I’m having a hard time controlling the oil temperature on my car. At Watkins Glen this weekend I was able to get the car up to temp (oil 180°F) in grid, do an out lap, one hot lap, and my oil temp would already be around 270°F. It was hard to tell with my Autometer gauge, but it would keep creeping up and would be around 280°F by the bus stop, so time to bail. Cylinder head temp never got hot, it’s just the oil.

Quick specs to reference: 11q 5W-50 Amsoil, Setrab STD934 cooler, -12AN lines and fittings, Setrab thermostatic sandwich plate, Autometer oil temp gauge w/ sensor placed in the sandwich plate measuring temp before it goes through the cooler, 430 rwhp (mustang dyno), trying to shift at 7k RPM, Racelouves hood vents,

I know that a lot of people on here suggest the next size up Setrab cooler, but I'd like to see if there is anything I can do with my STD934 to make it perform a little better. I've thought about adding shrouding to force air through the cooler. I also noticed that only half of the surface area is covered by the bumper cover, and not directly exposed by the grille. Is it worth drilling some holes through the cover to increase airflow to the cooler? Thoughts?

Air is going to take the path of least resistance and in your case around your cooler rather than through it. You need to duct the air hitting the front of the cooler to stop it bypassing.
Gratuitous image stolen from @Fabman as we might as well get a picture from the legend himself with the right series car. If anyone has fabricated it right it would be him.

And mine during fabrication on a S550

GAR944 said:

Air is going to take the path of least resistance and in your case around your cooler rather than through it. You need to duct the air hitting the front of the cooler to stop it bypassing.
Gratuitous image stolen from @Fabman as we might as well get a picture from the legend himself with the right series car. If anyone has fabricated it right it would be him.
View attachment 110404
And mine during fabrication on a S550
View attachment 110405

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That’s very kind of you to say. I might add one more thing. Sealing the oil cooler to the radiator will help keep air getting behind the cooler and stalling the air going through it. I used foam strips with sticky back so all the air going through the cooler continues through the radiator and cannot be blocked by air traveling around it. I have pics somewhere…..

Okay, here we go:

Here’s a screen grab:




Also notice that I made sure all the air was unobstructed in front of and sealed tight around the cooler and the rad. This means more than one might think. Every little air leak is hurting the performance of the coolers. Take the time to seal things up tight.

There must be a reason they call you Fabman. That looks great! I'll attempt to make some ducting before I chop up my bumper cover

Fabman said:

Here’s a screen grab:


Also notice that I made sure all the air was unobstructed in front of and sealed tight around the cooler and the rad. This means more than one might think. Every little air leak is hurting the performance of the coolers. Take the time to seal things up tight.

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I thought you were going to say just run out front so there are no cars in front of you blocking the airflow

Seriously- appreciate the tip. Will use on my car.

Bouncing Soul said:

I thought you were going to say just run out front so there are no cars in front of you blocking the airflow

Seriously- appreciate the tip. Will use on my car.

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One problem with that…. “Lappers”.

JDMac34 said:

I’m having a hard time controlling the oil temperature on my car. At Watkins Glen this weekend I was able to get the car up to temp (oil 180°F) in grid, do an out lap, one hot lap, and my oil temp would already be around 270°F. It was hard to tell with my Autometer gauge, but it would keep creeping up and would be around 280°F by the bus stop, so time to bail. Cylinder head temp never got hot, it’s just the oil.

Quick specs to reference: 11q 5W-50 Amsoil, Setrab STD934 cooler, -12AN lines and fittings, Setrab thermostatic sandwich plate, Autometer oil temp gauge w/ sensor placed in the sandwich plate measuring temp before it goes through the cooler, 430 rwhp (mustang dyno), trying to shift at 7k RPM, Racelouves hood vents,

I know that a lot of people on here suggest the next size up Setrab cooler, but I'd like to see if there is anything I can do with my STD934 to make it perform a little better. I've thought about adding shrouding to force air through the cooler. I also noticed that only half of the surface area is covered by the bumper cover, and not directly exposed by the grille. Is it worth drilling some holes through the cover to increase airflow to the cooler? Thoughts?

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If you are staying with the 934 mount it lower and duct it. I would definitely go right to a 960, I did the 934-948-960 progression and the 960 makes a big difference. The airflow through the lower mouth is better, but get rid of the factory grilles and replace with 1/2" square mesh. Believe it or not, those fog light openings are not helping, more turbulent airflow. The open areas around the condenser/radiator allow a lot of air to bypass and also create turbulence. You probably want to keep the A/C but that is also a restriction and losing it can take significant weight from the car, compressor, condenser, and lines. The hood venting is excellent.

Not quite at Fabman's level, but this is what I was able to put together at 10pm the night before a track day. It's not my best work and will definitely be redone at a later date, but it worked! I was on a different track that required less throttle, but it was hotter conditions and seemed to take longer to get up to temp.


I like the idea of mounting the heat exchanger lower to prioritize air coming from the lower opening. That will be on my list for next time

JDMac34 said:

Not quite at Fabman's level, but this is what I was able to put together at 10pm the night before a track day. It's not my best work and will definitely be redone at a later date, but it worked! I was on a different track that required less throttle, but it was hotter conditions and seemed to take longer to get up to temp.
View attachment 110544View attachment 110545

I like the idea of mounting the heat exchanger lower to prioritize air coming from the lower opening. That will be on my list for next time

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Dude that looks killer, and I'm glad it worked for you.
Remember, I am a professional fabricator with all the tools and equipment including a lift. Who has all those toys in their home garage? Not many.
I am continually impressed with what so many of you guys have done at home with little to work with. Be proud of yourselves, you're killing it!

Fabman said:

Dude that looks killer, and I'm glad it worked for you.
Remember, I am a professional fabricator with all the tools and equipment including a lift. Who has all those toys in their home garage? Not many.
I am continually impressed with what so many of you guys have done at home with little to work with. Be proud of yourselves, you're killing it!

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I appreciate that. I'm an engineer by trade with some fab experience; not enough to be good, but to be dangerous. I created a 3D model of what I was trying to make, printed 1:1 templates of the flat patterns, cut them with hand shears, broke my rivet gun, used cliko clips to assemble, got annoyed by how the clips rattled, fixed my rivet gun, trimmed what hit the bumper cover, and called it good enough.

JDMac34 said:

I appreciate that. I'm an engineer by trade with some fab experience; not enough to be good, but to be dangerous. I created a 3D model of what I was trying to make, printed 1:1 templates of the flat patterns, cut them with hand shears, broke my rivet gun, used cliko clips to assemble, got annoyed by how the clips rattled, fixed my rivet gun, trimmed what hit the bumper cover, and called it good enough.
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I am just a shade Tree Engineer...I design a lot of really cool stuff for industry (Automation/process machinery etc.) but when it comes to the computer generated stuff I'm a techno moron.
I just buy thick Poster Board from Hobby Lobby and layout my part right on the paper. I can operate scissors, refine and test fit as necessary. When its perfect, I transfer to metal.
We all do what we can to make ideas into the products we want with whatever we have. I admire the computer generated toys but I'm way too old and stubborn to start with all that sh!t now.

JDMac34 said:

I appreciate that. I'm an engineer by trade with some fab experience; not enough to be good, but to be dangerous. I created a 3D model of what I was trying to make, printed 1:1 templates of the flat patterns, cut them with hand shears, broke my rivet gun, used cliko clips to assemble, got annoyed by how the clips rattled, fixed my rivet gun, trimmed what hit the bumper cover, and called it good enough.
View attachment 110546

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I have to ask - did you start with a model of that cooler already that you imported? Or did you build that too?

I've started with some real basic CAD work and have been using 3D scans as a base. its so painstaking to recreate from scratch

honeybadger said:

I have to ask - did you start with a model of that cooler already that you imported? Or did you build that too?

I've started with some real basic CAD work and have been using 3D scans as a base. its so painstaking to recreate from scratch

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Speaking of guys doing an amazing job in a home shop....its ^^^^^THIS GUY! ^^^^^

Why isn't anybody selling computer models or templates for the different Mustang generations so that the rest of us can do this?

Junkyard Dog said:

Why isn't anybody selling computer models or templates for the different Mustang generations so that the rest of us can do this?

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Because going from this cardboard aided design

to this 2d cad

to this

is exponentially easier for 99.9% of people
than 3d modelled Computer Aided Design

to this

and then every bumper cover is different internally and are you running an A/C condensor which affects where the cooler mounts.
Not as simple as it may appear on the surface.But if you find someone on here who has done it for your model you just have to ask. I got the 3d model from @5.2 liters of democracy for a 350 race car and used it to make my template. @k4show saw mine and asked and i passed my variant on. Its the reason we are all on this forum.

honeybadger said:

I have to ask - did you start with a model of that cooler already that you imported? Or did you build that too?

I've started with some real basic CAD work and have been using 3D scans as a base. its so painstaking to recreate from scratch

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I made it from scratch using dimensions from Setrab's website. I don't have much experience 3D scanning. I can see how it would be beneficial for reference parts, like this cooler, but I've heard it's a pain if you ever have to modify one of those parts.

FYI just in case someone is reading this in the future: Setrab will often supply you 3D models of components if you ask nicely.