Just another homade Trans ax cooler setup.


rocksman

GT Owner
Aug 28, 2006
55
El Paso
Just another home made Trans ax cooler setup.

Just another home made Trans ax cooler setup. Well like some other members here I felt that 800 to 1400 dollars was way to much money for somthing so simple as a trans ax cooler so I went ahead and did my own also.


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I went the simple route with everything to keep the install as easy as possible.

Parts list:


B&M Polished Super Cooler. ($49.99)
Two 1/2 to 8 AN Fittings ($7.99)
Two Stainless Braided Lines with 8 AN Fittings from Local Hydraulic Store ($64.99)
Four 90 Degree 8 AN Fittings ($12.00)
One Piece of 13"x2"X1/8" Aluminum ($13.00)
Aluminum Insulation from Lowes ($16.99)


The the install and fab took me less than two hours. I bought the piece of aluminum from Lowes and bolted my cooler to the lower half of it. I then measured the two exitsting mounting points along the rail and drilled them on my simple bracket. Just for looks and for cleanliness I went ahead unbolted everything and sanded the aluminum bracket down real quick and sprayed it over with some 500 degree clear engine paint. Its a quick dry so I waited a while then I bolted the cooler back to it and used some spacers to bolt the unit to the frame rails.

From there I went ahead and took off my airbox and removed the original lines. I thought this was going to be tough but once I got the air box off I saw that the lines are very easily accessible and took only five mins to get the oem line off. I put the 90's on the trans ax and attached my braided lines. I went ahead and ran the braided lines near the engine block so I used the aluminum insulation I got from Lowes anywhere the lines got close to the block or any other part of the engine compartment that might scratch or heat up. This will not only keep it from scratching or vibrating against anything it will also keep the heat transfer down between the lines and the surrounding surfaces.

I bolted the lines to the cooler and I also added around 3/4 of a quart of Mobil 1 fluid to make up for the additional capacity.

While I had my airbox off I went ahead and bolted up a trans breather I got from MR2Race at his ebay store. Very nice unit. From what I hear the trans cooler takes care of the overflow problem but I was already working on the unit so I went ahead and did it.

http://stores.ebay.com/TA-Shocks_W0QQsspagenameZMEQ3aFQ3aSTQQtZkm


Details of some of the items I used:

The B&M Super Cooler This unit is very compact and extremely sturdy unlike alot of other that have fins that can bend easily, you can manhandle this thing and nothing will bend our warp. I have used them before on some street rods and I really like them for both the looks and the fact that they never get out of shape like most other coolers the moment someone runs there fingers over the fins. It is also very nice looking and polished so it keeps the underside of your hood looking good without looking out of place like some cooletr I have seen. Now it is very compact it doesnt have the BTU rating of alot of coolers out there but if you need additional capacity you can use the same mount and just switch coolers to the 70272 which is the exact same cooler except it is double the length although I used the shorter one in my pics.

http://www.bmracing.com/index.php?id=products&sid=4&cat=20&subcat=28&pid=74



Just another tranny cooler but hey I wont call mine the poor mans tranny cooler, Ill just call it the simple tranny cooler. Trust me Ive had alot of wild cars and simple for me is most times better when you need to fix something.
 
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rocksman

GT Owner
Aug 28, 2006
55
El Paso
:biggrin Pic of my GT by the way, I havent seen another Tungsten without stripes yet:

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Aint she pretty, my brother in law asked me to put her in front of his booth at Fun Ford so I did:

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FlorIdaho Chris

Yeah, I've got one.
Mark IV Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Rocksman-

Mobil 1 in the transaxle is a no-no. It may lead to syncro problems over time. I spoke directly with the Ford engineer that did the transaxle work about this. He was absolutely adamant that the correct fluid as spelled out in the owner's manual be used. They tried many different lubricants and could not find an existing product that was satisfactory. At $35 a qt the specified fluid is expensive, but it was developed specifically for our transaxles.

Just what I have learned FWIW...

PS Beautiful group of cars you've got there.
 
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STORMCAT

GT
Mark IV Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
May 25, 2006
7,551
Ft. Lauderdale
Good write up, Thx. for sharing the info.