Oil cooler spitfire 1500

[Chris Bracey]

Hi again.  Was an oil cooler ever fitted to a 1978/79 spitfire 1500 and is there any point? I have one fitted and will never be doing sustained high speed driving ?

[watsona6]

I have one fitted too. 

[Clive]

Not a factory fitment, but almost essential on a 1500 (BUT equally it must have an oil thermostat fitted so the oil is not overcooled)

No downsides at all.

[Sparky_Spit]

If you have any doubts about the advice above, fit an oil temperature gauge and monitor the readings you get with a 1500 used in a variety of driving situations. It will quite often go up to 120 to 140 degrees C, which is definitely not what you want.  As Clive says above, you must use a thermostatic valve too, either as part of the sandwich plate or as a separate item plumbed into the pipes between the sandwich plate and the cooler itself.

[JohnD]

Cheaper and easier than fitting an oil temperature gauge, and ideal for a one-off determination of how hot you oil gets, is to use "temp tabs",  stickers that change colour permanently according to the temperature.     Available in different temp ranges, see: https://www.demon-tweeks.com/racetech-temperature-indicators-249593/?sku=TDSB&istCompanyId=a2904180-3a7d-4e56-b876-cf81c9512180&istFeedId=6fbc4b04-fd28-4ce1-8513-835c8f118690&istItemId=wptrrttli&istBid=t&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIudDy0J745AIVWeDtCh3-kwNUEAQYASABEgIWyfD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds  You would want ranges B or C.   Not pennies, but a quarter the price of a gauge.

John

[rlubikey]

An oil cooler kit is shown as an option at the back of the parts catalogue, so yes, it could be specified.

Cheers, Richard