I personally have 8 stands. I want a set of dollies but am thinking I'll build dollies to hold a stand. That way I can raise it pretty high and still move it. I hate dropping it down just to rearrange the garage. We got a Harbor Frieght two weeks ago. I was in there and now I have finally found the floor jack of my dreams. I'm bummed though. I JUST got a new one because my aluminum one broke. The universal joint snapped so it goes up not down. So at HF they have a 3.5 ton aluminum one for lowered cars. Awesome. I could have used that three weeks ago.

As for Trans temps. I would have thought they would be in the 200-300* range so dropping them to 180-185* before cooling them makes sense to me. I cant grasp how it would raise the temp. of the fluid.

 

You are correct Damon; trans temps are in the 300 or slightly higher range. It isn't that the engine temp will raise it a lot higher, but just like ambient temps will raise your engine temp on a hot day; raising the trans fluid temp by running it through a 185 degree radiator will make it hotter than if you just run it through a cooler. There's just no reason to run it through anything that will raise the temp higher, so starting with a cooler that's flowing through air temps of 70-95 degrees is better than running it through a radiator that's 185 degrees on top of the ambient temperature.
Since I had the TH350 rebuilt in the '71 Camaro, it was recommended to me by my transmission guy to separate the trans cooler. The trans he rebuilt in early 1980's was still in it when I sold the car this year, and still working great, so I think he was right.

 

I believe that I've decided to just use the stand alone trans cooler. I can send these lines back and get almost enough money back to buy the cooler. Well, at least the braided hose for the cooler. Oh yeah, more fittings now, super.

Made absolutely zero progress today, even struck out going to town as almost the entire city of Petoskey had a day long power outage. Never been turned away from Walmart AND Home Depot because they were helpless without computerized everything. Was telling the kids that the cashiers wouldn't know how to count change if their lives depended on it. Wonder how much money was lost today? Sitting at the pub drinking my lunch and the power went out in there too. Anyway, no jack stands, cinder blocks or nothin'. Hotter than hell today so it's probably for the best. Would've drowned in my own sweat with this humidity! You got another HF that close to GR Damon? Geez, put one of them suckers over this way! I saw they were selling the floor jack you mentioned on a 1 day sale (July 4) for $79! Wish I could've capitalized on that, just have to use the cheapo ones for now. Think I am going to pick up that cheap welder they've got on sale though, couldn't believe the positive reviews on it. Have plenty of things to practice on - not on the Camaro of course. Would love to be able to get a new tail pan secured eventually though. Mine is beyond gone. I think most of what's left of it is in a pile on the garage floor at the moment.

Not exactly sure why I'm blabbering like that, apologies. There's pressing matters at hand. Could someone please answer the question of what I could do to remove what's left of the parking brake lines coming out from behind the drums? Can I just remove them and call it good without other things falling out of there? Been a while since I tore into drum brakes and never just removed parking brake pieces. I'm not spending the money on a new cable (the remnants of mine were zip tied underneath) and want to remove the pedal as well. I just don't want to leave those thick lines hanging out of the drums. I haven't even looked inside there yet so I again apologize if that's a stupid question. Wouldn't be the first time I've done that of course!

 

Sucks on the power. It is HOT! Today wont be much better.

As for the HF. They slapped that baby 2miles from my house. One mile from work. It is our new go to store for all the stupid stuff we need to run a company. My buddy is head of Maint. he is there daily and I find myself getting to know the place well. Its like crack. The whole freaking town is in there during the grand opening too. I feel bad because everytime they open one the ****** build a new highway or empty city (ever see those). Their making sooo much money its unreal.

You parking brake cables will come off and there will just be a open hole in the backing plate. The entire mechanism can come out without harming anything else. I know this because when I was a kid I never put the PB stuff back in because in Mich. every car with cables was broke or seized. I'm sure you know exactly what I'm talking about.

 

You'll have to release the cables by squeezing the little fingers that hold them into the backing plate. Then the arm inside the drum needs to also be removed so it wont be hanging in there and come loose or bang around.
I'd get a couple 1/2" EMT knock out seals to cover the holes. If you get the 3 piece KO seals they will cover the hole, even though it's smaller than 1/2" EMT. Or if you have a decent hardware store you can buy snap in plugs for the correct size, and put RTV on them before snapping them in. Our Ace Hardware stores have a variety of plugs.
I used the factory lines to install my cooler. Just cut them off about 10"-12" back from the radiator cooler, then put hoses to the remote cooler from there. I put mine in front of the radiator using brackets I fabbed up so there was an inch or so between them. I didn't like the wire ties that tie the cooler to the engine radiator.

 

Think I've said this before but I'm probably lucky there isn't a HF any closer to me. Do they have an "addicted compulsive shopper" hotline like the problem gambling one? You are correct though, it's not called Harbor Freight for nothing. Hate to tell you this, but it's not highways they're building - it's super carriers! As you're aware, it's a pretty sheltered life where I'm at and I was quite excited when they finished the Tractor Supply store last year. That became my go-to store for things like drill bits, wire wheels and nuts/bolts. Then I realized that after I bought the only item on the shelf, they never got around to re-supplying them! Had a lady there tell my that they order based off of "supply and demand" needs. Huh?? Basically what she meant was that a customer had to "demand" they re-order something before they would re-stock it. Now that's a business model there.

I do know what you're talking about with MI cars and parking brakes, hence the reason why I decided to remove what was left on this Camaro. From what I know to be true, it came from CA first but has obviously spent a few years in MI, the cable was snapped and both ends were zip tied up by the frame mounting brackets. As I read your post Vall I was sort of visualizing what it looked like again where the cables clip in. There's an ACE hardware not too far from me and they do have a big assortment of plugs so I should be set there. I've been looking forward to sending these trans cooler lines back ever since I bought them. It's been a while now but we had a discussion about using braided lines off the trans. Your suggestion (which was smart of course) was to just buy the steel lines due to cost, which is what I did. The cooler comes with fittings so I'll just need 2 for the trans and can get 10' of braided stainless for $35. End result is the same price as the steel lines that I want to return. Might as well get busy and send them back today, on the way to the beach! Too dang hot to do much else.

 

The little metal "fingers" that hold the cable into the backing plate are on the inside of the drum. A pair of needle nose pliers will compress them a couple at a time, but if you're not worried about saving the cable you can break the fingers off with side cutters or a screwdriver inside, and the cable will drop out.

 

It works basically the same way as the plug would but in reverse. You know I was thinking about using knock out plugs in the back of my mind. Glad were on the same track Val. I was thinking debris may find its way in there eventually.

Let me tell ya. Our Tractor Supply was Quality Farm and Fleet prior to that. I have another place called Family Farm and Home. Similar to both, they think they cater to a higher class of people though. They sell Husqvarna instead off brand tractors and such (nice huh?). I have a buddy who is higher up there in corporate. He told me there was a blizzard one year. So what do the Guy at QF+F do? They send a truck load of snow blowers to every store in the chain. Even the ones in FLORIDA! Hows that for a business model?

 

Would those be the same Husqvarna tractors that you can buy at Home Depot? Funny about the blowers in FL, there's that supply and demand issue rearing it's ugly head again! We have another similar type of store (local, possibly regional) up here too that sells the same stuff as T S and all the others, but for 4 times the price. It's in case you want a pair of sophisticated s*** kickers.

It shouldn't be too hard to get into those rear brakes and get the cables removed. Those too look very new and must've been all replaced (including the lines back there) along with the rest of the brakes just before I bought it. Looking forward to getting at the rear end/springs but it's another stifling hot one out there today. Planning a trip out to the garage when the sun goes down. Have a day filled with Dr. appts. anyway so think I've got a good plan of attack. FedEx just dropped off another quart of POR as the remaining 1/3 of the can I had left is now petrified. Now I have a little more incentive to get the rest of the bottom finished and ready for paint. Couple days left of the miserable heat (which I know is everywhere) and as long as the crazy storms heading our way leave me a garage to work in, I'm getting this stuff done!

 

Tim, I've been behind on keeping up on the build thread but trying to get caught up. On my build I have a nice big Griffin aluminum radiator with no trans cooler lines so I have no choice but to use an external cooler. That being said, I'm very happy about the fact! I picked up a large cooler off Craigslist that has 2 sections that can be used for different cooling. I will start with the larger section for my trans and if needed loop into the smaller. If I don't need it then I can use it for an oil cooler too. It has it's own fan also and I plan on connecting that through a thermostatic switch in the trans line.

I won't be up to Bellaire until the weekend of the 24th of August but if you need anything from HF I can pick it up and bring it up. I have a ton of 20% off coupons too. I know the jack stands are pretty tough(I have a couple of sets) and I believe they're around $15 for the 3 ton. You can check online. I would be glad to bring anything up.

Car is looking good! I can't wait to get enough of my parts to start my own build thread! Keep up the great progress!