Ron Davis Oil Cooler

Very cool!

This is an air to oil cooler? You’re bringing in air through the vent on the back of the car?

Where do you pick off the pressurized feed of oil to the cooler?

And so it must add to oil capacity?

It seems like the top of your oil cooler is much higher than the level of the oil in the sump.  How do you keep it from draining back and overfilling the sump when the engine is shut off?

Looks like a very clean install!

Rocky

Rocky, it blows out not in.

there is a check valve, the oil feeds the bottom of the cooler and pulls from the top. it’s an oil cooler biscuit it’s called opens at 180 degrees 10am hoses

Yes, air to oil.

7 quarts in the pan 3 in the cooler

That is a really nice set up.

To my knowledge, and not posted as a criticism at all, just a different solution that others may not be aware of, the factory Gp 4 race cars used an oil cooler mounted to the right rear inner fender dust shield.

They used the natural air pressure created by the revolving right rear tire as a circulation fan to draw air through the cooler radiator.

That is where mine is located. What I did was have a louvered cover made for the dust shield, fabricated a stainless steel sheet metal dust shield and mounted the cover and the cooler "radiator" to it".

In addition I mounted a oil temperature controlled switch to turn on the fan at 210°F. I ran -10 braided hoses from the original oil filter location to a dual filter remote adapter and then to the oil cooler.

That set up along with the Aviad oil pan puts 12 quarts in the system.

So far so good but for my use the fan over the oil cooler radiator seems like overkill since I don't drive the car hard enough.

I point this all out here since maybe driving in the summer Arizona heat might make this all more useful?

There is also a remote oil temp thermostat installed in line since you want to minimize over cooling of the oil and want it to heat up to a certain temp.

That thermostat is set at 200°f.

Here is a picture of the sheet metal louvered cover. One of the "street rodders" stamped this one for me. He has one of those monster louver stamping machines that can do hoods and fenders. It's good to stay on friendly terms with those guys.

Locating the oil cooler there utilizes otherwise useless space, provides good access to that assembly, and leaves my a/c location alone in the back.

Just my usual, "beat of a different drummer" attitude I suppose? Sometimes that's a good thing. People sometimes just stare, open mouthed, and walk away without asking questions and I'm not even armed!

I sometimes think that I see concern on their faces?

I’ve seen them mounted there, since i’m in AZ one of the first mods i’ve done is moving the condenser to the front.

i have a Vaccum pump for the brakes located where your cooler is.

ill adjust the PWM fan control cut in at a higher temp if it continues to run at below 180 degrees.

gonna take it down the road with the temp clamps and  air temps sensors.

i have 6’ extension cables for the k sensors so ill route them in the car.

Just looking to run ac in the arizona heat, i’d like it to be drivable all year round out here

@Bell3156 posted:

I’ve seen them mounted there, since i’m in AZ one of the first mods i’ve done is moving the condenser to the front.

i have a Vaccum pump for the brakes located where your cooler is.

ill adjust the PWM fan control cut in at a higher temp if it continues to run at below 180 degrees.

gonna take it down the road with the temp clamps and  air temps sensors.

i have 6’ extension cables for the k sensors so ill route them in the car.

Just looking to run ac in the arizona heat, i’d like it to be drivable all year round out here

AZ is a different Universe then the one in NY, in so many ways.

I can only share what I did in offering ideas for you. You are the best judge of what needs to be done for your conditions.

It is interesting though that the Pantera is flexible enough to accommodate these changes without too much drama?

Maybe that has kept the boredom away from me for all of these years? It isn't like it doesn't have it's own criticisms against it?

Nice setup.

This is the first year I've run my car in the AZ heat.  So far so good, no overheating and AC works well enough, could always be cooler.  Getting ~53F at the vents now and I'm certain it's a quarter to half pound low on R134.

I'm using Ron Davis radiator with SPA fans, AC condenser in the stock location.  Based on cabin temperatures only, I can't tell if the AC is better with or without the rear trunk in place.

Coolant temps range from ~190 to 210F when sitting in traffic with AC on and 113F ambient temps.

John

#3590

that’s pretty good, my engine is stroked to 383ci 9.5-1 compression 550hp. with the Ron davis radiator and spall fan, swirl tank set up, flow cooler pump. track boss restrictor plate and thermostat. would over heat with the ac on at 90 degree outside temp.

forgot to mention I'm running the header tank modification, flow Kooler pump and Robert Shaw 180 Thermostat with bypass plate.  engine is a mild build with Aluminum 3V Heads and intake combo, Isky cam, etc.  Maybe 450HP at best.

I can't prove it since I never ran the car with the original swirl tanks, but I believe the header tank conversion makes a big difference.

i have that same mod, but couldn’t keep it cool with the AC on at 90 outside.

had the over drive pulley but while the car was down i did the bulkhead reduction kit  and waited for this oil cooler.

also have the holley sniper, aluminum heads and a semi radical cam.

PWM controlled fans

Any chance you have pics of how/where you mounted your vacuum pump?

I was trying to keep it out of the engine bay away from heat but seems that's probably the only place the LEEDs pump will fit.

Thanks,
John

i did it in front of the passenger side rear wheel splash gaurd, its out of the car, i’ll snap some pics of it in and out of the car  tomorrow

Dan

Vac pump, you’ll find the mounts for he pump will interfere with the bolts for the mount, you’ll have to drill higher bolt holes

perfect.  Thanks!

John

I am using the Compcams vac pump. I have it mounted on the top of the chassis v brace behind the A/C compressor.

You can quiet it down by putting a muffler/noise silencer on the intake.

There is a lot going on in that area on my car but it is all accessible from underneath.

As stated, that is where my oil cooler radiator is mounted.

@rocky posted:

Very cool!

Rocky

that was the idea

Well..

it stayed around 190 at 90 degrees outside with the ac on

at 101 outside temp it ran 220 degrees so i had to cycle the ac off…

the engine only has 50 miles on it, im

not sure if it’ll run cooler when it loosens up.

an improvement but not a summer

Driver in AZ

any chance the timing is off slightly?  Is it slow to crank once hot?

I've learned on this forum that if it isn't boiling over then it isn't really overheating. I do watch my gauge constantly but have learned that it may not be 100% accurate especially when the temp is increasing quickly.  I have the diode mod on my temp gauge as well and pretty sure the rate of temp change isn't accurate.

I had to experiment with my header tank coolant levels to figure out the right coolant levels.  Too much coolant and it will puke out with the air bleeding off.  Seems like about 6" from the top of the radiator cap is where mine is happiest.

For reference my Raptor will run about 230F on the freeway if I'm pushing it up to 80-85MPH.  If I back off, then it drops back down into the 220F range.  I know this isn't an apples-to-apples comparison but a good idea on temp.

Bob Reams

is tuning the holley sniper, it starts fine, since it only has 62 miles on the new engine/sniper, i

was told to put 500 miles on it then bring it back.

i’m not sure if he can do anytyng to make it run cooler, i’ll ask

in aviation

we run more rich to keep the heads cool.