Builds 2F Retirement/ Vortec Resto-Fresh (1 Viewer)

[cruiser enthuiser]

Still chipping away at this thing so time for a little update.

Got the drive train completely assembled in the garage. Think it's looking pretty good if I do say so myself. I have to stop myself from making 'vroom vroom' noises when I'm near it.

Then got her swinging...

I spent the better part of a weekend trying to get it lined up just right. AA motor mounts will need some tweaking to make work - they rub on either side of the frame and have to be shortened.

Honestly though it slips in almost like it was meant to be there all along.

Pic showing how I notched the mounts to clear the manifolds...

Mounts need some trimming...

View attachment 1057238

 

[cruiser enthuiser]

Looks good in there...

 

[cruiser enthuiser]

Started building the cross member. Borrowing heavily from FJ60Cam build thread for this (imitation is the sincerest form of flattery!) building it out of 1 x 3 .120 wall.

I'm not a very experienced fabricator but wanted to try my hand at this. Used a piece of wood 1x6 held up to the bottom of the frame to trace a template. Took it back to the shop and laid out and cut all the angles.

I think it's going to work!

 

[FJ60Cam]

Looking good!

What are you doing for transmission cooler lines? Are you using the cooler in the radiator or auxiliary only? I'm still waiting on the weather to warm up to see if I have enough cooler.

 

[cruiser enthuiser]

Looking good!

What are you doing for transmission cooler lines? Are you using the cooler in the radiator or auxiliary only? I'm still waiting on the weather to warm up to see if I have enough cooler.

I'm shopping around for the biggest auxiliary cooler I'll be able to reasonably fit. Planning to run the stock rad. Hopefully the aux cooler is enough.

 

[cruiser enthuiser]

Was thinking I'd fab some hard lines for the trans cooler.

Something like this with the fittings from these guys...

 

[FJ60Cam]

That would be sweet. If you can, fab them up before the motor goes in for good. I had to re-bend (mangle) the stock hard lines pretty good to get them out of the way of the exhaust and to come out where I wanted them.

 

[MarkN]

Looks great....

 

[MANUCHAO]

I'm shopping around for the biggest auxiliary cooler I'll be able to reasonably fit.

Im running this one B&M 70297 Hi-Tek.... had to trim the inside of the front grill, but I got it to fit in front of the AC condenser... Temps are usually low, and the fan has an on/off switch on the dash board.......

 

[FJ60Cam]

Im running this one B&M 70297 Hi-Tek.... had to trim the inside of the front grill, but I got it to fit in front of the AC condenser... Temps are usually low, and the fan has an on/off switch on the dash board.......

Can you post an installed pic? My cooler's core is the same depth (also a B&M), but without the fan, and it just touches the front grille. It is spaced away from the AC condenser just enough to run the AC hard pipe behind it.

 

[cruiser enthuiser]

Looks great....

Thanks, Mark!

 

[cruiser enthuiser]

Im running this one B&M 70297 Hi-Tek.... had to trim the inside of the front grill, but I got it to fit in front of the AC condenser... Temps are usually low, and the fan has an on/off switch on the dash board.......

Nice unit. I hadn't been considering a cooler with a fan. Is it really needed?

 

[daytonadogie]

Lookin good! Really like the rear crossmember.

 

[MANUCHAO]

Here is the thread on it..... B&M install
On the install it does not show it, but I ended up getting custom made hoses from the rad to the cooler and back to the tranny.
clamps kept on comming loose and making things a bit messy, back then I did not know about constant torque clamps... duh !!

I needed it back when I used to pull a trailer to Co and Ut over the summer....
It helped a lot on the long grades...

Those hard lines look sweet... I should have done that from the get go...

 

[daytonadogie]

Do you have the stock trans cooler lines? I did what Cam did and got them to work. Custom hard lines would be really nice too. More work though.

 

[cruiser enthuiser]

Do you have the stock trans cooler lines? I did what Cam did and got them to work. Custom hard lines would be really nice too. More work though.

Mine didn't come with the stock lines so I'm starting from scratch.

 

[MANUCHAO]

Mine came cut in half.. so I did custome braided hoses, but wish I would of done the hard lines.... hoses tend to bend opposite to where I want them to....

 

[FJ60Cam]

Here is the thread on it..... B&M install
On the install it does not show it, but I ended up getting custom made hoses from the rad to the cooler and back to the tranny.
clamps kept on comming loose and making things a bit messy, back then I did not know about constant torque clamps... duh !!

I needed it back when I used to pull a trailer to Co and Ut over the summer....
It helped a lot on the long grades...

Those hard lines look sweet... I should have done that from the get go...

Nice job squeezing that in there.

Just for a data point, I'm running the 70264 (14,500 btu model) by itself (not through the radiator), and I've gotten it up to 175 on a 75 degree day warmest day/longest drive so far post swap).

If I was starting over, I'd probably go a little bigger, but I'm going to ride this one out and see where the temps go as it warms up.

I could also go through the radiator first and see what that does.

 

[Elbert]

you don't need an electric fan with the trans cooler (it does add to the thickness), the cooler certainly needs to be in the direct air-flow path of the "cooling stack"...air that runs in the grill and through the condenser/radiator. In my view you need an aux cooler...I would get the biggest one that will fit your space. Keeping the auto trans cool is #1.

I had one of of the older B&M coolers with a fan on a pickup one time....as I recall the fan came on around 185F. I'm not sure how much room you will have between your condenser and grill. I dont' think the fan is a must have kind of thing as long as the cooler is positioned in the air way...

Great progress so far.

 

[cruiser enthuiser]

you don't need an electric fan with the trans cooler (it does add to the thickness), the cooler certainly needs to be in the direct air-flow path of the "cooling stack"...air that runs in the grill and through the condenser/radiator. In my view you need an aux cooler...I would get the biggest one that will fit your space. Keeping the auto trans cool is #1.

I had one of of the older B&M coolers with a fan on a pickup one time....as I recall the fan came on around 185F. I'm not sure how much room you will have between your condenser and grill. I dont' think the fan is a must have kind of thing as long as the cooler is positioned in the air way...

Great progress so far.

Thanks, Elbert.

I'm thinking the same thing on the trans cooler. I'm considering this one from summit: link

I will monitor it once she's up and running. I'd hate to trash my tranny.

-Ed