This was spawned off of a recent thread that I kind of got involved in regarding the merits of high volume oil pumps. Now I definitely don't want this thread to veer into a std. versus high volume oil pump discussion, so keep that in mind. However, one of the guys at the machine shop that has my motor said that he's run an HV pump with an oil cooler. When I brought that up in the other thread a lot of people said to ditch the oil cooler and just not worry about running one.

Ever since I started planning this new motor out I had planned on using an oil cooler. What I'm wondering is why people say that it's not needed? I'm spending money on making the motor more or less bulletproof for what I'll be using it for, so if an oil cooler will help with reliability or longevity even a little bit I want to use one. I'll give some specifics on the motor and intended use to give you guys a better idea of what's going on, and maybe you can tell me if I need on oil cooler or not-

Engine
Block bored .030, deck milled .020, splayed 4 bolt main conversion
Mahle Pistons, Eagle 4340 Crank, Eagle 4340 H-beam Rods
Clevite Race Bearings
Homeported heads, Custom Cam 230/230 about .600"/.600" 112 LSA
Fully balanced
Final clearances have not been setup yet.

Intended Use
First and foremost this will be a street car. I'll be taking it to cruise ins on Fridays and Saturdays as it still has A/C and most of the creature comforts. It is possible the car will be sitting in traffic sometimes in town, and during the summers it can get into the high 90's here. It's not going to be a daily driver, but if there isn't rain I'll take the car out. It will also see some dragstrip duty, with nitrous being used later on (after I get over the initial purchase shock of this engine+components and can afford a safe nitrous setup ). After seeing how the bearings and piston walls held up over 140k miles in the stock motor, I am sold on Mobil 1 synthetic oil and will be using it in the new motor.

So what's the verdict, do I need an oil cooler or not? And support your answer, don't just say yes or no!

 

Just my opinion, but unless you are going to really be running hot, like road races, circle track, etc. I' opt to keep the oiling system as simple as possible i.e, oil pan, pickup, filter, motor. Installing a cooler just adds to the mix.

I bought my 97SS with the optional cooler. Deleted it when my motor went to hell with less than 7 grand on the clock (don't actully know why).

Just didn't bother putting one back on the new short block when I couldn't easily locate one.

Why spend all that money on something that is most likely not needed with the type of driving you expect to be doing.

 

I just don't think its necessary because it doesn't seem to be an extreme duty situation. I am wondering if why your engine builder deems it necessary to run an HV pump with a oil cooler..can you or somebody else answer that? I don't mean to change the subject and don't wanna lose topic but I am curious about that. It seems there are sooo many misconceptions with the oiling system out there. I have heard this theory before but I don't really see why just an oil cooler would justify a HV pump, i have even heard this from another individual that said a STD volume pump should be used with a stock pan. What makes this soo much different, it can't be because if the added oil capacity of the cooler..can it?

On a side note if you want an oil cooler for some added assurance, then go for it....I can't hate ya for that. Just doesn't seem necessary to me.

 

I like BUBBA's idea of keeping the oiling system as simple as possible. Hell I hate working on this car, so simplicity should be the name of the game.

89385formula- They guy didn't necesarily say that I had to have an HV pump for use with the cooler, he just said it would be a good idea. I think the idea is that the more area you have to push the oil through (IE adding a cooler) the more the pressure will drop, and you can combat this with some added volume. Don't take this for fact, this is just my suspicion on it.

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