I'm in the process of repowering my 85 chris cat and had a fiew questions, first on oil coolers, I have bell housing coolers with 8 plate coolers and was thinking of upgrading to 13 or 15 plate for the engine side. the motors are tall deck 572s with afr 357 heads whipple innercoolers and tbs 8-71s.
next question is on innercooler plumbing, what is the best method of supplying the innercooler for a twin engine cat, I have been told not to add any more pickups than needed, I was considering feeding innercooler by placing a inline tee after the sea water pump and using a preasure valve so it will not feed at slow speeds. This sounds like it will be the least complicated way of doing it. This is my first time posting so any suggestions will be greatly appreciated

anyone ????

I've got mine right after the SW pump(T) full time.

How much power are the motors making? The plate coolers are extremely efficient and may still be more than enough, do you have an oil thermostat? What temp is the boat running currently? You have a couple options and there are many ways to plumb it depending on your setup. You can run a multi stage sea pump that can feed the intercooler as well as the motor. Here are a couple ideas-
http://www.cpperformance.com/Instructions/755-5005B.pdf

http://www.cpperformance.com/Instructions/755-5005C.pdf

http://www.cpperformance.com/detail.aspx?ID=8088

kennyo, you don't run a preasure relief valve, do you have any problem with fuel puddleing

cp, the motors haven't been dynoed yet but should be good for between 800 and 850 hp, the old non innercooled 454s with blowers probably made around 650 hp. water preasure was around 22 psi and water temps around 125. oil temps never went higher than 255 degrees at wot, and stayed around 230 at cruise.

thanks for the replies

Where are you getting your water supply? if you would like you can give me a call and we can talk more about it. There are alot of determining factors and possibilities.

Brian

Brian,
Would this 8 plate be sufficient for a non race application 700hp/580ci?
http://www.cpperformance.com/detail.aspx?ID=7595
Thanks,
Dave

Yes, the plate coolers are much more efficient than your standard round tube style oil coolers, that cooler would more than do its job for your application, there is somewhat of a slight chance it could be too efficient and the motor would run too cold in that case you would need an oil thermostat, I would try it first though.

the pick ups on the boat come up through the bottom of each sponson, about 6 inches away from very end of the boat, I believe they are 1" or 1 "1/4" .

Thanks Brian,
I have the Merc Racing thermostats. I'll give you a call next week and inquire about a pair of them.
Dave