LUVTruck.com

Hi...
Last week i had some major misfortune when my radiator suffered catastrophic damage. Something hit the flex fan and got pinned between the fan and the radiator core. It cut a groove deep into the cores and chunked a fan blade. The motor seems to be ok but i'll most likely go into it and at least change the rings and bearings. My plan is to replace the core support and correctly fit an aluminum 19" x 22" Speedway radiator. This will give me the oppritunity to have hood hinges again. The original support was drasticly hacked away to fit the conventional 4 core unit.
The Speedway radiator does not have provisions for trans cooler lines so an aftermarket cooler will be needed. The system i was running had an electric pusher fan and a flex fan on the water pump. This doesn't leave any room for the trans cooler.
The dual fan system WILL be used so my quest is finding a good way to deal with a trans cooler.
Do frame mount coolers work? Can a frame mount cooler be used below the radiator? I'll listen to any ideas that anyone may have.
Thank you ...

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Previous setup: 4.1 Buick V-6/TH 350
Current setup: 400 Small Block Chevy V-8/TH 350
9" ford rear end/short bed/blue
What do Water, Electricity and Humans have in common... They all travel the path of least resistance.

Sorry to hear about the radiator, I was just considering posting a similar thread on this subject. Do you know anything about Griffin radiators? I'm looking at this one on ebay, but I don't know if there is something else that might be better...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/GRIFFIN- ... 0195723051

I have the same questions regarding the trans cooler...

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"If we did the things we are capable of, we would astound ourselves" - Thomas Edison

If you are using the dual fan set up, are they going to be in front of the radiator? The best way is bewtween the rad and the motor for more efficient cooling. Running dual electric fans would eliminate the need for the flex fan and that would leave enough room for the duals to fit. The bigger the cooler and the more air it can get, the longer the tranny will live. I have a HUGE coler that i ran on a streeter under the car, but the cooler has it's own electric fan. That is the way I'd go if i had to.

And Nukeday, Griffin is a respected builder in the automotive radiator industry. A lot of the aftermarket rads are built by them and rebranded.

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If you think no one cares, try missing a couple of payments...



FIAA!

SFPP!

Been running a Griffin in mine for many years now.

I had the trans cooler mounted below the bumper for a while back-in-the-day. I made brackets that went from the bumper to the frame. It worked OK, but wasn't great if you were standing still.

Now the cooler is under the bed on the opposite side the gas tank used to be. It's got it's own 10" fan that blows down. The setup took a bit of time to fabricate but it seems to work.

That was going to be my suggestion.

You could mount it vertically but you would need some sort of gauze or perforated shield in front of it to stop damage from stones and the like.
You could adapt a small fan from an aircon condensor off a jap car. They are usually mounted out front to blow thru when the air con is on.

Theres a tubular crossmember just forward of the diff you could hang it off.


Bob.

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Current project, 1979 KB Isuzu Ute.

Daily driver, '86 Rodeo Spacecab.
Chasing parts for Isuzu Impulse.

Here's a pic of the one I have. maybe it will give you some ideass.

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If you think no one cares, try missing a couple of payments...



FIAA!

SFPP!

The dual fan system i was refering to is the electric pusher fan on the front of the core and a flex fan mounted to the water pump pulley. This combo pretty much took care of the cooling needs. I was planning to build a shroud around the flex fan. During the winter months, i could easily drive without the pusher fan running.
From the looks of it, the only reliable option is a cooler/fan system. I'm leaning towards mounting the assy outboard of the frame. This will get it away from the exhaust but i'll have issues with the tire flinging water, rocks and dirt towards it.
Another thing is the extra noise from another fan. The pusher fan can be heard and the electric fuel pump is quite noticable sound wise. I got the feeling that the trans cooler fan will need to ran with a relay and a temp switch.

_________________
Previous setup: 4.1 Buick V-6/TH 350
Current setup: 400 Small Block Chevy V-8/TH 350
9" ford rear end/short bed/blue
What do Water, Electricity and Humans have in common... They all travel the path of least resistance.

Ditch the water pump fan. Mine did that too. Most OEM electric fans on on the engine side of the radiator. Mine is on the front, not enough room behind it.

Ben
some one was, is making a tranny cooler like you have. Seems like it was Streetrod stuff where room is tight.

I am using a Camaro radiator that has the tranny cooler built it.

Richard

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75 Luv, 350 V8, TH350, Camaro rearend. New 1975 Luv Step side. Stock for now.
Grandmaster of the "Shade Tree" way.. I can't see the yard for all the cars. Come on down and we will sit on the porch and watch the grass grow.

Ya, I got the idea from looking at units like this or this at Summitracing. I was a little suprised at the price and decided to just get a large cooler and mount my own 10" fan on it.

Here's the cooler i bought:

http://www.jegs.com/i/Perma-Cool/771/13515/10002/-1

It should do the job. Now i need to find a spot to mount it. The instruction page states that this can be a independent cooler and does not need to be tied to a stock trans cooler system.

_________________
Previous setup: 4.1 Buick V-6/TH 350
Current setup: 400 Small Block Chevy V-8/TH 350
9" ford rear end/short bed/blue
What do Water, Electricity and Humans have in common... They all travel the path of least resistance.

Looks good to me.

Big Delay... I got the new radiator fitted to the truck and then i was finally able to fully test out the condition of the motor. After getting the motor up to temp, coolant was blowing out of the tail pipes and a puddle was forming under the truck. At minimun, the head gaskets are blown. Removed the motor and tore it down and didn't find any cracks in the heads. The torque on the heads were rather soft so that leads me to believe that the heat cause this.
The cam and lifters looked like new with only a faint circle pattern on 2 tappet surfaces. The rod and main bearings took a beating but the crank journals have very minumal wear. And of course, the oil smelled burnt. I can dress up the crank and it will be good as new.
Pistons #7 and 8 took a hit though. There was some hot spots on the pistons and the cylinders got scuffed with a little blueing from friction heat.
I took the block to the machine shop and they promptly honed the 2 bad cylinders while i watched. 5 passes with the hone and the blueing dissapeared with only faint markings left. We all feel confidant that this will not pose a problem and .030 over pistons can go back in. The pistons i have in the motor are a dicontinued product but there is a ceramic coated skirt piston available. It has almost the same part # but with a C. I can get individual pistons so this way i dont have to fork out the cash for a complete set.
This all depends if the block hasn't cracked in any way. I'm still waiting for the results from the machine shop.
Whether or not if the block will live, a V-8 will go back into the truck. With the motor tore down as it is, i committed myself to buying a set of aluminum heads, AFR 1036J. These heads are amazing different than the stock 883 SBC heads. After comparing the 2 heads side by side, I can see that the stock heads were hindering the overall performance of the carb, intake and exhaust system. The new heads will allow the entire package to work at its fullest. I haven't committed myself to drill the steam holes in the new heads yet because i may not be able to run the 400 block.
So at this point, I'm at a standstill until i get the word on the block. Once i find out something, i can order parts to build.
And at some point in the future, in can get back to the trans cooler issue. I'm debating on trying to install a shift kit. With the motor out, this would be the best time to upgrade.

_________________
Previous setup: 4.1 Buick V-6/TH 350
Current setup: 400 Small Block Chevy V-8/TH 350
9" ford rear end/short bed/blue
What do Water, Electricity and Humans have in common... They all travel the path of least resistance.