Got the driveline picked up and home. Ran some hose, installed a couple fittings, and made some more mods to the forward trans cooler mounts.

Here's where I mounted the aux trans cooler:



Still need to figure out how I want to plumb the outbound trans fluid, need to put the trans temp gauge in the line just after the fluid exits the trans.

 

Today was a decent day. Hooked up some more of the trans plumbing. Here's the forward trans cooler. I have it sitting on the passenger side of the intercooler. I spaced it out from the core support about 3" so it should get some decent airflow. I've got it plumbed from the trans to the heat exchanger, to the this forward cooler, back to the after auxiliary cooler (w/ fan) then back to the trans.



Need another fitting for the trans before I can finish. Will look for one tomorrow. Hooked up the heater hoses & intercooler tubes:





Installed upper rad hose:



Had a guy come over and weld on a couple of brackets to the upper sides of the intercooler:







Got the rear driveline back yesterday. Bolted it in today:

 

Sweet progress!

 

Looking Good Ryan!! Thanks for the updates.

 

Did you open the Core Support up behind the trans cooler or just space it off?

With that many lines the line length in itself should cool the fluid, concerned about tranny temperatures a little? haha

While you have the grill off now would be the time to clean up all your lighting grounds.

 

No, just spaced it out about 3".

That's true. I like it to be cool when I'm towing a heavy load up the the pass.

Yep. I've got all the wiring off and just hanging there. Will be taking a bonding brush to each hole so I should have a good ground. Also one of the previous owners installed an aftermarket headlight harness with the separate relays, so the lights are pretty bright already.

 

Today I removed the t-case shifter and took the hot wrench to it. Move it around a little so it has plenty of clearance front and back. Also jogged it over about 3" to the passenger side so the Dodge shifter boot will mount nicely on the tunnel cover. Will get pics once I get the tunnel cover holes covered up and the boot installed.

Started the wiring. Got the A/C & Tach wiring ran to the firewall. Got the fuel shutoff wired up and now am beginning on the grid heaters.

Won't get much done tomorrow.......may go on a hike with the kids.

 

Kids had other plans, so I was able to get a few more things done today.

The day started out crappy. Started wiring and when I went to use my light tester it was working sporadically......so after messing with it for about a 1/2 hour it really stopped working after I threw it on the concrete floor

Off to the auto parts store I went. Got another tester. As I was standing in line I notice my t-shirt was on backwards. Got home switched the t-shirt around and the rest of the day was productive

Cleaned, painted & installed the batt tray. Had to make a small mod to fit the large batt I have.

Then finished the fuel shutoff (wasn't quite done yesterday). Used the factory Dodge relay for the start (pull) and added a smaller relay for the run (hold). All I need is a 70 amp circuit breaker for the "pull" circuit. Will have to order that online. Used the "start" wire that was running the duraspark to activate the relay for the "pull". Then used the "run" wire that was running the duraspark to activate the relay for the "hold".

Hooked up the grid heaters using the factory Dodge solenoids & wiring. Used another switched wire for power to activate the solenoids. Then ran the other wires into the cab that will run through a momentary switch then to ground.

Also hooked up the starter. Took the "s" wire out of the wire loom from the passenger side and brought it over and tied into the factory plug that runs down to the starter solenoid.

Started working on the alternator. Got the wires all seperated out and the Ford regulator plugged in.....then my stomach started to growl.......and now that I've sat down, I'm not going back out to the garage.

Tomorrow I should be receiving my ATF IV from Amazon. Save a few bucks by buying from them. Also should be receiving the last of the fitting so I can finish the trans cooler plumbing.

 

Was BSing with Tony when I dropped the car off last night and mentioned your multiple cooler setup. He brought up the idea that the cooler in the bottom of your Radiator has smaller fittings than the factory Dodge stuff that will be a restriction and burn your pump up.

 

Yep, I'm not using the cooler in the rad due to that reason. Both my aftermarket coolers have 1/2" line and fittings. Funny though the fluid exits and enters the trans through 1/4" NPT ports.

 

Alright, are you not having anything in place to Warm the trans to operating temperature then?

Odd about the Trans fittings being small, wonder if you could Enlarge them somehow?

 

I've modeled my trans coolers after the factory Dodge configuration. It exits the trans and goes through a heat exchanger. The heat exchanger is a water/oil heat exchanger, this gets it up to operating temperature. From the factory it then goes through a cooler mounted in front of the intercooler. I wasn't able to fit that cooler in front of the intercooler so I instead installed a smaller stacked plate cooler which should be as efficient. Then from there the trans fluid goes to the rear aux cooler with the thermostatically controlled fan. Then back into the trans.

In the first gen Dodges there was an option for an aft mounted cooler with a thermostatically controlled fan.

Yeah, I still doesn't make sense about the small ports on the trans. But I've not heard of that being an issue.

 

Kinda bad that Dodge knew their transmission needed that much as a minimum, doesn't leave a whole lot of room for improvement.

Did you go with an extra capacity pan? Are you reusing the factory torque converter?

 

I am using the factory pan. Was thinking about getting a deep sump pan, but don't think I need to go to that far. I should have enough cooling with the setup I have. I have a temp gauge that will be inline just after the coolant exits the trans, so I'll be able to see if any other cooling mods will be needed the first time I tow.

For the t-converter I upgraded to a single disc billet. Talked to my buddy that is an owner of a local auto & offroad repair shop, they've done a few of these and he knows how I use the truck and he said I didn't need to get a triple disc. Now if I was turning up the motor to near 500 horses and did a lot more towing than I plan, then I would have upgraded to a triple disc.

 

Just read your entire build thread and I have to say you are doing some sweet work in a very short amount of time. I think you have done all of this in the time I have just been trying to build bumpers for my Bronco.
Subscribed to see the wonderful completed truck. Keep up the great work.