is there any easy way to calculate the oil cooler size i will require the engine is a 1.8 k series wich will be driven hard hopefull on track and at santapod.i dont want to go overkill but while i have to go to the trouble of remote mounting the oil filter to clear the engine mounts i may as well add a cooler.i intend to fit it behind the radiaror and steering rack as theres ample room hopefully the engine should run coooler even when i fit the hot cams i have in mind or is this a bad idea

any help would be appreciated

Better to fit one the oil water heat exchangers use on some MG-Rovers (TF and KV6), over cooling the oil is much worse than it getting a bit hot especially if you use synthetic oil also ensure your engine has the full alloy sump rather than steel oil pan. If you do fit a conventional thermostat then also fit an oil thermostat or the oil will run too cold, usually oil should run at the water temperature +10c If when fully warm it goes below 75c then the cooler should be partly covered if it goes above 110c then you need more cooling but fully synthetic oils have a big safety margin.

It is also important not to over cool a K series engine they are designed to run at over 90c don't be tempted to remove the thermostat, the two alternative thermostat mods are well known.

i have run this engine in another car for over a year permanently revinging it near 8 thousand with castrol 10w60 fully synthetic its never over heated yet not that i want it to it did'nt have a stat in it.the engine temp allways stayed in the halfway range even in the hight of summer.im just covering the bases for when i go for my full monty engine build i will look into fitting a stat but none of the cars i have ever owned have had one is there any reason why i need to run an alloy sump or is it just to aid cooling? as i have no idea what the oil temperature ran at am i better of getting it up and running with a gauge and going from there?

If you are running the standard ECU drive instrument pact the temperature gauge is a joke it idriven by the ecu to to stay on "N" between 70c and 120c
See below.

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These engines work best on low viscosity oil, 5w/40 or 0w/40.
For normal tintop use 5w/30 is best.

For normal tintop use 5w/30


[Edited on 5/6/12 by britishtrident]