Some time ago I spent some time researching the adapter and the thermostat.
Here's what I found, although as usual it is subject to correction from
anybody who has direct and real life knowledge of them:
The oil pumps in our engines put out oil at a quite a high volume and
pressure. If you instrument it and read the gauges, the unregulated
pressure out of our pumps is well in excess of 90 psi, which was the
highest my gauge would go. The filter adapter that bolts to the block sends
ALL this oil at this pressure through the oil cooler, and if you have a
remote oil filter, as used on some race cars, this means that the seal on
that filter sees a pressure en excess of 90 psi all the time. If that
doesn't bother you, that's okay, but it is probably the reason for the
frequency of oil cooler and oil filter failures in race cars. However,
there are two other adapters on the market that correct this. One is a
proprietary product sold by Greg Solow. The other is the round kind that is
sandwiched between the oil filter and the filter head, sold by Ken
Gillanders of BFE. There may be others. The latter two allow the pressure
relief valve to do its job on the oil going through all the external lines
and then through the pressure relief valve, so the engine oil gallery sees
the pressure set by your pressure relief valve.
The thermostat that is shaped like an "H" is indeed a bypass design. That
is, at ALL temperatures, oil flows through the thermostat center leg of the
"H" and back to the engine. At higher temperatures, the thermostat opens up
and allows oil to flow both through the "H" and through the oil cooler.
Which means, of course, that not all the oil gets cooled, but again, that
may not matter.
uncle jack
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