the budget. ( What am I saying, I blew the budget months ago ) I also didn't like the idea of going from my known perfect condition cooler to something that I have no clue about. As much money as I am into this build I would hate to lose a motor over a crappy oil cooler.

So I decided to keep my cooler and run some new lines using AN fittings to clear the rack. BTW great place to buy AN fittings and stainless line www.frozenboost.com super cheap and awesome quality. So yesterday I started mocking everything up using some 90* fittings and such... then I had an idea.

Looking at the 2 oil cooler ports I noticed the top port clears the rack no problem, where as the bottom obviously doesn't. Normally the top port would feed into the front cover and the bottom port would feed into the rear iron.

I was thinking about swapping the hoses so that the top port has a straight shot to the back of the engine and the bottom port makes a 90* bend up to the front cover. The only issue I could think of with this is the oil thermostat in the cooler. Would reversing the flow through the cooler have an impact on the way it functions? Or can I remove the thermostat all together since I live in Central Florida where cars have no trouble getting up to operating temp year round?

Thanks in advance for any insight.

 

anybody?? Am I going to have to be the pioneer here?

 

If your worried about the thermostat then just take it out.

 

If you can get a FC oil cooler, I'd use it. I've been told the lines fit to 12a's and I'll confirm that this weekend. or if you can get AN lines for the same price use them, etc etc. if you switch the lines, I don't see a problem with removing the thermostat, but i could be wrong about that.

 

I'm not sure how that will work. In stock form, it goes through the bypass until it hot enough to open the t-stat, it may work in reverse. Need to look at one opened up again, or a diagram. I have flushed a couple and made a setup to act as an open t-stat(wood dowel with a pc of gas hose over it) so I wouldn't just flush the bypass.
I don't think it would be good to remove the t-stat though, It does get down to the 30's here.

 

Even if it got down to the 30's, wouldn't the oil in the entire system at least stay warm enough after a minute of running to not cause an issue? i understand that oil may flow slow and it could cool down - but I'm just poking at ideas. i guess it was put there for a reason, though. Hmm.

i don't think reversing the oil flow would matter in the cooler - you're just switching the lines on that end. so.....you wouldn't have to remove the oil thermostat, correct? you'd be leaving the hoses on the engine side attached?

 

Thanks for the input so far guys....

Miles... yes the hoses will be connected as normal just swapping ports on the cooler.

Stevan.... even though it does get down to the 30's here in the winter, I doubt I'll have an issue with getting the oil up to temp with the turbo, etc..

Correct me if I'm wrong but I think the real danger would be over-pressurization when the oil is too cool. So long as I let the car warm up (which I do normally) it shouldn't be an issue. Right?

 

I think the problem would be while driving, it won't matter if you have let the engine warm up prior to. Once you start going down the road, there's nothing to control the oil temp. I don't really know if it would be a problem, but I wouldn't do it
Would an SE cooler work better?, I believe it sits a little further forward and the fittings are pointed away from each other a little.

 

either remove the thermostat, or plumb it correctly, i don't think it will work right backwards.

 

I think I'm going to remove the thermostat and keep an eye on it with my Oil temp gauge.... unless anyones got any other ideas.

 

Post photos of the problem please. You know everyone likes photos.

 

Lol... I'll do my best.... trying not to spoil my big reveal when it's all finished though.

 

If you remove the oil cooler thermostat you have to plug the bypass hole with a NPT pipe plug and red Loctite otherwise the oil will take the path of least resistance which is thru the bypass hole and then your oil overheats.

You want to push the oil downhill not uphill so your oil pressure will drop if you try to plumb the cooler backwards pushing the oil up thru the cooler.

 

Didn't think of that, I was thinking too cold. Anyhow, I'm thinking t-stat in, find other solution.

 

It has to go up to the same height, doesn't matter where it starts to go up. If it's pushing it downhill, it had to pull it uphill.

There has too be a better solution to the problem.

 

I can understand the theory of the pressure dropping if the flow is reversed, and well aware I'll need to plug the bypass. I should be pushing roughly 90-110 PSI of pressure at WOT with my modified regulator and hardened gear Mazda Racing pump... so losing a couple PSI due to pressure drop is not too much of a concern.

I'm going to pull/block the thermostat and reverse the lines. I'll keep an eye on pressure and temps both.