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Mounting transmission cooler without ties thru radiator / condenser

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Old Jul 12, 2006 | 10:03 PM
  #1  
2QUIK6's Avatar
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 1,937
From: Ft. Worth, TX
Mounting transmission cooler without ties thru radiator / condenser

I case anyone is looking for an alternative way to mount their transmission cooler to the front of the condenser without poking those zip tie things through their radiator and AC condenser, here's how I did mine.
I've had those zip tie things work like a hack saw on my truck and cut through the thin radiator tubes after a couple years of vibration, so on a rough riding f-body it could be more likely to happen I would think...maybe not, but I wasn't going to chance it.

Anyway, I used a Hayden 679 cooler, 12" x 11" x 3/4", which is exactly like the True-Cool 4490 and the B&M bar and plate types. This type has a mounting bracket surface made on the cooler, unlike the tube and fin ones.

I took 2 strips of regular flat stock measuring 3/4" wide, 8" long and 1/8" thick, which you can get at Home Depot or Lowes.
Drilled matching holes in the flat steel piece and then a set of holes in the trans cooler and mounted the steel strips to the cooler like this pic (sorry its a little blurry, had it mounted by the time I discovered it was blurred)
http://www.hometown.aol.com/onebadws...anscooler1.jpg

Notice the inlet/out are now on the left side, so they will be easy to route once mounted.

Once mounted to the cooler, I positioned it up in front of the condenser and the lower part of the steel strips on each side are about 1.5" longer than the cooler, so I spot welded them to the steel part of the body just above the airdam as in this pic ...position the cooler so its about 1/2" away from the condenser surface and then tack it with a weld. I painted over the welds with black paint as seen in this pic.
http://www.hometown.aol.com/onebadws...anscooler2.jpg

Welding it to the body there makes the mount more rigid as you don't want the cooler to be touching the condenser and banging against it on bumps.
Here's a close view of the passenger side.
http://www.hometown.aol.com/onebadws...anscooler3.jpg

And the driver side, this shows how close the cooler is to the condenser, you want it as close as you can get it without it touching on bumps so that the fans draw air thru the cooler when stopped.
http://www.hometown.aol.com/onebadws...anscooler4.jpg

Just for insurance I took a piece of heater hose, about 6" and sliced it length wise and opened it up and folded it over the top of the tranny cooler so its a cushion if the cooler bounces any.

If I did it again, I would use a little bit heavier steel plates, maybe a full 1" wide or use 1/2" angle iron so that it would be even more rigid than mine turned out..even though it does take quit a bit of force to make the top of the cooler touch the condenser now, but the heater hose pads it great.

This was on a '95 TA BTW.
Old Jul 13, 2006 | 08:17 AM
  #2  
Capn Pete's Avatar
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 5,308
From: Oshawa - Home of the 5th-gen
Re: Mounting transmission cooler without ties thru radiator / condenser

Good job. I can't weld though, so I guess I'm gonna take my chances with the zip-ties!!
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