I have a 502 in my ultra, my machinist told me to run a thermostat on my oil cooler to regulate flow and I was wondering if I even need a cooler. How many of you guys are running coolers?

I have a tunnel rammed BBC with the Dooley BBC marine pan that holds 10 quarts, but I only put in 9 quarts in it. With that pan it gave me the option of running a mechanical Auto Meter gauge for oil temp. Under normal cruising at 3,000 RPM (no hot dogging) the oil temp will hang around 180* to 195*, if I stand on it hard making a pass, I see oil temp rise to 220* really fast, but it also will dissipate heat quickly too. I have run it hard making some high RPM passes goofing off or racing a  few people for fun, I have seen oil temp as high as 240*, but it will drop to 100* or less within an hour sitting in a cove. A jet boat application with the engine always being under a load will put some heat into the oil, but unless you’re really driving the piss out of it or racing an endurance application you shouldn’t need an oil cooler. If in doubt, install an oil temp gauge and see what kind of temp your getting under normal operation, if you were to see anything over 250*, I would consider a cooler.

Okay. I have an 8 qt. Canton oil pan on it,also have a 12 qt. Canton laying around but it doesn't fit between the rails haha. I'm just going to take all the oil cooler shit off and run it with a filter on the block and see how it does. Had really low pressure last time I ran it but I'm sure that's because of the lines.