I got this car with no engine or transmission and have since put them in. When I got the car though, the radiator was there as was this cooler someone installed.

I have no idea why the previous owner would have installed an external cooler (there's no tow hitch which is the only reason I could think of) instead of using the typical method of hooking up the lines to the radiator.

So my question is, should I pull that external cooler out of there and hook up the lines to the radiator like they should be? The radiator pictured in the assem. manual shows the inlet/outlets in a slightly different place, but I can't see that making much difference.

I need to get these cooler lines moved back to where they should be so I can install a set of headers here real soon.

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The external transmission cooler is not required. But if you run your car hard it is a good idea to leave it. I recommend keeping it.

 

Before removing the external cooler you might want to unscrew the lower plug in the radiator to see if coolant pours out. If the internal radiator cooler is leaking that might explain why the add-on cooler is there. If all is OK, I would suggest using the radiator cooler in addition to the external cooler. The radiator cooler will prevent the fluid from getting too cool in cold weather. That probably isn't much of a concern with a trans with a conventional converter (TH350, TH400, etc) but a trans with a lock-up converter its a possibility. Without the heat provided by the slipping of the converter the fluid can get really cold on a long trip in cold weather.

 

do you drive in the cold? I do not and i have a large trans cooler period with a 3600 stall converter only and have had 0 problems, that coolant temp can get high in the summer in your radiator.

 

Yeah, it'll be an all weather, ok well except snow I guess, driver. I've got no plans to do anything unusual with it driving wise at all. No drag racing, no pulling trailers, just daily driving. For the time being the engine and trans will remain stock for some time.

I suppose I'll just leave it in then. I did pull the plugs and they were bone dry inside, so that's a good sign. I just don't like the way the added on cooler looks and how the lines aren't where they should be on a stock setup. Ultimately though, I just need them out of the way for the headers.