PS Cooler & Oil Cooler Location Feedback

[orangemonkey65]

Hi all,

So I've got 2 things I'm looking for feedback from coupe builders, please.

1. PS Cooler Location: I've seen many builders put the cooler here inside the radiator tunnel on the slanted wall. I'm holding my oil cooler for now, just to show an example, so this is not the cooler I'll use, but it just gives you a frame of reference.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=226341&d=1772543306

My concern is that the PS cooler will get a lot of direct hot air flow from the radiator fan. HOWEVER, it will be airflow, and the other side of me says that if the airflow is creating a heat exchange that cools the PS fluid, then it will work. Others I've read have no issue with this location while some say it doesn't work for PS cooler.

So feedback on this location?

2. Oil Cooler Location: Right now, I'm planning on a rear battery mount, which frees up this space for the oil cooler. I'm planning to use a 19-row Setrab cooler (a very quality product) and since the new tray that comes with the coupe is a nice large flat piece it actually fits very well. I also plan on possibly mounting a fan to this and somehow connecting the switch to the cockpit with a toggle or wiring it into some sort of temp sensor to turn on.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=226340&d=1772543255

I believe this location is fine BUT my concern is that if the PS location is a no-go and I'm not keen on putting the PS cooler on the side of the radiator tunnel, then I might have to put the PS cooler in this front engine area as well. IF that's the case then heat soak could be an issue...

So, as you can see, I'm very conflicted so turning to the community here to see what ideas/feedback/suggestions you all have. Thanks in advance as always!

[orangemonkey65]

Another choice is to mount both coolers in this tray location where the battery would have gone. PS cooler in front maybe? Large air gap. Then, oil cooler and fan. Fan might help pull air between both units to reduce the heat soak risk of the PS cooler in the front most area?

[Jeff Kleiner]

I'll ask the question---what makes you think that you need an oil cooler? And your PS cooler is kind of overkill. A 14" wide 2 or 3 pass cooler is plenty.

Jeff

[orangemonkey65]

Hey Jeff,

I plan on tracking the car, so I'm going to have a thermostat plate to trigger the cooler if needed.

PS cooler, as I mentioned in my post, was just holding my actual oil cooler in that location for an example of where a PS cooler would go. That's not the PS cooler - haven't ordered one yet.

Any feedback on my two points about the location of each based on your experience?

[Jphoenix]

I put my oil cooler in the radiator exhaust duct as you show in the first photo: https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?49412-Coupe-R-build-in-Seattle&p=573219&viewfull=1#post573219

I also have a Susa remote oil filter/temp regulator that gets the oil up to temp before going through the cooler. I put my PS cooler next to the oil cooler. Works fine, no problems on track and regulates the oil temp well during a 30 minute race. Track activity is much more demanding than street - with engine being at WOT a lot (if not most) of the time.

[orangemonkey65]

Awesome Jim thanks!

Quick Q's:

1. When you say you mounted the PS cooler next to oil cooler, did you put it on the same brackets in your build thread? One on top of the other basically with an air gap?

2. Did you run a fan to either of them or was the air flow enough?

Track is definitely a different animal and since I'm doing an R-style coupe in all accounts for racing except for the R-frame I wanna make sure I'm not going to have (many) issues on track days. Your track feedback is very very helpful!

[Jphoenix]

See attached photo - best shot I have of where I put it. I bought this one with the AN6 fittings (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004XONRIQ?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_ti tle_5), it's attached to the radiator firewall and the oil cooler angles with some angles I made. It's plumbed through a PS pressure reducer you can see mounted on the frame diagonal next to the oil filter/regulator mount.

I had a lot of problems last year with the power steering system that I believe boil down to 3 factors: (1) Constant high rpm on track (6000 to 6800 rpm) combined with a PS pulley too small causing the pump to spin too fast and generate high pressures and heat (2) a crappy F5 chinesium steering rack that started leaking almost immediately - went with a PSC rack following Rsnake's advice as he had similar issues, and (3)no ability to regulate PS pump pressure to minimize overpowering the rack - also, adjustable pump pressure let me get the steering feel to a very nice level.

IMO, for a street driven car, none of that is necessary. For a car that is occasionally tracked, I'd recommend getting a good quality KRC pump (and run KRC PS fluid) and an under drive pulley for when you're at high rpm.

Here's a link to the thread (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?26985-Racing-Your-Type-65&p=584810&viewfull=1#post584810) on our PS system woes when racing the type 65.

226356

[Jphoenix]

Also, no additional fan needed. Dave Tabor added a naca duct that blows cool air on his engine oil cooler that appears to work very well.

[orangemonkey65]

Thanks for the added pictures and info, Jim!

If anyone else has a setup they care to share I'm still interested in seeing what everyone is doing.

[Dave Tabor]

Here's my setup - after having a few coolers mounted elsewhere (near the battery, etc.).

PS cooler is the long tube cooler on the frame rail.

This setup has worked to keep oil temps below 260F at sustained 5000-6000 rpm driving (SBF 302, soon to be 347).

NACA ducts help a lot but the air coming through that radiator is not as hot as I thought - I forget the numbers but I had used a two-channel BBQ thermometer to get some data. Ambient air via the ducts is obviously cooler. Still a temp delta to the oil temp either way.

Dave
Gen III #17


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[orangemonkey65]

Thanks for sharing Dave! Really like that idea of the air ducts. And didn't even consider the PS on the rail. Thanks again!

[Dave Tabor]

NACA ducts are kind of extreme but the car sees extended high speed driving at 150 mph (60-90 miles at a time) - 5250 RPM.

Here's a test of the first duct (measured air pressure first before cutting with a manometer to understand the pressure delta between the outside and inside of the nose).

https://youtu.be/QQhkGPrqs-0?si=1d4pROpVHBK0hBJ5

Dave
Gen III #17
26,000+ miles