Creative Trans Cooler Mounting

[Superbeemike]

Hey FBBO, I need some ideas......

I'm looking to add a transmission cooler to my Bee since I'm cooking the fluid on track days at the road course. Currently I have a deep pan with the factory radiator cooler and it is absolutely inadequate. I'd love to mount one or two under the car, maybe behind the torsion bar crossmember, or up in the rear diff tunner. It would be nice to get some weight out back instead of over the nose. At a minimum, I'll add something up front if I can't get one mounted under the car.

I'd love to hear about where/how you mounted your cooler or ideas on where/how to mount one.

Thanks

 

[Jeff Peterson]

I mounted a fan cooled, stacked plate, about 10"x 10" in front of the gas tank on the bottom of the trunk floor, I put 3/4" spacers so it could pull air from the top, works great but you'll have to move your rear axle ahead 15"s
It would probably work on the back side differential hump

 

[493 Mike]

I mounted mine in the space left from the fuel tank removal (cell in trunk).
Mike

 

[Superbeemike]

I mounted mine in the space left from the fuel tank removal (cell in trunk).
Mike
View attachment 1088152

Any issues with it cooling back there? And what brand / size cooler are you using?

Looks great back there!

 

[multimopes]

I am using a deep Derale Pan with flow through cooling in addition to a small cooler in front of the radiator.

 

[493 Mike]

Any issues with it cooling back there? And what brand / size cooler are you using?

Looks great back there!

I haven't finished the build yet. Cooler is Derale.
Mike

 

[Paul_G]

If your fighting heat, run metal tubing from the trans back to the cooler. The bigger the tubing the better, 1/2" or bigger. It will put more fluid in the system, and the metal will help with heat dissipation.

 

[Jeff Peterson]

If you end up mounting it underneath, I would put it inline, still using your radiator, with it out of forced airflow you pretty much have to run the fan all the time as a stand alone cooler.
This is the one I used, high quality, stacked plate, 1/2 npt fittings, puller Spal fan, never gets above 160, with the sensor on the outlet line.


https://www.ebay.com/itm/STACKED-PL...683709?hash=item43f7f2a73d:g:vDAAAOSwHsRYD6Zf

 

[Superbeemike]

If your fighting heat, run metal tubing from the trans back to the cooler. The bigger the tubing the better, 1/2" or bigger. It will put more fluid in the system, and the metal will help with heat dissipation.

I didn't consider the lines until you mentioned this. Upgrading to 1/2" sounds like a great idea but I'm unsure of fittings and all at the trans. Is it easy enough to upgrade to the 1/2" lines at the trans?

 

[Paul_G]

Easy to do, yes, finding the correct fittings at the hardware store may be a challenge. When I put the 48RH trans in my 72 I had to upsize the trans lines, I did find fittings at the Ace hardware to go from the larger line to the smaller fittings on the trans cooler inside the radiator.

 

[493 Mike]

Transmission cooler openings are 1/8" pipe thread.
Mike

 

[dvw]

Mines under the drivers seat. I didnt put it outside the subframe due to fact it's a dragcar. Trying to keep any potential leaks away from the slicks. Works great even back to back. I'm sure for road racing a fan could be added for additional cooling
Doug

 

[transman]

I know this might bring up a lot of controversy, but coolers mounted in the rear, under the car etc. are not in the air flow. Any cooler maker will tell you to mount it behind the grille, in front of the rad, as they are designed to have air pass through them. Rear mounted, or under the car mounted may be OK for racing as in your case, but definitely not for the street.

 

[dvw]

I know this might bring up a lot of controversy, but coolers mounted in the rear, under the car etc. are not in the air flow. Any cooler maker will tell you to mount it behind the grille, in front of the rad, as they are designed to have air pass through them. Rear mounted, or under the car mounted may be OK for racing as in your case, but definitely not for the street.

When I mounted mine under the car it was an experiment. After 8 years and 700+ passes it works fine. We also have an engine oil cooler mounted under the fender behind the head light of my sons turbo 62 Plymouth. The blocks water jackets are filled to the bottom of the water pump inlet. Since installing it there it'll cruise anywhere with the oil temp below 200.
Doug

 

[Jeff Peterson]

Finally got a picture of mine.

 

[Superbeemike]

Yeah, I like that. How much clearance do you have between the cooler and the floor of the trunk?

 

[Jeff Peterson]

3/4" and it's plenty, the fan will blow dust up! and I just put a temp switch in to cycle the fan so it isn't running all the time.

 

[ckessel]

Here is my setup. Engine, trans, p/s. I picked up two core bumpers for material to enlarge the opening behind the license plate. The coolers are mounted on top of the stone/splash shield thats behind the bumper. The enlarged opening will take care of the coolers so they have their own air flow.