I hate to do it, but I might run a stock pan for a bit and no external trans cooler. I wanted the aluminum pan to help cool things down a bit and a deep pan is probably not the best idea as a deep 400 pan is getting close to sitting even or slightly below the frame rails. So it looks like a stock shorty pan is going back on. I feel like these always leak no matter what, but i'll give it a try. I have been brainstorming an external cooler and the Derale 16 row stacked from Larry's thread will end up fitting the bill. It's the routing of the -6 lines to get to where the cooler will be in a Riv that is making it a little difficult right now. There is no great open place to route -6 lines and keep the run of hose from getting too long. This is why I might skip the external cooler for a bit in favor of getting the car back on the road. I bought a -6 line kit from Vincos off of Amazon that has some good reviews and comes with most of the fittings that I would need as well. Kind of excited to see how well the kit works to at least get the trans lines to the radiator cooler.
So back where I started, instead of getting the trans cooler I opted for a Derale standard height pan with the cooling tubes running through it. 50° temp drop they claim so this may very well be what I need until I can get a cooler lined up and plumbed nicely. The pan is decent, better than stock and better than the baseline aluminum one I had posted about but nothing exceptional to brag about. A decent alternative I will call it. Got my JW 9.5 the other day and that looks like a nifty piece. Not sure I have ever laid eyes on a converter that small but hopefully it is exactly what the Riv needs! So far the newly rebuilt trans is in place, tomorrow I will prime the motor which I should have already done but I slacked, install the shorty headers and finally install the motor. Hopefully soon I will be living the Riv life!
I'm running that same trans pan along with a stand alone trans cooler and my tranny never gets passed 160. I have a 7" electric fan mounted to the cooler that can be turned on by a switch just incase I ever get stuck in traffic on a hot day and the temps were to creep up pretty high I could cool the trans back down.
I think it might have been a video of yours where I noticed the pan and that is what put the Derale pan into play for me. What kind of cooler did you use on the Riv and did you just mount it to the radiator/condenser?
I think I know what video you're talking about and yes it's mounted in front of the A/C cooler in front of the radiator. If you want pics let me know and I can post them for you. Most people run the trans through the rad then the secondary cooler, I decided stand alone system approach was best for what I wanted and it hasn't let me down yet. As for brand I started out with a B&M cooler but felt it was too small and moved up to a Borgs&Warner plate/ fin cooler and it's been phenomenal!
Got a question, after installing the shorty headers it looks like the routing for the trans cooler lines should be changed. Are there any issues to be had if I run the lines upwards out of the trans and along the inner fender above the upper control arm and then back down to the radiator fittings? I am running -6 braided line on this. Or if you have shorty's on a second gen Riv what did you do? Thanks all!
What you're planning on doing is the exact same plan I am going to do. As of right now my stock steel lines run close to my shorty headers and I feel it's a bit too close. My lines were cut and spliced from steel to rubber right before the rad from and ran to an external cooler like mentioned before. I will eventually replace it all with -6 braided lines. All that being said with the Derale deep pan with cooling tubes and the large Borgs&Warner external cooler I've never seen my trans go above 160° so the uncoated shorty headers must not be heating up the lines/fluid all that much.
Here's the external cooler and fan setup, also pics of my lines that are currently run. Not my ideal plumbing but its functional for now.
Any concerns about those lines being so close to the headers? It seems like they might more heat to fluid.
Yes, I would think so. That is why I ran my lines inside the frame. I used -6AN push lock hose and fittings. It does go over the MT header collector on that side as they run to the transmission, but I just use some heat shielding in that spot.
We can't run the lines through the frame rails on these cars as the way the front suspension and X frame set up is up front, we have to come out from the trans towards and then up and over the passenger wheel well towards the rad then back down.
So I finally got the car pretty much squared away. My trans lines ended up getting routed under the starter and then forward between the frame and oil pan and then into the radiator. There line kit I got off Amazon is great quality and leak free. I will end up putting wrap around the lines but I think the routing will hold up quite well and if it doesn't then a lesson will be learned. Moving forward I filled the trans with Mobil1 synthetic and found I had a leak at the brand new downshift pass thru connector. I contacted the company I bought my kit from and they keep showing me that they are not interested in helping the customer after a purchase. I'll never recommend them or use them again. Anyways with the help of a local shop I got that repaired and refilled. I proceeded to top off the trans and take it for a drive and was not impressed. The transmission did what it was supposed to do but it seemed as though the car was now down on power. Put the car away and started pondering as I was ready to blame my rebuild or the converter. Took it back out yesterday and checked the trans level again, all was good. Put a vacuum gauge on it and was pulling 10" vacuum. Started adjusting the carb and it was responding well to it but it had me scratching my head a bit because it didn't drive terrible before. Got it up to 17-18" vacuum. Took it for a ride and holy cow this car woke up like something fierce. Now all that is left is to get an exhaust on it. I'm a happy camper now and want to thank all of you that gave me the input I needed to complete my rebuild, thank you! Transtec and Sonnax are also good resources and companies to deal with and thank you Jim Weiss for the badass torque converter.