This added cooler which sits between the block and the oil filter.
Can this be safely deleted?

I think I have oil leak from behind the cooler and the 2 coolant hoses are really ratty.

Sorry, man - I saw the notification for your post but forgot to respond.

The oil cooler is an easy thing to service. I don't remember where I got the o-ring for between the cooler and the block, it was probably a generic o-ring but it might have been included in the conversion gasket set, and I went to my local parts store with the old hoses and got a few I could piece together to make work. To remove the cooler you'll still have to get new hoses, and you'll have to get a shorter nipple to screw the oil filter onto.

Wait a minute, I might be wrong on needing the shorter nipple.



I suppose the need for the oil cooler will depend on how hot the weather is, how hard you run it, and what kind of oil you want to use. It probably doesn't NEED an oil cooler but it's easy enough to solve the oil leaks and it's better to have it than to delete it.