New owner saying hello...

[zapdaddy]

Howdy guys!

I am a longtime SHO lover (began w/ my Uncle's Jewel Green 91 Plus) and I just bought a '93 ATX w/ 76k on the clock. It has been taken care of and seems to be in good shape. Just thought I would say hello and hopefully I will get to meet up with you guys sometime soon whenever you are having a get together (Shiner is a bit too soon for me as I ahve things happening this weekend!).

On a different note, I have read a great deal about Sergio and his work on the SHOs. Do you think he might install a tranny cooler for me in my car? How much do you think this might run? I did a lot of reading, and it seems as though this is a very good upgrade to do...any thoughts? Thanks in advance and I look forward to meeting up with you guys sometime soon!

Ryan

 

[Axianator]

Welcome to the group, Ryan!

Replacing your factory external tranny cooler with a good aftermarket unit is definitely a good idea, especially for those of us that have to deal with this Texas heat. Sergio is the man you want for your SHO, just make sure you tell him that you want to bypass the radiator and factory cooler line setup when he installs your new cooler, making sure that he routes the tranny cooler lines directly to and from the cooler. It probably wouldn't hurt to also perform a fluid and filter change when he installs your cooler since the cooler lines will be accessed during that time (and the car will probably be on the lift, too). Use a good synthetic ATF like Mobil 1 or Amsoil for your fluid change (do not use Redline) and you should be good for at least another 30k miles, even if you beat it on occasionally.

Hope this helps, and again, welcome to the group!

 

[zapdaddy]

Adam...

Hey, thanks very much for the welcome! I am looking forward to getting to know you guys!

With regards to the tranny cooler...I talked with Sergio this morning and he said he could probably do it. He just had some questions about mounting it and the actual size of the cooler. Do you have any recommendations? Any recommendations on where we might be able to mount that? I am also going to run the D4U1 computer and LPM ASAP...I am definitely a "proactive" type person as opposed to reactive...anything I can do to extend the life of the ATX on the front end, I will do.

Any feedback is appreciated! Thanks again for the welcome!
Ryan

 

[SuperG]

Hi Ryan!

I am also in Houston and am also looking at tranny coolers, although, I haven't come to any conclusions, yet, except that it is something that should be done!

Sergio is the only guy I trust with my car...

Look forward to meeting you!

 

[Axianator]

Adam...

Hey, thanks very much for the welcome! I am looking forward to getting to know you guys!

With regards to the tranny cooler...I talked with Sergio this morning and he said he could probably do it. He just had some questions about mounting it and the actual size of the cooler. Do you have any recommendations? Any recommendations on where we might be able to mount that? I am also going to run the D4U1 computer and LPM ASAP...I am definitely a "proactive" type person as opposed to reactive...anything I can do to extend the life of the ATX on the front end, I will do.

Any feedback is appreciated! Thanks again for the welcome!

No problem! It's always good to see a fellow SHO owner being proactive about his ATX.

As a rule, I wouldn't recommend going with anything less than a stacked-plate cooler for us Texas guys. Summit Racing and Midwest SHO both sell an appropriately-sized B&M stacked-plate cooler for our application, similar to the one seen here:

http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?part=BMM-70264

Sizing requirements will vary depending on your climate and the amount abuse that your tranny sees, however the above cooler should be more than sufficient for anyone living in the warmer areas of the south. FWIW, Summit also carries an extensive line of B&M and other coolers (including a few models with a built-in fan and thermostat switch), so you might want to poke around the site to see what other options are available.

As for mounting locations, I'd suggest either mounting on top of or replacing your factory front-mount cooler. When my ATX was rebuild last November, my tranny guy ended up leaving the factory cooler attached to it's mounting brackets and mounted my new 27k tube and fin cooler on top of it with the four zip-ties sets that were provided with the kit. If you elect to use the stock cooler location as your mounting point but want to remove the cooler, you'll probably have to fab up some kind of bracketry or somesuch to mount the new cooler to as most B&M coolers aren't long enough (or oriented properly) to reach both sides of the factory bracketry and mounting holes. Either way you go, the factory cooler location is probably one of the best spots to mount a replacement tranny cooler.

Hope this info helps. Let us know if you have any more questions.

 

[zapdaddy]

Hey guys!

First, thanks for the warm welcome SuperG...look forward to meeting you soon too!

Adam, that is great information...really helps me out. I think I will probably pick up that same one you have as it looks like it will handle the job. And, if I understand you correctly, you think the best routing of the lines is to bypass the radiator and run the lines from this new cooler directly to the tranny? Am I close on that or way off? I have also heard of running the new cooler simultaneously with the old one...any thoughts there?

Once again, I greatly appreciate the advice and welcomes. I have searched on a lot of this stuff over the past few weeks, but it definitely helps to get advice from people that are already "here" and have "done it". My sincerest thanks again!

Ryan

 

[Axianator]

IMHO, there's no reason for us Texan ATX'ers to be running any part of the factory tranny cooler setup, be it the radiator endtank coolers, the factory pressure lines or the factory bypass valve. The bypass valve (which normally redirects cold fluid back into the tranny for additional warming) is, at best, a restriction under normal operating conditions and a potential cause of fluid overheating at worst. The radiator endtank coolers don't add much benefit for us Texan owners, either, due to the added heat from the ATF that is absorbed into the engine coolant via the coolers. This combined heat can increase your cooling time (and overheating chances) on hot days since the radiator now has to work overtime to dissipate the added heat of both fluids. Eliminating either of these two items from the loop should dramatically lower your overall ATF temps and help increase the cooling efficiency of your tranny cooler setup.

As for running your new cooler in series with the factory unit, I'd say go for it. If anything, the factory cooler should provide you with an added cooling benefit during hot days in addition to providing you with a possible mounting location for your new cooler. Just make sure that you route your cooler lines directly to and from the two coolers (i.e. in series with nothing in-between) and you should be good to go.

For a more detailed discussion on the subject of ATX cooling, visit this thread recently started by Gary:

http://www.shoforum.com/showthread.php?p=239925

 

[zapdaddy]

Adam...

Thanks so much for that information...it is good stuff and provides me with some direction.

On a different note, I had posted a message in another topic (Tires and such) about 225/55/ZR16 Phantom ZRX tires for $50 per tire at Discount. That includes mounting, balancing, and all! It seems like a pretty good deal and the tire is actually produced by BF Goodrich (per another member here). I thought I might pass on the information in case anyone needs some tires...they had to get mine from California and said they the tires are getting really hard to find. Get 'em while you can!!

Once again, thanks for all of the information...I 've got some planning to do to try and strengthen thay ATX!

Ryan

 

[sdpatt]

I'm sorry, but for a tire that cheap, you are probably getting what you pay for.

 

[FordLover]

hello
I'm also from Houston, glad to see a new owner pop up and say hi.

I can't help you much with the cooler, as I just sold my ATX @ 125K miles and it was starting to act up. I'd say keep on top of the fluid changes tho!
-Martin

 

[blue92]

I 've got some planning to do to try and strengthen thay ATX!

Ryan

Yea convert it to a MTX.



:burn_out:

 

[SuperG]

Don't ever listen to Don...it's an unwritten rule...Oops, now it's written!

He has an ATX and LOVES it, he just won't admit it!

Now he will add a response...

 

[blue92]

Don't ever listen to Don...it's an unwritten rule...Oops, now it's written!

He has an ATX and LOVES it, he just won't admit it!

I'll admit it my 1st LOVE was my ATX it now has 186k on it, and I still LOVE it, but tranny in the ATX is starting to **** on me, again. I don't see puttin another 2500 bucks into it, $hit the car ain't worth that much money at resale value.

That's why I bought blue92 so I can bang on it harder without the worry of killin the tranny. On the runs through the twistys I can downshift blue92 into 3rd or even 2nd gear, you do that with the ATX and your askin for tranny troubles. I noticed on the 1st winter run my ATX couldn't keep up with the guys drivin the MTXs, while they could downshift into a corner all I could do is hit the brakes and every time I hit the brakes in the corners it left me further and further behind them.

Murphys tryin to find me a 95 ATX tranny to put into the green monster. If I can find one in good shape for not to much money I'll put it in the green monster, then it will turn into my highway cruiser only.

 

[SHOfun 93]

Don,
When I swap trannies out of my 95 to the one in the 93 you can have the one out of the 95. Could use a shift kit, but it still shifts fine!

 

[chorizon]

hey guys, i'm not an owner yet, but what would be a good replacement atx for a certain green gen 2 w/ a 3.2 i was thinking about buying for a second car while i mod the bird? and please no mtx conversions, i tend to be happy with an atx, especially in stop and go traffic, hehehehe, tia, later'z.......