I intend to use my car for occasional roadrace use and I have heard that steering oil coolant is a must - oil tends to boil pretty quickly when roadracing - anybody has experience with it?

Ralf
Z28 '96 modified

 

It definitely will boil without a cooler.

You should check out the Fbody road racer autox forums for more information.

http://www.frrax.com

 

Here's my setup:

http://www.robmeadway.com/IMG_0778.jpg

http://www.robmeadway.com/IMG_0781.jpg

B&M stacked plate cooler.

 

I have a rail-style 2-core transmission cooler that I use with mine, Put it on shortly after I bought the car and it works great.

 

Thanks for replies, how do i route lines?

Ralf
Z28 '96 M6 modified

 

Heres mine:

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member...410_4_full.jpg

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member...410_5_full.jpg

 

I did it similar to Rob. Routing lines is pretty easy the way I did it. I used the return line off the steering rack. It runs up to the reservoir. I took off the clamp and pulled the line down to the cooler and cut off the excess, then I ran a new piece of hose from the other cooler fitting up to the reservoir.
The cooler is from B&M and the fittings are from McMaster.com p/n 53525K57.
http://photobucket.com/albums/e8/bud...nt=cooler1.jpg
http://photobucket.com/albums/e8/bud...t=HPIM2010.jpg

 

What dimensions shall it have in order to fit?

 

The LS1 setup has a real issue with power steering over heating and a cooler is a must for road racing. A cooler for a LT1 setup certainly can't hurt but may not be necessary. I've road raced my 95 at Willow Springs, Las Vegas and Hottsville and never had an issue with overheating the fluid.

 

Yeah, I learned the hard way, haha. Instead of getting a cooler, I just got a new P/S pump from Turn One. They're kinda expensive, but they're supposed to be cooler and more able to handle higher pressures. I haven't raced with it yet, but on the street the steering feels a bit nicer :-) , although it's significantly harder to steer below 1000rpm, but it's not really a big deal.

That's what I did, partially because after racing with it, my power steering pump starting whining and was also starting to tear my belt up a little, so it was better for me to get a new one. They're not cheap, though (I think like $275 if you call Turn One themselves and order it; that's with the pulley, although I don't think it's really nessesary to get the pulley, since they're the same size. It looks cooler, though ).

 

Update: I just came back from Willow Springs and in 46F weather, I managed to overheat the power steering fluid. So I'm in search of a good solution!

 

After reading many posts here and on the road racing board, I too decided to go with the Turn One power steering pump. It gets to the source of the problem, sustained high rpms on the road racing circuit for 20 - 30 minutes at a time. The pump is $225 from Turn One and the billet pulley is another $65.