I made some progress putting the pieces back together today, but now I’m stopped until I get some more material.
I think I said before that I decided my direction forward was going to be 3/8” OD nickel-copper tubing and steel hydraulic fittings. I ordered a set of 37 degree dies for my Mastercool hydraulic flaring tool and a bunch of fittings from Hydraulics Direct. This was the first time I had ordered from Hydraulics Direct - they had a nice selection, the prices weren’t bad and they shipped out quickly. I’ll definitely use them again.
I had toyed around with the idea of using some hydraulic hoses for the remote trans cooler to make installation easier, but then I decided that if I was thoughtful with my execution, then I could do hard lines to the cooler as well. So in my fitting order I included some bulkhead fittings. I added a bracket to the existing housing for the cooler to anchor the bulkhead fittings. I slapped some paint on it and then today ran the tubes. Hoses were definitely easier to run before, but I do like the way this looks.
After that I ran the lines from the bulkhead fittings to the trans cooler thermostat. That was pretty straight forward. I covered the tubes in Techflex Fireflex sleeving. I had originally planned on just doing small sections, but the more I thought about it as I ran the tubes, the more I liked the idea of nearly 100% coverage - not only would it help to keep exhaust heat out of the trans fluid, but it would also protect the tube from abrasion. I attached the tubes to the body with some double-ended cable ties and sheet metal screws.
And that’s where I stopped…..unfortunately I had only purchased 10 feet of the Fireflex and so with using more of it in the rear I had used it all up. I liked how it fit so well that I have ordered some more, but I won’t have it until Wednesday now. Oh well, better to do it the best way and delay a couple days than regret it later on.
So I then turned my attention to the hood. I have had some of Design Engineering’s Underhood Thermal Acoustic Lining to install and this seemed like a good time to do that. Like the Tahoe, I had some drone that comes into the cab from the front. It seems to come from the intercooler and it’s aimed right at my head when I’m driving. If I lean to the middle of the truck it disappears, but once I’m in normal driving position or leaning against the door window it nails me. It’s worst at 2500 RPM. I had already filled all the hollow cavities in the hood with expanding foam, but it was still there, so next was this stuff. I applied one layer in the sunken triangles at the back of the hood and then I applied a solid layer over that. Hopefully it helps. If it’s still droning (which I expect it will be), then I think I’m going to attempt to make some kind of acoustic cover for the intercooler and intake of the engine.
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