22 replies to this topic

[Trissy B]

I think I'm going to fit a 13 row oil cooler as oil temps are really hot when I put my sump guard on.

Is there a difference between the minispares version and a genuine mocal one? I agree with the addage buy cheep buy twice, but are they really worth it? (double the cost).

I have a DSN sender housing with a braided hose between it and the block. Anyone know if the threads on the oil coolers will fit? A lot of them seem to have rubber hoses.

Cheers

[mk1leg]

use mocal as there the best

and good quality hoses

[nicklouse]

Fit an oil thermostat. Oil that is too cool is as bad as oil that is too hot.


You say it is too hot. How hot is that then?

[Cooperman]

With a sump guard an oil cooler is vital, especially as rally cars are low-geared and high-revving.

 

Mocal have a great reputation. A 10-row may well be sufficient.

[Tupers]

Fit an oil thermostat. Oil that is too cool is as bad as oil that is too hot.


You say it is too hot. How hot is that then?

What temp thermostat do you have fitted to the hillclimb car?

[nicklouse]

I don’t have an oil cooler. But I did on a road car and as the thermostat never opened the oil was never too hot.

[Trissy B]

Without the sump guard it seems to be at about 90 deg going up to 115 deg. With the guard it's more like 115 going up to nearly 140 which is the end of the gauge.

I thought about a thermostat but there only seems to be one on the market which is rubber hosed and requires a whole load of piping.

It's not a daily drive so I don't mind warming her up gently and covering the cooler in winter doesn't seem to much of an issue.

Edited by Trissy B, 04 July 2019 - 05:21 AM.

[johnR]

You can get a thermostat that sandwiches between the filter housing and the filter I think? Still only the two pipes, one out to the cooler, one in from the block. I had one the SRV8 Cobra I built.

[Curley]

Check out the Mocal section on Merlin motorsports website. You can buy adapters for pretty much any thread. Most coolers are going to be 1/2 BSP or some of the Italian brands are M22. From memory the oil pressure is an NPT tread and the block UNF, hence the dowty/copper washer . Therefore I try to standardise my hoses to AN threads and buy the nesicassry abaptor for either end. On my mini I run the oil in AN-8

[Trissy B]

Wowzers thats a lot of different thread sizes. Not sure what I have to be honest.. might give DSN a call. I have exactly this : http://www.dsnclassi...mp-sensor-hole/

 

Looking at a 235mm long x 51mm thick cooler with 13 rows. Think that would be suitable?

[Curley]

LOL. It can be a minefield! 

 

NPT: National Pipe Thread, is a tapped tread with due to the taper is self sealing. Most commonly used for fluid pressure gauges & sensors.

BSP: British Standard Thread, same thread pitch as NPT but without the taper. You need either a dowty washer or copper washer.

UNF: Imperial Fine thread, straight thread as above

UNC: Imperial Corse thread, straight thread as above

AN: Army Navy, was developed by the US military and is self sealing with a 33degree flare. After WW2 ex service men took old military part to build their hotrods, hence AN fitting has become almost the defacto thread for aftermarket motorsport. Fun fact you don't call then 'AN 6' you'd say 'dash6'.

 

Don't panic thought as the thread is not really as critical as the ID of the pipe you choose. AN-6 is OK for block to filter but when fitting a cooler I prefer AN-8 

 

The DSN link saying it's 5/8 UNF in the block. It looks like -6, no idea what the thread in the filter adapter is but likely to also be 5/8. Do you remember if the adapters in the DSN kit you have only fitted one way? ie could you use either adapter in either hole?

 

Most of the 'classic mini' coolers I have seen are a 1/2" BSP like this one: https://www.merlinmo...235-m-oc13-8bsp

 

You can buy 1/2" BSP hose made to any length online with proper hydraulic crimps. Look for a mechanic who works on heavy machinery (think farmer) as they will know who to go to.

 

So in summary look for parts that are AN-8 or can have a -8 adapter fitted:

https://www.speedflo...4-08-1924-p.asp

https://www.merlinmo...235-m-oc13-8jic

 

[Curley]

Lastly, as Nick said you should really fit a oil cooler thermostat. Like the thermostat in the cooling system these open up at a given temperature and only allow oil to flow through the cooler when it's required. Great.... but it increases the complexity & number of hoses and adapters needed. I guess that's why we see so many mini's without one?

 

Like this: https://www.merlinmo...reads-m-ot-8jic

 

Personally I don't run an oil stat. Instead I have an oil temp gauge and depending on the conditions on the day either add or remove something from in front of the cooler thus 'tuning' the effectiveness of said oil cooler. However I admit this is not very practical for a road car.

[Trissy B]

Hi Curley, many thanks for the detailed reply! Just one more, what's JIC thread?

Had a look on merlin and also demon tweeks. They are a bit cheeper than minispares and look like they have the whole range.

To be honest I'm not going to get a thermostat, at least right away. Temp comes up really quick in summer anyhow and if it starts to become an issue I will get one and fit later in the year. Hopefully I can manage it by blocking off as required.

As you say I will confirm thread size with dsn and then give merlin a call and try and keep everything the same.

Interesting about using larger ID pipes with the cooler. I've noticed mine looks small in comparison to cooler pipes. Will this decrease the oil pressure?

[johnv]

has anyone got any (current) info on using a thermostat built into the filter housing? I'm sure it's been done, as searches reveal, but I cant find a link to the actual stat

thanks

[Curley]

Ah yes... JIC and AN are dimensionally the same however JIC is made to less exacting standards as AN. For our purposes you can think of them as the same thing. JIC-8 will be AN-8.

 

Also, I need to correct myself, AN/JIC is a 37 degree flare not 33 degree as I mentioned in my original post.