Thoughts on E30 turbo track car, Re: Cooling

I have aquired a smoking deal on a new, built turbo M20, 2.8L, along with a T40e and some other nice turbo goodies.

Plan is for a streetable, track car, 300whp/300wtq which will be EASY on this setup. I have a DD.

My main concern is keeping the car cool during the Oklahoma summers at Hallett.

Big custom aluminum raditator a must, or 3row MCoupe enough? Obviously a big oil cooler.

Any other tricks for keeping a turbo car cool?

also considering a fuel cell and E85

All I really know is how much I hate you right now

Nice score, where ARE THE PICTURES?!

I would go custom. That way you don't have to worry about those plastic end tanks getting cooked.

get one of the E36 mishimoto rads and a better oil cooler for sure! We put a Nascar surplus setrab cooler on our 928 track rat and it works awesome! You can find them on ebay for really cheap.

I would also put some thought into underhood heat shielding to keep the tubo heat isolated.

There's a thread on r3v about the effectiveness of a turbo blanket, really worth looking into.

And in for pics :)

HiTempguy wrote: All I really know is how much I hate you right now Nice score, where ARE THE PICTURES?!

Just a couple pics of the bottom end. We are getting ready to do the head, light port and polish, 3 angle valve job, welded coolant passages, then decked (block has been decked too), then an MLS gasket.

I'm actually going to do this build reverse of the last two.

Instead of getting the car, then gathering pieces, I'm going to spend the rest of the year gathering the pieces, then start looking for the appropriate chassis sometime after Christmas.

So the engine and street wheels should be done next month, then will start saving for coilovers/brakes and refresh pieces like control arms/bushings/etc.

I've realized my big motivation killer on projects is always waiting to save up for the next batch of parts, so I'm going to circumvent that this time around.

2002maniac wrote: I would also put some thought into underhood heat shielding to keep the tubo heat isolated.

I was thinking it will be especially important on the firewall since I'm using the bottom mount TCD manifold.

Any suggestions for an appropriate heat shield/material?

I'm in a similar boat, building a turbo racer E30 and I've been bouncing ideas off the guys at Twins Turbo. They told me there are two things that you have to solve to make a turbo racecar work. One is fuel - you can't let it starve. Two is cooling. I asked him which one of a few coolers is good from summit, he told me all trash. Their 650whp NASA unlimited supra runs TWO 13x10 setrabs... he said oil temps on FI racecars approach nuclear meltdown.

He also told me the same thing that 2002maniac says - get the gear from a NASCAR handmedown. Hound racingjunk.com, you will find a proper C&R radiator and setrab coolers there for cheap (or ebay).

Roush Yates has 4 Setrab 619 oil coolers for $85 each. I have found Setrab 619s for $30-$40 on Ebay as well. I dont know what to tell you about the radiators as I have had such mixed results with different brands, construction methods, and materials.