Accumulating parts for my AOD swap in my ‘54 Country Squire and planning ahead for cooling the new transmission. the AOD will be behind the 292 Y-Block that is currently in the car. The car currently has an air cooled fordomatic. options I’m considering are 1) using the transmission cooler in the rad. The car has a radiator from a Mustang that includes a transmission cooler. It’s already mounted but running lines would require some effort. 2) external oil cooler mounted in front of the rad. This would be only slightly more effort than using the radiator cooler, but I would have to buy a cooler. I could also use both the radiator and an external cooler, but I don’t know if there is any benefit to that. 3) external cooler mounted under the car. Some of my friends have had success with this. It eliminates the need to run lines to the front of the car. I’m leaning towards option 2, but wanted to ask incase there are details I’m not thinking about.
Option 4: run into original radiator cooler then out of it into aux cooler in front of radiator then back to trans.... ....
I would do option #2 if it was my car. The "cooler" in the radiator is also a heater if it is cold outside or in other words it is a heat exchanger, works both ways. Transmission fluid has a temperature range where it is the most effective and unless you are working the torque converter pretty hard it can take a while for the oil to come up to temperature so the heat in the radiator helps warm the fluid. It also adds to the total cooling available if you live in a hot climate and won't hurt anything if you don't. If you buy a new truck with an external transmission cooler this is how they are plumbed from the factory. Mark
Option 1 would be fine if the radiator is keeping the engine cool enough under all conditions. The extra heat load from the transmission may push it over the edge. Option 2 would eliminate that scenario. NiCop tubing is easy to bend for the lines.
If you use option 2b (also option 4), make sure you run into the external cooler 1st and then the radiator. This would allow the cooling system to work the most effectively as the fluid is cooler bringing less heat into the radiator. This is a plus when the fluid needs to be cooled. It also works the opposite way when you want to warm the coolant, heating the coolant last before returning it to the transmission. You could also mount a cooler under the car and then run up to the radiator. I know I'm doing some design work in my mind now.
I've done both 1 and 2 with equal success. The looks of using the heat exchanger in the radiator are better because you don't have an external cooler. I've run external coolers where I've swapped automatics either into manual transmission cars, or where I've used the radiator from a manual car. It's more difficult to use an external cooler on radiator if you have air conditioning and have a condenser to deal with. It's easy to hook both up with basic plumbing fittings, NiCu lines that are easy to bend, rubber fuel injection lines rated for higher pressure, and barbed fittings with a good hose clamp. Easy peasy. I personally don't love the idea of coolers underneath the car, mainly because my cars are low and space it at a premium under the car. Putting the cooler under the car feels like it's not putting the cooler into the line of air flow where it would do the most to actually cool the transmission fluid, and exposes it to the highest likelihood of road hazard damage.
Option 5........... By the time you buy tubing and fittings and a cooler, this will be easier and probably cheaper. For more money there are other brands that have bigger fins.
Respectfully, no way is a finned pan a cheaper or better option than an actual transmission cooler or heat exchanger. For $40 and free Prime shipping, you've got most of the job completed. All you need now are just 2 sticks of NiCu tubing from the local auto parts store and a couple brass plumbing fittings from the hardware store and you're golden. As for the finned pan, there are several points to address. The internet, including the HAMB, is rife with articles showing that they don't do much of anything. In fact, it is arguable that any reduction in heat in the fluid is more attributable to the increased fluid capacity rather than any cooling effect by the finned pan itself. The transmission pan is not in an area where there is going to be optimal air flow to provide a cooling effect, of whatever that may be, and will provide no cooling at low/idle speed. A cooler, either on the radiator or in the radiator, is going to get some air flow simply due to the engine's fan, if not from air entering the grill at speed. The pan also doesn't negate the cost of lines and fittings (to a point), because even if you ran an AOD with no cooler at all, you'd still need to loop the inlet and outlet. The lines are a send and return, you can't just plug them or you'll burn the trans up.
I used a power steering cooler from an O/T application mounted outside the frame rail on my '50 Ford. Works well.
Thanks for all the great advice. I’ll start with the Collin in the rad and monitor temperatures. If it’s running hot I’ll add an external cooler.
I have read the AOD transmissions do not have tapered holes for the line fittings & screwing pipe fittings in can crack the case.I bought new fittings for the push in lines in the transmission Cut them off at the radiator & double flared them to hook to bottom of the radiator so option 1
For your application, it may only require the radiator cooler. If you are going to tow something, add a cooler. On my '29 AA I'm using a Champion aluminum radiator with a cooler in the lower tank, then running it to a large Mishimoto 13-row stacked cooler located just inside the passenger-side frame rail because I'm building the 351/AOD to tackle any towing. It has a 1960 F-350 dually rear axle so I thought I should be serious about ensuring that the transmission won't overheat. Am I overdoing it? Not my concern, nor am I concerned about cooking the trans fluid. EVER. And in my overhead console, I've got three gauges: a trans temp gauge, an engine temp gauge, and a tachometer. So there.
I added a radiator cooled trans to my 56 when I replaced the air cooled Ford-O… I made cooling lines for it. I used welding rod to do all the bends the copied it with tubing only needed to flare the one end. I used a cheap tubing bender from HF. Not really that hard.
If you do external make sure to get a big cooler. On my 53 Chevy the fan came too close to the trans cooler fittings in the radiator to feel comfortable running lines to it. I ended up using a big trans cooler off an 03 Ford expedition.
NOT TRADITIONAL WARNING!!!! THE FOLLOWING IS NOT TRADITIONAL!!! Option 5? Many newer vehicles use a transmission cooler bypass (thermostatic bypass valve) that bypasses the cooler until the transmission fluid reaches optimal temperature, and then allows the fluid to flow through the cooler. Just like the thermostat in the engine, it's purpose is to get the fluid up to temp and then keep it there without getting too hot or too cool. They are available through the aftermarket as well. If you're real anal about fluid temperature, fluid life, and transmission life, well, you decide.
I took the 5.0/AOD and factory radiator out of a '93 Mustang and it all fit well in my '54 Customline. I did have to move the rad 2" forward but the factory trans lines bolted right up. No trans cooling issues at all.
There’s several guys over at yblocksforever that run AOD’s and use the oem radiator cooler. Doesn’t seem to be any problems. If you don’t have the lock up functioning or you're towing that might be a difference. Otherwise, just run the lines and be done.
I’d like to see more details of how you fit a mustang radiator in your ‘54. I’ve got a new foxbody radiator on the shelf that would really help cooling.
Yes, there are plenty of people who will say the pans aren't effective. Common sense tells me that the aluminum pan is going to dissipate heat more quickly than a steel pan. There are some fins as well that increase the area exposed to air flow, which should help as well....and its deeper ...so more surface area there as well. Increasing capacity has to diminish heat too. The transmission is generating a specific amount of heat(say 1000 btus). If that heat is dispersed into a larger volume of fluid, it has to contain fewer btus per quart because the total is still 1000. All of that seems pretty logical to me. I can also see that there are many people who have transmissions that produce more heat than an aluminum pan is capable of dissipating. Someone with a heavy vehicle, low gearing, towing.......a deep pan may not provide enough assistance. In this case, it doesn't appear that any of those are the case, but the op may have a trailer. Since the original transmission operated with only air cooling, I suspect very little need for additional cooling will be needed, but you made some good points, and its always best to prepare for the worst case scenario .
Sure, it required a little bit of surgery and fab work but wasn't too difficult. I determined the width of the rad and what needed to be cut........ Sliced and diced......... Welded lower mounting tabs to the crossmember and made a crossbar out of 1" flatbar to tie in the top to the remaining core support. I later added in 1" square tubing for more ridigity. No pics of that. Made some tank covers out of sheet metal and notched the front pan for clearance......... Once it's blacked out and the bumper and grill are installed it's absolutely unnoticeable! Here's the clearance with a shorty water pump. Still not enough clearance for the factory clutch fan so I went with a 3k cfm electric fan. But as stated, no trans cooling issues at all......or engine cooling for that matter! Sits at 195* in traffic on a hundred degree day!
Looks like you did a nice job.... My suggestion would be that anyone looking to adapt a different radiator into a similar car, would be to go to a junkyard and look to see what vehicles (cars & trucks) with common/easily available radiators have an adaptable radiator support in them. Then cut/buy the readymade support from that vehicle and adapt it and buy a new radiator for it. Probably look at heavier duty or large SUVs that take a larger size radiator if there is enough room.
@evintho Thank you for sharing you methods with us. It does look real nice. However, unless I am misinterpreting what I see, the structural strength of the original ‘ U ‘ shaped core support has not been restored. The so- called core support does much more than than hold the radiator in place. The core support…1) carries the forward weight of the front fenders which are otherwise only attached at the cowl/door pillar. 2) maintains vertical alignment of the front fenders. 3) provides a secure anchor point for the hood latch assembly and supports the forward hood weight as well. If you study the front end assembly of any non-unitized car or truck built since the late ‘30s, they all have a sturdy support structure in that area. Usually a ‘ U ‘ shaped pressed channel of at least 180* , sometimes 360*, of coverage to carry the radiator, coolant weight and the structural loads I referenced above. The later the model year, the more ‘bridge like’ the support structure. Just my thoughts, offered for consideration. Airplane engineering requires ‘just enough’ strength to carry the intended load capacity. Too much strength and it is too heavy to either carry the desired load, or get off the ground, or both. I realized many years ago that if I designed an airplane it would be a Do-Do bird…. Ray
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