Lubrication and Cooling Systems Check

Jan 11, 2012 update to the Shelby GT 350 project car

Our partners at NPD sell cradle mount brackets to bolt in a larger radiator. You can run up to about a 24-inch wide radiator in an old Mustang, which is four or five inches wider than stock: The big block cars used bigger radiators, so the factory left room for flexibility.

To find the best cooling solution, we talked to the king of Shelby hot rodding—Curt Vogt of Cobra Automotive. In his championship Shelby race cars he runs a custom-designed Griffin aluminum radiator with a built-in oil cooler. An oil filter adapter plate—it mimics what Cobras used when they originally raced—is bolted to the engine and braided lines run to the oil cooler in the radiator. He promised us if we used this setup, we would never have a cooling problem. Sounds easy, and at well under $1000 for everything, it wasn’t crazy money either. Why design something from scratch when a race-tested system already exists.

We ordered the radiator and oil cooler package. It fit with relatively easily and, as promised, the car ran perfectly cool through a 1000-mile rally in rather warm weather.