Transmission Oil Cooler

Due to the design of the radiator in this car, the transmission oil cooler is in the "hot" end of the radiator. It has 200°F coolant flowing over it whichis too hot for the transmission. This radiator has the transcooler in the hot side because it has an engine oil cooler in the cold side. After messig up the transmission once, to the point the torque converter turned blue, I decided a better trans oil cooler was in order. In the spirit of reliability and unrestricted flow, I fabricated all the lines from 3/8" steel tube. The fittings at the radiator are 45°SAE IF fittings, at the trans cooler in front of the car there is an adapter going from the 45°SAE steel tube to the 37°JIC flare that is built into the heat exchanger. It wasn't as hard as you might think to bend these lines. I just took a stiff piece of copper wire and bent this into the shape of the lines. Then using that as a pattern I was able to bend the steel tube with a tubing bender.

To further enhance flow throught he cooler, there have been some internal transmission modifications. The ports have been cleaned up in the case and channel plate, and the drainback check valve has been removed. The only side effect of this is the trans may not engage instantly if you crank the engine and place it in gear too soon. Before the engine has idled 5 or 10 seconds to fill the torque converter. In reality I have never noticed any delayed engagement.

No rubber transmission oil lines in this system except for the two factory-installed ones between the trans and the car body.