Was it just another reason to work in the garage with Billy? Or, actually time to do some upgrades and fix some annoying issues?
With the car on stands in the garage to do some maintenance, like change oil and filter, we noticed a couple of glaring issues. The transmission fluid cooler up front was leaking and the sway bar bushings were pretty much completely disintegrated. Today we are tackling the trans cooler. I like where the original is located off to the side of the radiator behind the grille. So I would like to use the original holes on the pan there behind the grill.
Time for a call to Derale. I talked with Tom and he suggested their #13103 Series 7000 6-pass tube and fin fluid cooler. The kit came with everything we need. I got home and the kit was there waiting for me. Problem number 1, Hilda was waiting for me to, as she wanted to go on her walk. That eats into my daylight and dinner time, but princess comes first. You know what they say: “A happy life is a happy dog.” or something like that. I should know better though. She can’t just go for a walk. She has to roll around on the grass, get her belly rubbed by the neighbors, it’s a big ordeal.
Back in the driveway and we are ready to go. I remove the old crusty cooler (that’s not the brand name) and Billy props himself up to clean the deck where we are putting the new one. What a trooper.
It’s a fairly easy installation. I measured the distance between the two holes where the old one mounted and bent the supplied brackets to make an L and stabbed them in place. I was in a hurry and didn’t quite measure where to bend them so they stuck out a bit far, and we cut them off with a cut-off wheel and sprayed the metal flat black. I attached the hoses after cutting the 4′ length that came with the cooler to match those of the old cooler. That gave me plenty of hose to get under the radiator and onto the steel cooling lines from the transmission. PRO-TIP I dabbed a bit of trans fluid onto the inlets on the cooler to help put the hoses on. I have no idea which of the two lines was hot or cold, so I just connected them to the top and bottom inlet/outlets.
A quick connection with the supplied hose clamps, keeping in mind ease of getting to them in case of need. Clean up the tools, the area and we are ready for dinner. Nothing fancy, just some left-over meatloaf, mashed potatoes and glazed carrots from yesterday.
My neighbor came over, took a look at it all and said, that looks like a possible two-beer job. I guess that’s how he measures difficulty. I can say though, we were done in about an hour.
Next up, them pesky sway bar bushings and off to the Early Times Picnic this Sunday.
