[WildBillyT]

Originally Posted by L695speed

If we could all drive 110% everyday all day, we'd all be doing so lol! Good point though. I'll get an adapter to run just the oil filter. It will be run fairly hard on occasion but...nothing more than a spirited run on a nice day for the most part. And the fact that they removed them on the LT1s which is not much different from these L98s is a good point too. Didn't know that, will put that away in case I get an early LT1 car to remove it. Thanks guys, won't worry about it then.

Chris, here's some other info for you. LT1 info but probably applicable:

The early design, 93 to early 95, black cooler, was designed and manufactured by Moroso for GM. It is a low-restriction, high-flow design, that is damn near impossible to clog, with plenty of oil cooling/heating ability.

The newer 95-97 all-aluminum design is HIGHLY restrictive and is VERY prone to clogging due to a single-path design with very small fins.

I made a huge post some time ago on CZ28.com in regards to the oil coolers. They are used as both an oil heater in cold weather as well as a cooler when the oil gets hot.

To sum it up, GM decided to do without the cooler once they started recommending Mobil 1 Synthetic due to it's ability to withstand higher temps without breaking down.

Moral of the story, run synthetic and forget the oil cooler. If you are making a road-race vehicle that will see constantly high-rpms with good airflow through the radiator (ie, driving at speed), you would do well by going with the 93-early 95 Moroso cooler as a cheap oil cooler solution. The best performing solution would be to go with a dedicated stand-alone oil cooler with a termostatically controlled bypass valve so that the oil does not get over-cooled.