SST Coolers- why not use existing tranny coolers?

[Blugin]

Looks like there's alot of good development with vendors making their own SST cooler kits for us MR owners, and even the big names like HKS and Blitz re following suit. Has anyone used a standard off-the-shelf tranny cooler? I don't really see any drawback to using something like this if used as a supplement to the stock one perhaps. Tranny coolers have been around for a hundred years and are relatively cheap. Here are some from Summit:
http://www.summitracing.com/search/P...n/?Ns=Rank|Asc

I imagine I'll either add a fan to my stock one- maybe a motorcycle radiator fan or the SPAL that others are using or just go with a cooler/fan from Summit and wire the fan to a temp switched relay or something. Seems pretty simple and cheap. I know it's not made for the Evo specifically, but I guess I'm cheap and crafty. Thoughts?

[JCGator42]

You would want to get a nice cooler, Setrab usually makes the best and are very expensive to boot ($150-300 for the cooler alone). I believe most of the kits out there use a setrab cooler + all the required fittings and a fan.

Building a high quality kit yourself will probably run around $400; in my case I would rather buy a kit for $500-700, but I can definitely see a reason to build one yourself.

search ebay for Setrab cooler, and see if one fits off the bat, I am sure one would.

[Blugin]

Hmmmm... I don't know. I'm not of the school of thought that "the best" is always the most expensive thing you can buy. Something like an oil cooler/heat exchanger doesn't have any moving parts or extremely precision engineering just by design. I do understand that the Setrab coolers are nice but I still don't understand why something like a B&M would not be good for our applications. I also have been around cars a long time and had many expensively modded cars. I've also wasted alot of money on "the best" when something half the cost with a different name works just as well sometimes.

I definitely think I could fit a supplemental cooler like a B&M with a fan and thermostat for less than $400. The most expensive one on there is 200 bones and then it's a matter of fabbing up some brackets which I can do using basic tools in my garage, then running the wiring which I'd need wire, connectors, zip ties, solder, heat shrink and an automotive relay.

I don't know, just seeing what others thought about the "off the shelf" coolers available for cheap.

[JCGator42]

^ I agree with ya on that. I ususally am very big on DIY and don't have a problem getting down and dirty. I have pretty good experience with transmission coolers and can say to shy away from B&M, as they just re-brand other coolers and sell them for more. The coolers you can buy at pep-boys and autozone have the same internals and some are actually much bigger.

* tru-cool makes some good coolers (comparable to B&M) and have one that is huge:
the 47391 - 8 1/2 x 22 3/4 x 1 1/4 - should fit well in the same location as the SSP cooler. You'd just have to get the correct size fittings and hose to fit and run in tandem with the factory cooler.
you should be able to fit 2 8" or even 10" slim puller fans on the back of that as well.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Tru-C...Q5fAccessories

I used that cooler on a Level10 modded auto tranny and it worked great.

[Blugin]

Niiiice! That's awesome! Thanks for the link. I really wanted to get a conversation going but I think this subforum isn't the most active place...

[Chebosto]

you get what you pay for. piecing together your own kit is def. the way to go and you won't have to rely on placement that X company said to mount it.. run your own hose fittings, etc... why pay more for a 'off the shelf' unit?

attempt to get the largest oil cooler you can stuff in the front fender wall and make sure it has proper airflow for inlet AND extraction. i.e. proper ducting add a electric fan if extraction is an issue.

as for trying to make it fit the OE location, i haven't taken my oe cooler off yet to see what size can be used,.. i plan on upgrading to a custom setrab... that being said here's a good place to get Setrab coolers that i've used before:

http://www.racerpartswholesale.com/c...b_Oil_Coolers2

i plan on a larger oil cooler and tranny cooler...