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Is the cooler really necessary? Rootes dropped it when they switched to the aluminum oil pan.
I stand corrected. But, my question is still valid: Is the cooler necessary with the aluminum pan?
The alpine SV hedgehog cooler is half the capacity of a MKII tiger coolerMy Alpine will be mostly a spring and summer driver in the California Bay Area and I was going to install the OE Sunbeam Alpine/Tiger oil cooler
My SV had an aluminum oil pan and the stock oil cooler when I bought it in 1978. The engine block was from a GT, so I assume that is where the pan came from. I kept the pan when I installed my new engine but later switched the oil cooler to a Ford water cooler because 1) I like the idea of not leaving a quart of dirty oil in the cooler and lines during a change and 2) I have never been one to leave well enough alone. I don't know if it cools as well as the stock set-up, but assume that my combination of aluminum pan and Ford cooler is sufficient.
I just searched the site to find the discussion I started when I was first planning on switching to the Ford cooler and there was also some good discussion on the AL pan and oil cooling: http://forum.sunbeamalpine.org/index.php?threads/ford-oil-cooler.16566/#post-111308
Thanks, Jarrid. I have not noticed this, but will try to check it before and after my next oil change. It is good to know that the oil to water cooler is a good option, regardless of the oil pan. Like I said, I put it in because of the dirty oil the stock system leaves behind, although if I am being completely honest with myself, I change the oil so frequently that it probably doesn't make much difference.
Just thinking about this a bit more, and thinking ahead to my S3 rebuild (a long time ahead, I am afraid): the oil cooler was added for SV, right? So, what should owners of earlier cars do?