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I have heard Hughes and TCI would be good choices.
I put a TCI Saturday Night Special in my 76 Olds stock 350 for the heck of it.
I hope others with big blocks share some of their views here.
They're amazeballs...seriously.
The right converter is key for street/strip car and you're not going to find a great one off the shelf.
They built me a very nice piece. Not a lot of slippage while cruising around town at 2000rpm...but whack the throttle and it hits 3400 and books. Just what I wanted.
I just put a GV unit in this and the converter is amazing with it.
-Pete
They're amazeballs...seriously.
The right converter is key for street/strip car and you're not going to find a great one off the shelf.
They built me a very nice piece. Not a lot of slippage while cruising around town at 2000rpm...but whack the throttle and it hits 3400 and books. Just what I wanted.
I just put a GV unit in this and the converter is amazing with it.
-Pete
Pete, Are you running an external trans cooler? Do you have a temp gauge on your line? If so, what temps are you seeing?
Yes, I run an external trans cooler...mounted a little ahead of my radiator.
I just had this trans rebuilt with a GV unit and asked the guy to drill and tap a hole to hook up a temp gauge. I just haven't hooked up the gauge yet.
But I will say this...this converter has been in this trans which was a cheapie TCI for the past 14 years. Lots of passes, tons of street miles.
That's the great thing about having a tight converter with a big block...not a lot of slippage(heat) around town and all the flash you need when you whack it.
I wouldn't worry too much about one of their converters(or any good custom built for your application convertors) giving you excessive temps.
I'm running a converter made by winners choice transmission. They have an eBay store. I run a 3000 stall and it's pretty tight around town took a chance and bought it for 280 I wanna say ., it works great and has held up reliably for 5 years now. I also run my cooler in front of my radiator. Oil cooler from an 02 ford exploder I got from a junkyard for 20 bucks . I'm not saying mine is the best but I'm a cheap bastard so I try to find a cheap and reliable alternative. Those 2 usually down work well but that's my 2 cents.
Nope...I've seen them but never used one or even know anyone using one to cool a trans. Doesn't look big enough to me...but I'm not sure how big it needs to actually be.
[EDIT]
I just read up on them...most say if it's a low HP application without a high stall convertor it will work fine.
But for towing or any kind of power...no one seems to want to trust one.
-pete
Last edited by Rallye469; February 8th, 2017 at 01:05 PM.
While we are talking coolers, anyone ever use one of these?
I purchased a similar one from summit in the U.S and installed it on the inside of my plastic passenger fender after I had my TH350 rebuilt a couple years ago. It does the job for my mild little smogger 350 Olds.
Last edited by 76olds; February 9th, 2017 at 11:45 AM.
First off, I'm not trying to bust your ***** 76olds, but I'm not sure that's the best place for a heat sink cooler.
Have you considered just running the lines to the side of the trans and mounting it under the car (maybe off frame rail)to get some airflow?
Plus the heat in the engine bay probably doesn't help.
I'd worry about your trans.
-Pete
Last edited by Rallye469; February 9th, 2017 at 12:15 PM.
I thought about it for a sec N ya N now my ***** are swollen thanks, As long as ther not bustin, I'm doin' alrite!!
But , hey, ya, considering the lines ran through the trans cooler in the original rad tank, I decided to go this route since I put a Be Cool rad in without a trans cooler. It ran 220deg originally with the in tank cooler, now it runs 205deg as it sits now.
Its not doing any harm where it is, maybe not the best place but its in a place LOL.
The only use for heat sinks i can see is where there is no air flow or coolant to cool it.
The cooler im talking about from an 02 to 05 ford exploder ( oil cooler ) is a stacked design and although new is just as expensive as race unit can be had dirt cheap at a salvage yard.
In a car personally i dont see any good use for a heat sink.'
If your trans cooler will heat your coolant that much than something is/was wrong because a trans should operate alot cooler , If anything your radiator would actually heat the trans fluid ( if rad cooler is used ) which is why its wise to separate the two since the two operate at different temps . at 210 your engine is below boiling and fine those temps on a trans are havoc.
remember heat sinks absorb heat. unless you have a trans temp gauge there is no way to truly say its ok to place that cooler where it is. under the hood temps can get very hot speaking from experience.
Fwiw this is the cooler im talking about.
Last edited by coppercutlass; February 9th, 2017 at 08:25 PM.
I'll take a pic of the temp gauge this summer both cold and hot after a cruze this summer if anyone here would like.
I put an aluminium finned deep trans pan on prior to the heat sink install with a temp sensor at the trans.
The trans shop told me the TH350 can run anywhere from 200-280 DEG. 280 is getting dangerous.
So with just the old rad + the finned deep trans pan, my trans was running 220-240 at the gauge. 240 being a hot humid day (forget the outside temp)
After installing the heat sink unit, yes it gets hot under the hood it still ran in the 220 but never 240 range.
Then, I removed the rubber running along the flange where the hood seals against the upper firewall. Kinda like free flow air through the engine compartment.
The temp gauge ran at 205 how crazy is that for a rubber free ram air haha.
I continued to monitor it during the final weeks of the summer, the highest it hit was 210.
Do the heat sink work? In the place I put it ?
These were the #s I was recording, so you guys let me know if this is OK.
From what the trans shop that rebuilt my trans, they say it working great.
I hope this helps, let me know your thoughts, perhaps the temp gauge is faulty but I don't think so.
They told me after 250 degrees normal ATF begins to break down, Synthetic can go as far as 280.
My temp gauge is tapped into the deep aluminium finned pan, this is where I got the numbers from.
I told him I've heard guys say they are running between 150-170, he said that's BS.
This is all I know.
Atf starts to break down at about 200 degrees so I don't know how your trans shop can say that.
I'm not doubting you at all copper, I really appreciate your input, Iknow you have built a couple TH350'S. This could be a good thread to start. I know my autometer gauge range is 170-280.
I'm going to ask more questions when I drop in to his tranmission shop again.
Last edited by 76olds; February 10th, 2017 at 10:13 AM.
Reason: I appreciate your input
I appreciate the conversation here. For me my main concern is that I am going to run A/C. So, I am already two "radiators" thick. I know I am going to need to run a cooler, just looking at options.
I don't have a big block, but I do have a Hughes BPO25 converter (2500 RPM rated stall), AC, and no trans cooler, plus I live in a very hot environment. My converter appears to have around the same low RPM slippage as a factory one (I calculated ~200 RPM at cruising speeds, when I had a 2.56 rear and 45 MPH cruise RPM was WELL under the rated stall speed). I haven't measured trans fluid temps but the fluid has stayed bright red over a period of 10 years, so I am guessing it's OK.
Last edited by Fun71; February 10th, 2017 at 10:43 AM.
January 21st, 2017, 07:36 AM
