[DeTomaso] Installing Oil Temp Gauge ...

[jderyke at aol.com]

In a message dated 1/3/10 6:23:18 PM, dgordon100 at cox.net writes:

> Does it make any difference on how much power the engine is putting out 
> whether or not a ZF needs cooled?  I plan on putting 600+ rear wheel 
> horsepower thru mine using a Ford GT motor.
> 
Heat into the ZF is a product of horsepower AND time. Jr Wilson seems to 
have run well over 200 mph for 20 minutes or so at a time with around 900 bhp, 
and he never complained about boiling ZF lube. But LeMans Panteras with 
maybe half that power wound up using various ZF cooling schemes during 24 hour 
events, and I doubt if they would have added more weight and complexity to 
their already overburdened racers, unless it was necessary. 
In fact, dash-zero (GT-40) and dash-1(Mangusta) ZF cases still contains 
bosses and undrilled passages for an elaborate ZF factory cooling system in 
which the ring gear was a crude pump that filled a sheet metal funnel that 
connected to an external air-cooled radiator near the right side motor mount, 
the whole thing working on what's called a "thermal siphon". It depends on the 
oil cooler being mounted lower than the top of the ring gear funnel for 
lube to flow. Racers that wanted to run a bigger cooler or mount one in a 
different location had to provide their own pump. I've seen two types: one drove 
off a vee-belt pully mounted on the inner stub axle between the flange and 
halfshaft. The other ran directly off a stub-shaft coupled to the ZF 
mainshaft going thru the ZF's rear cover. These changes allowed a bigger oil 
radiator to be mounted anywhere- even in front ala 935 Porsche. 
As I said based on my rudimentary tests, Jr Wilson's experiences over 10 
yrs of running ORRs, plus several other high powerd street Panteras, I 
conclude that street Panteras do not need oil coolers at all- on the engine OR on 
the transaxle. If it has a license plate, coolers are a waste of money. 
Racers are not street cars so the above does not apply, especially in long 
events. For instance, Patrick Hals' race Pantera may well need such coolers 
in his 6-hr-long European Vintage Road Races where his 600+ bhp is being 
used nearly full throttle for hours at a time, and some of the GR-4/GT-4   cars 
running 4-12 hour long U.S. endurance events as well. But no Pantera to my 
knowlege ever failed to finish a short event such as an ORR (20+ minutes 
more-or-less flat out for fast guys) due to overheating ZF lube. Good luck- J 
Deryke