If it's running bypass oil to the cooler -8 is probably ok.

If it's the main feed from the pump to the engine you're lucky it hasn't spun all the rods out of it.

My builder does a pile of go fast marine engines with remote filters and he won't run less than -16 on those. He had a customer come to him with a pair of 540 BBC from another builder. 1 blew up and the other mortally wounded. This was after blowing up a fresh pair before. Cranks burnt right out of them. -12 hydraulic hose to and from the remote filters. -12 hydraulic is a good bit less than 3/4".

New engines plumbed with -16 Russell and no more blue crankshafts. At $30K a pop, that was lesson hard learned.

Kevin

Think his Derale kit would be the sandwich plate style so yes the oil must pas through the cooler before it gets to the filter.
I had mentioned in Daves previous thread that I am running -12 and that I had ported out the sandwich plate for extra flow.
I think -8 is too small.

Yes it is the sandwich type and i did the same porting and massaging on the adaptor passages as well. I could add bigger hose, but all the orificies in the adaptor and cooler with still be the same. -8 is damn near 1/2". What size are the oil passages in the block? I talked to Dearale for an extended time before i purchaced their cooler and questioned -8 be enough and they said it would be plenty. I had -10 in mind at the time.
I dont like oil coolers or just having external oil lines. Just asking for trouble, but last year when i posted my hot oil issues, seems like most everyone was suggesting a cooler. Now that i have one, seems not everyone is to hipp to it. I will make a call to Derale today and see what i can find out. As of now, motor has been to 7000rpm several times and still has bearings in it. 30# oil pressure hot. Thats better than it ever had without cooler.

Ok. After making several calls to different oil cooler companies it looks to me like -10 is all thats needed for high performance engines. Derale and Flex lite says -8 is all thats needed and never had an issue with it. Mishimoto only offers -10 coolers for 1000hp applications. Setrab likes to run biggest hose as possible, but says -10 or -12 is enough. -16 is way over kill was everyones responce. Hope this helps anyone interested .

Here is a pic of mine Dave, ported, drilled and tapped for -12, see the fittings are almost touching.

20mb image hosting

Do you run an external feed ? What size is your pick up feed line ?
Would anyone run a single -8 external feed line ? I dont think so.

Wow, those look huge. My pick up is the standard 3/8 tube. Measured the -8 fittings and hose, 3/8". I thought -8 was 1/2"? The oil filter fitting measures 1/2". I idea was -8 was 1/2" dia and oil filter fitting 1?2", no need to go bigger. If i go -12 will i need to drill and tap oil filter sandwich adaptor for the bigger fittings?

6 an= 3/8
8 an= 1/2
10 an= 5/8

Those must be the thread sizes because i just measured the -8 orifice and it meadures 3/8". What is the orifice size of the standard BB pick up tube? I dont understand why i would need bigger cooler hose and fittings than the pick up tube.

Length of the hoses makes a difference.

And a 3/8 pickup is barely at the minimum. Think about a dry sump. Look how big the inlets to the pump are.

Yes. Dry sumps use large hoses, but how many BB mopars are out there with standard pick up wet sumps running big rpm and living. I bet more than dry sumps with large hose.

My example might not be completely relevant.

A marine engine has to withstand running WFO or close to it under full load for extended periods of time. A much different scenario than a 10-12 second capable automotive build sees at the track or on the street.

I would still use the biggest lines I could physically fit in there no matter what Derale tells you.

Kevin

Gonna step it up to a -10. I dont see the need for any thing larger since the oil filter adaptor is 1/2" and the pick up tube is 3/8". How would using larger hose on the cooler improve any flow when the pick up is smaller? Can only get so much oil thru that 3/8" pick up. _10 is .530" id. Should be more than enough. I would like to hear from anyone that had a failure using anything smaller than -12 hose on their cooler system.

Dave this engine is a 500 +- stroker yeah ? If so Im not sure you should be using a 3/8 pick up.

At one time I had a Jaguar XJ6 and the oil cooler lines where in the range of one inch or so and I'd bet money the pickup in the pan didn't come close to that.
There's also gonna be a parasitic loss pushing oil down those smaller lines.

511. When i was putting it together, there where a couple engine builders that said the 1/2" pick up mod was not worth the trouble and really not needed. I asked about that at the time. I just ordered all the fittings and hose to step up the oil cooler flow as i was not comfortable with the -8. Thanks for the heads up on -8 hose not being enough. Gonna run it and ill let ya know if it starves for oil. I wouldn't think it would matter cubic inch or BB or SB. The oil galleys are the same size. Seems to me there are plenty of SB spinning 7500-8000 rpm using a 3/8 oil pick or am i missing something here? I bet you could ask right here how many are using a 1/2" pick up in the BB stroker and you wouldn't find many. I do appreciate the help, thanks

Just replaced the -8 hose and installed -10 in its place. Looks like i regained close to all the oil pressure on cold start up. Just under 70psi now. Gonna run the -10 hose and I'll let ya know how it goes. Thanks again for the heads up guys.