A quick Google search for differential cooler kit and what you find is a low price of $400 up to $1,400.
I dont see this as a reasonable price for most low budget racers.
It will separate the haves and have nots again and this is what we were trying to avoid.

Please note that not any oil pump will work with heavy gear oil.

And something we did not consider as far as HP cap is gear oil temp while on the dyno. If you warm up your car but not the gear box your hp will be low. Same car could test 3-5 hp higher after coming off the track. Something to consider at Nationals.

I was going to reply my usual "no new rules" but something occurred to me. This is the first cool night of the season with temps right now dropping into the 30's here and not far away from me there are people sleeping outside through bad luck, bad choices or bad circumstances or some other reason. I hope I never lose sight of how incredibly lucky I am to be able to race one of the most sought after car brands in the world against some of the highest quality friends I will ever know at world class venues.

If I never get to race again I am still a happy person, having got to do what I always have wanted to and have enjoyed almost every minute along the way.

With that said "NO NEW RULES!" If the factory didn't put it on our cars, we don't need it. Trans failures are rare still and the more complex our cars become the more out of touch we will be for newbies.

I'll give you good friends or "interesting" friends, but quality - not so sure about that

Your statement is why I always try to keep things light in these discussions. At the end of the day, we are ruling on something we all do for fun and spend lots of time and money for FUN!

Eric, Ken, and the rest of the guys who volunteer their time to run the series, the website, etc deserve a ton of respect and appreciation.

Remember, at the end of the day, this is for FUN!

It is for fun.

That said, if it is not a performance issue, but may be a longevity issue, why not give those that want it the option. It is not a have, have not issue. It is a choice issue like drilling the crank or putting in an oil flapper door or oil cooler, etc. I do not believe that there are those that feel like they are "less than" just because they have chosen not to do one or more of those things. They can spend the money, if they think it might help their longevity, or not. Their choice.

Heck, we allow accusumps but most do not have them. Steve does but I am not envious of him nor do I feel he has some advantage on the track because of it. If he believes it might help his engine life, good for him. Same with the trans cooler. I do not think I would do it but have NO issue with those that might want to.

Jim

Well said Ron, cant agree with you more.

Being a race car driver was my dream as a young boy watching Trans Am and Can Am on TV.

I feel very lucky to be able to fulfill that dream.

Thanks to all who make it happen.

But I still feel simple is better. We do not have a problem with gear boxes.

Rules changes that are not needed are usually BAD. They're usually proposed to accomodate the few, and they force everyone else to spend time/money in order to comply with the change.

#1. headlight covers: Seems unneeded and will vary the traditional appearance of the cars from stock. Seriously, we install the headlight covers with 3 small strips of aluminum (3/4 inch x 3 inch) and 6 pop rivets! They don't need to be any stronger than the air pushing against them. Don't lean, sit, or push on them. I don't want to get into having to fill the gaps around these covers for an aero advantage from car to car. Do we really want every other car at Nationals to have ugly duct tape around the headlights?
Attaching the headlight covers is simple and cheap. I can provide pictures or a video. It keeps the cars looking stock and uniform. I vote no rule change here. ....and it's disappointing that people are building illegal cars when complying with the rules is so cheap and easy.

#2. Tranny coolers: Not needed. Some people will think they need to have one, which is an added expense. Our trannies handle the heat fine. It's the bearings and thus the ring and pinion relationship that need help. I honestly don't believe adding a cooler will make our trannies last longer.

#3. KONI vs BILSTEIN: You cannot mount the Bilsteins in the late cars (those with non-serviceable struts) because the screw cap is the only thing that holds them in the stut. The non-serviceable struts don't have the cap. When we mount KONI's to the late model cars (p/n 8641-1414), the tops of the struts are sawed off and the KONI dropped in and bolted to the bottom. The current rules mention that KONI MAY become the only spec shock.

#4. The cookies are 2-3 lbs lighter than the phonies and the ABS offset phonies weigh the same as the early offset phonies. I weighed them all years ago after stripping all valve stems and lead weights. Moot point for the discussion because the cookies won't fit under the narrow fenders of the 924S and they would make the 87-88 944's, with their ABS offset suspension, have an illegal track width.

#5. The aero advantage of the 924S is already offset because even with the 7" wheels, it has a narrower track width than the 944. The 924S owners have to throw the same weight around as the 944 guys, but with a narrower foot print.

#6 sunroof panels: The stock sunroof is pretty light when stripped and can be attached with brackets or bolted down. The only reason we modify them is to increase headroom for VERY tall drivers. This consists of grinding away the fiberglass ridges on the early sunrooves, or removing the aluminum frame on the late sunrooves. Every aluminum panel job I've seen looks like crap because of all the rivets and the fact that they can't match the compound curvature of the stock sunroof. Keep it stock and looking nice! No extra cost or work. As an added note, use of the 1983 manual sunroof latch system makes for an additional exit route.