My radiator guy is an old timer. Still drives a 1956 Ford pickup.

I gave him my original radiator to boil out and he called me yesterday with the bad news. My 1972 copper and brass radiator was 1/3 plugged and...unfixable due to multiple major leaks.

So...enter Bubba. Mr. Bubba installed an aux tranny cooler and attached it to the front side of the radiator with pass thru plastic connectors. My radiator guy says NO, get rid of that cooler. You don't need it. And the connectors can damage your radiator. Fine.

Well, Bubba's next move was to attach a plastic expansion tank to the passenger side just above the wheel well and run tubes from the expansion tank to the radiator nipples top and bottom.

Problem is...if my research is correct, those nipples are for a tranny cooler built into the radiator. My car is a 1972 with auto transmission and AC. The radiator is a copper brass model. It does not need an auxiliary tranny cooler as it already has one. Am I correct?

I believe, correct me if I'm wrong, the tranny fluid should enter at the top of the radiator and exit at the bottom. Of the two hoses leading to the cooler, does it matter which one goes to which radiator nipple or is it all the same?

When I bought the car, Bubba told me to be sure to fill the radiator at the plastic reservoir, not at the radiator filler. And he wondered why the car overheated.

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SERIOUSLY?!?!? I've seen a LOT of Bubba sh...er...stuff in my day, but I ain't never heered of that!
So...if you are replacing your un-fixable radiator with the correct one, your trans cooler lines will go into the two "nipples" on the pass side of the rad tank. IN at the bottom, OUT at the top, tho it really doesn't make a whole lot of difference in the long run. Whether or not you also want to run an aux cooler at that point is up to you.

I am a firm believer in auxiliary trans coolers on automatics. When properly sized, and placed, they will reduce the operating temp of the trans by 40 degrees or more. If you live up nawth, where the ambient summertime temps aren't quite as high as they are in the south, you can prolly get along without one, as there is also such a thing as "too cold".
If the aux cooler is mounted with the metal brackets(that the good ones come with), you'll have no radiator damage. Anyone that runs their cars hard, or does a little spare time racing action will absolutely benefit from an aux cooler, imho. You can also run a properly sized aux cooler by itself, without running thru the rad at all. Think aboot it...you're running your trans fluid thru the cooler in radiator to COOL the fluid down. That should give you an idea of how hot the trans fluid can get. Trans fluid getting above 220 degrees is BAD....the additives will start breaking down, as well as the lubricity of the fluid will take a nose-dive. Fluid temps over 235-240 will start puking the fluid out of the trans vent, since trans fluid expands with temp(this is the reason you should always check your trans fluid level with the trans hot, or at operating temp).



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Joel Adams
C3VR Lifetime Member #56    
My Link


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"Money can't buy happiness -- but somehow it's more comforting to cry in a CORVETTE than in a Kia"

Thanks, Joel. I don't run my 72 hard at all. But summer temps can top 100 for sure. For now no cooler but maybe later. I won't be using Bubba's though. Lots of bent fins etc.

One more for you. I believe my model is one that has no overflow tank, never did. 1972 SB with auto and copper/brass. So there will just be an overflow hose. That's it. Does that sound right?

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Iirc, only the aluminuminum rad(high hp) cars used the surge tank.
Tho it's not necessary to have, it wouldn't hurt anything to install one, or even use the one Bubba put on. It will at the very least keep from puking coolant out on the ground if it does happen to overheat.

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Joel Adams
C3VR Lifetime Member #56    
My Link


(click for Texas-sized view!)             NCRS

"Money can't buy happiness -- but somehow it's more comforting to cry in a CORVETTE than in a Kia"

So what did the plastic expansion tank actually do other than nothing?  That's hilarious. 

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Yup. It did nothin. The only thing it accomplished is Bubba hacked out a one foot square piece of the liner between the engine compartment and the front wheel well to make room for the useless reservoir. Bubba outdid himself. 😊

|UPDATED|2/3/2015 5:26:53 PM (AZT)|/UPDATED|


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