Lokar Shifter Installation - Cool Shift

The advantage of the pre-made tubing was that each end already had a perfect double flare and nut. I used the flaring tool I got from Classic Performance Products when fabricating my brake lines to put a double flare on the other ends of the lines once cut to length and bent (though without the nut). Though they'll have rubber hose clamped to them, the flare will prevent the hose from pulling off.

With the plumbing clamps cut off at their bends and welded to the tubing, I had a lightweight cooler mount with insulated rubber mounts for the cooler itself, for under $10 and a couple of hours of time invested!

The short section of tube shown in the previous picture was formed to make one of the two cooler lines entering and exiting the trans. Gearstar supplied my trans with unions to accept 5/16 double flared fuel line fittings (arrows). The reason for the cooler lines running so high is to clear the exhaust pipes as they'll have to run through here. I'll use Thermo Tec heat shielding on the lines to protect from the heat. While probably unnecessary, I always like to double clamp any rubber hoses on trans or fuel lines for added safety.

I'll paint the bracket semigloss black when I get around to final paint and assembly. This shows the trans cooler lines running down through the lower front pan. You can get a better view of the captive rubber mounts here. And yes, I still have to add hose clamps to the cooler lines!

No expense was spared when it came to fabricating a mounting bracket for the cooler! Four household plumbing clamps were modified to accept 1/2-inch rubber captive nuts, while a couple lengths of leftover steel fuel line were bent to form a bracket.

Here's the cooler mounted behind the grille. It doesn't block airflow through the condenser and radiator, has plenty of airflow around it, and has the added bonus of hiding the gold-colored A/C line ends from view through the grille.

The trans cooler lines were routed along the chassis rails, terminating just under the radiator core support. Separate lines were then routed up in front of the radiator to the cooler. I'll paint these semigloss black to camouflage them.