Thread: trany cool? wtf

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anyone ever hear of someone using an a/c condenser coil as a tranny cooler?

It works but the fittings are a pain. The trans pressure is really low on the cooling lines. We try to keep the trans lines sized -6 or bigger. By the time you rig adapters to the line, etc. a $39 cooler is cheaper.

YES......Also seen em use a/c evaporators before....... and before the advent of store bought open wheel circle track parts
it was fairly common to see a G.M. evaporator as a radiator on midgets running the Chevy II engine.......

how's the heat dissapation work? I was thinking of getting a tranny cooler from summit or Advance, but then someone told me to use the condenser. Would it hold up to the pressure ok? which would be better the condenser or evaporator?

pressure wont be a problem, the ac hi side is around 300, low side 35 lbs, and the trans about 10 lbs of puessure.

i never realized the ac had that much pressure, damnnnnnn. should I try it with an evaporator core? or should I buy a transmission cooler. I'm afraid of burning up that transmission, and I'm guessing I'd just be running this as a precaution. Since i don't race and I'm pretty reasonable with my car. It never sees sustained high speeds.

back to how are you going to attach the lines? just slipping a hose over a smooth tube and clamping it is asking for a disaster.

Do you have the die set to make a bulb end?

Can you tell me more about the AC condenser? I bought a pretty expensive radiator for my '29 Ford roadster but it does not have an AC condenser. I see no reason for AC in a roadster, but my wife insists we must have AC. It seems you can mount a remote AC condenser somewhere (WHERE????) although it is not recommended, so I would like to know more about a condenser that I can mount somewhere (WHERE???). At 300 psi what kind of hoses would I need? Will rubber hoses handle 300 psi? I guess whatever hoses come through the firewall would be the same for the condenser???? Even so, for the life of me I cannot think of where to mount a condenser other than to cut a hole in the piece that is below the radiator on the '29, but then with a dropped axle there is not room there either. Suggestions (other than to forget the AC)?? What model AC condenser should I look for? Maybe since I have the Brookville flat-type A-frame with a U-shape frame around the back of the rear pumpkin, I could hang the condenser from the underside of the frame in the rear, but that means very long hoses. Still maybe that is the ONLY way to mount a condenser on a very crowded A-frame?

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

if you are not gonna be towing, racing, or mud bogging id use the stock cooler in the rad.

Originally posted by Don Shillady
Can you tell me more about the AC condenser? I bought a pretty expensive radiator for my '29 Ford roadster but it does not have an AC condenser. I see no reason for AC in a roadster, but my wife insists we must have AC. It seems you can mount a remote AC condenser somewhere (WHERE????) although it is not recommended, so I would like to know more about a condenser that I can mount somewhere (WHERE???). At 300 psi what kind of hoses would I need? Will rubber hoses handle 300 psi? I guess whatever hoses come through the firewall would be the same for the condenser???? Even so, for the life of me I cannot think of where to mount a condenser other than to cut a hole in the piece that is below the radiator on the '29, but then with a dropped axle there is not room there either. Suggestions (other than to forget the AC)?? What model AC condenser should I look for? Maybe since I have the Brookville flat-type A-frame with a U-shape frame around the back of the rear pumpkin, I could hang the condenser from the underside of the frame in the rear, but that means very long hoses. Still maybe that is the ONLY way to mount a condenser on a very crowded A-frame?

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

somebody that has done this need to tell you where don ,but you'll have to have room for a fan also. you have to have air going across the cond. all the time the ac is on. you will need ac hose that's made for the pressure and that's another problem, because it takes up a lot of room and its stiff and hard to plum. but really this is not a job for a beginner. the best thing to do is find a place there in rich. that has did a few of these and talk to them. I used to deal with AUTO AIR OF VA when I was there, might give Mitch Armatrout a call and tell him mike hammack told you to call him. good guy to deal with, but not the cheapest.

Lots of heavy machinery put the condenser away from the rad. New Holland combines have them in a housing with a fan , that fan might be adaptable to a rod. Don't forget to upgrade your charging system to handle the power draw.

Originally posted by Don Shillady
Can you tell me more about the AC condenser? I bought a pretty expensive radiator for my '29 Ford roadster but it does not have an AC condenser. I see no reason for AC in a roadster, but my wife insists we must have AC. It seems you can mount a remote AC condenser somewhere (WHERE????) although it is not recommended, so I would like to know more about a condenser that I can mount somewhere (WHERE???). At 300 psi what kind of hoses would I need? Will rubber hoses handle 300 psi? I guess whatever hoses come through the firewall would be the same for the condenser???? Even so, for the life of me I cannot think of where to mount a condenser other than to cut a hole in the piece that is below the radiator on the '29, but then with a dropped axle there is not room there either. Suggestions (other than to forget the AC)?? What model AC condenser should I look for? Maybe since I have the Brookville flat-type A-frame with a U-shape frame around the back of the rear pumpkin, I could hang the condenser from the underside of the frame in the rear, but that means very long hoses. Still maybe that is the ONLY way to mount a condenser on a very crowded A-frame?

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

Have seen em mounted under the passenger side floor board with an electric fan and ya gotta use a/c hose, you can buy it by the foot and also buy the fittings from most good auto parts stores. some parts stores will even build em to your specifications......

I would not recommend using an a/c condenser coil as a tranny cooler... A better solution would be to use a thermostat controlled remote mounted electic cooler. A good source for this type of cooler would be DERALE cooling products.

I used the following on my 29A. (350/330HP - TH350 trans):

• 13720 - AN-6 Transmission Oil Cooler
• 13021 - In-line fan thermostat

(http://www.derale.com/fanmountedoilcoolers.shtml)

I mounted the cooler under the floor on the driver side.

good luck

jcc

Cheap, easy,effective, thats what its all about right?

Click here> http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...category=33727

Don, about the remote a/c condenser

Like a couple of other posts said, the A/C condenser needs air flow thru it. Think about how much better the a/c works on the highway as opposed to sitting at a stop light.....the airflow on the condenser is much better at speed. Given that, laying a condenser horizontal provides marginal ariflow.....none at stopped. Therefore, you gotta have a fan to move a lot of air over the heatsink. That's why the engine fan is used. An auxillary fan with proper ducting might work but would be rather large. It sucks on a Model A because you cant put a condenser in front of that nice looking radiator. Putting the condenser behind the radiator is not very efficient since you are looking for maximum temperature drop.....you want to dump a bunch of heat.

You might rig up an automotive electric fan over a condenser with the proper duct...remember that electric fans need to be mounted in the coolest air side of the heatsink (pusher or puller) if you are not using the ram air effect of speed.