Oil cooler

EvertonTiger

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Guys,
Continuing the prep for winter here in Germany getting my tiger to tip top shape. Thinking of fitting an oil cooler as worried about oil degrading with such a powerful motor under the hood.
I've seen a few articles but has anyone experience and recommendations on location and equipment out there.
SEAN
 
I am sure others will post however the oil coolers I have seen follow the alpine GT route which is mounted under the front valance before the radiator. the one I will fit will be in the same place.

Welcome from a Tiger owner on the other side f the planet.
Steven
 
In this day of synthetic oil, which can withstand amazingly high temperatures, I'd not be real worried about oil degrading as long as you use a quality product.

Virtually all Tiger race cars use some sort of oil cooler. It's usually located low in front of the radiator.

Another thought, if you want to customize, would be to have an oil cooler built into the radiator tank. This can give the engine compartment a very clean look.

Ford small blocks seem to like 200F for the water and 230 for the oil.

bt
at the beach
 
cooler

buck's comment on present day oils is right on. many of the synthetic oils being sold today are blended using a group 3 base oil while some private blenders use a polyalphaolefin base. synthetic oils and synthetic blends have a higher viscosity index than conventional oils. the viscosity index is a number that indicates the change of viscosity with change in temperature. the higher the V.I number the lower it tendency to change viscosity. most 5/30 and 10/30 oils have a higher V.I. number than a 20/50. a synthetic 5/30 has a higher V.I number (170 ) than Valvoline racing 20/50 which has a V.I. number of 154. a conventional 20/50 has a V.I. of around 119 versus 157 for a 5/30. when using current SN spec oil high oil temps is not much of a problem for the lubricant.
 
buck's comment on present day oils is right on. many of the synthetic oils being sold today are blended using a group 3 base oil while some private blenders use a polyalphaolefin base. synthetic oils and synthetic blends have a higher viscosity index than conventional oils. the viscosity index is a number that indicates the change of viscosity with change in temperature. the higher the V.I number the lower it tendency to change viscosity. most 5/30 and 10/30 oils have a higher V.I. number than a 20/50. a synthetic 5/30 has a higher V.I number (170 ) than Valvoline racing 20/50 which has a V.I. number of 154. a conventional 20/50 has a V.I. of around 119 versus 157 for a 5/30. when using current SN spec oil high oil temps is not much of a problem for the lubricant.

Can you mix conventional oil with synthetic?
 
Semi Synthetic

Can you mix conventional oil with synthetic?

Is a blended oil. If you want a polite beat down ask a new car designer why the filters are so big on you Ford and so teeny on a Honda or Toyota new motor, you get a curt that's cause we build tight motors at least that's what I got :)

So the car is clearly in Germany and not the Isle of Mann,
So a Autobahn trip sounds in the wings lucky you...

Buck is right every race car has one and there was a LAT option one . I like the look of the MK2 one and have often thought of using a couple SIV oil coolers to build a replica. Maybe on the Tiger with the solid lifters also known as the I want to do pile ;)
 
Hi Sean,
Here is one of the better articles I have seen with regards to practical and tasteful Tiger modifications. There is very informative section on considerations with an oil cooler. Hope you find it interesting!

https://classicmotorsports.com/project-cars/1965-sunbeam-tiger/tiger-oiling/

Cheers, -Kevin

P.S. Don't disregard the benefit of the classic way the many british cars use to prevent oil degradation issues --> The oil leak! A perpetual oil change is a genius concept that I am certain the engineers had in mind! :D.
 
cooler

there is a lot of misunderstanding of what a synthetic oil really is and how it is blended. most are now blended using a group 3 base oil that is a highly refined crude oil product. the PAO base stocks predated the group 3 base and the pao synthetics are now called traditional synthetics. there are no set guidelines that have been set by the API, SAE or any other groups telling what is what when it comes to synthetic automotive lubes. if an oil is blended with any amount of group 3 base oils the blend could be called a synthetic. it could possibly be 5 % group 3 and 95 % group 2 base oil or any other percentage of the two base oils. it's all left up to what the blender wants to sell. you can mix current spec semi synthetics with synthetics or conventional with a synthetic. GM now uses an oil with the dexos spec which is also either a synthetic blend or a full synthetic. to carry the DEXOS logo the blended oil has to pass the testing specified by GM and the oil does have to live up to a higher standard. to make matters worse take into consideration the specialty blenders like royal purple, brad penn, etc. many of their racing oils have ZDDP and can be used in sunbeams unless you have installed a catalytic convertor. this country is finally catching up with oil standards already in effect in other countries. I have oil coolers on five of my beams and my ford van has a cooler that could be mistaken for a geo metro radiator. it also has two trans coolers . I've been in the oil business for several decades and I use coolers. discussing oils could be a long discussion.
 
Doug - I have been told by the Amsoil people that you should not mix the 2 types.
Here is where I put my oil cooler...and the car still ran cool water temp wise.

2zz51u8.jpg
 
cooler

amsoil is one of the blenders that were in on the ground floor when synthetics first made the scene. they used a PAO base stock at that time since there was no other choice of base stocks which is not the case now. PAO is a chemically synthesized oil which is different than the group 3 base oil of today. keep in mind that PAO base stock precedes todays technology for base stocks but do withstand really high temps, have higher flash points along with a few other inherent properties. PAO's are still used in things like compressor oils and other synthetic industrial oils. I wouldn't mix their oil with a group 3 based oil either. two different base products. I still like oil coolers. my harringtons have the oil coolers mounted under the hinge panel near the radiator. the four dimples in the hinge panel were drilled and the cooler bracket was made to bolt thru these holes. that may not work too good on a tiger. rootes did hang the series 5 alpine cooler so it hung below the top of the front valance at the back of the grill opening with air entering thru the two openings in the front of the valance.
 
Gentlemen,

Many thanks for the help, great resources. Sorry took time to reply, been hunting down and shipping in an Alfa Romeo Montreal from 1971, which meant I was preoccupied. Its now safely in bed in the collection ready for some work as mostly its been kind to body and engine but inside is very tatty.

The web links and photo's are excellent. I will digest today and decide the next course of action.

The Tiger resides in Germany as moving off the Isle of Man 1st January hence on the reasons one wants fast classics as keeping up with the traffic is a necessity. That said, IoM we had no speed limit on the mountain roads, but as with The TT Race that in itself could be dangerous with a classic chassis.

The oil debate proves interesting as indeed I do love the comment about British cars leaking oil as a means of ensuring the oil did not degrade. Made me laugh!.

The Tiger is getting a huge amount of attention in Germany as really not many of them ever made it here, but there is more of us wanting them. Somewhat different from the 911's one gets to see all the time, beautiful as they are.

Thanks again for the help guys

Sean
 
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