[Jay2oh]

Bought the cheapo one in the end, had to cut some foam to place under the fasteners on the cooler side as the ones that came with it did not fit.
To protect the hoses close to the rad I pinched my better half's silicone oven mitts and cut to fit around them.
This is a bodge just to get me going for now and will see how the box performs with it as is, and if it seems okay Ill try and fashion a better bracket to hold the cooler as I'm not feeling great about the current location and fixings I suppose time will tell. Here's some pics of how it looks and the old rad

[Jay2oh]

More pics..

[Johnny 216GSi]

Looks like a decent job to be honest. As you said, it's about trying it out to see how things are long term.

This has to be the answer for anyone with an auto. And you see autos crop up more regularly as classics much older than the R8, as the box prevents the engine from being driven to destruction by people who just want to thrash the cars. So a solution has to exist for all those cars yet to come through to classic status and be in the marketplace at some point.

You may be the first to do this, or at least the first to document it. Your photos are great - they give people a good idea of how to go about the job and what they can expect. That's invaluable. Anyone now searching the site for an answer will come across your post, not to mention anyone Googling the problem directly. Our site regularly comes up on Google searches for various issues with the cars we support.

The cooler is a decent size. Much more like the original Rover part for the Cabby, if not a bit larger perhaps?

I'm assuming the flexible pipe as supplied just pushes straight on the "pronged" gearbox fluid inlet and outlet?

Are you planning to keep the old rad and pipes, just in case a re-corer is discovered that can do the job?

I don't think the ATF cooler circuit not being shared through the engine rad. is a problem at all. The gearbox is bolted to the engine, so there's going to be a lot of thermal heat transfer anyway. I suppose one thing to test will be driving the car in the dead of winter when it's at its lowest possible temp and when the viscosity of the ATF is at its highest, to see if the box still makes smooth gear changes up and down.

[Jay2oh]

Yeah makes sense the auto lasting longer than the manual, just hope it lasts me ha.
I'm going to keep hold of the rad and pipes like you say, might be able to re-core it one day, and the pipes I've kept just
to be able to get them remade as they are well past saving.

I attached the flexi pipes that came with the kit straight onto the nozzles coming from the box and positioned the cooler
in a way that I could keep the top and bottom pipes the same with one at the top and bottom like the original rad.

The one on the right hand side fed into the to, and left one into bottom.

I fed the hoses around to the left as there is a square cut out in the front slam panel ? I think it's called (I'm no mechanic)
but need to make a gromet of sorts to protect from rubbing.

Just a bit of advice when fitting the hose to this cooler, they are a bloody tight fit even with atf on, and if I could do it again I would fit them
first before mounting the cooler
The rad I used was this one: https://www.ebay.co.uk/ipp/315327412579 ... 906.l48352

and that fit perfect, and the cooler was this one: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00OP2GAP8? ... ct_details

It wasn't a difficult job lets hope it goes well long term

[lord sward]

This is a proper thread.

[Jay2oh]

So it's been a while since I put the cooler on and all seems well so far, I use the car for at least 3 days a week and I do about 32 miles getting to work and back on mostly 50 mph dual carriage ways.
The gears feel the same as before installation, a bit of a jerk changing in the lower ones but unsure if that's the norm as they were like it before and it's my first auto rover so might be absolutely fine.

[Johnny 216GSi]

The gears feel the same as before installation, a bit of a jerk changing in the lower ones but unsure if that's the norm as they were like it before and it's my first auto rover so might be absolutely fine.

Great you've given us a status update. This is looking more and more like the answer for people with Honda automatic transmission.

The jerking in the low gears (driveline shunt / inline jolt) is pretty typical of automatic cars and of the R8. If you feel yours is pronounced, take a look at the engine mounts. The one that typically fails first is the front mount and is probably the easiest to replace.

I can't remember now if you've done this already. Was there some controversy over you having fitted a manual mount rather than an automatic one? Or was that someone else? Anyway, that would explain the problem, as would a failed/split mount. After that, since it's a "back and forth" problem you could have a look at the steering rack subframe mount.

[Jay2oh]

Thanks for the heads up on the mounts I'll have a butchers I haven't tried them yet.

[Mr Teddy Bear]

Mine didn't jerk through the gears from what I can remember.

The transmission oil cooler was really fitted for towing purposes; there would be more slip in the torque converter, due to the higher load and the need to generate more torque at the wheels to overcome the inertia of the extra load being towed.

Honda over engineered stuff back then, consider the petrol filter for example.

[Johnny 216GSi]

Mine didn't jerk through the gears from what I can remember.

The transmission oil cooler was really fitted for towing purposes; there would be more slip in the torque converter, due to the higher load and the need to generate more torque at the wheels to overcome the inertia of the extra load being towed.

Honda over engineered stuff back then, consider the petrol filter for example.

I agree with this. And I think John would too. A separate oil cooler such as that which the OP fitted is still "belts and braces" for an auto box. The standard botch is to couple output to input using a short hose and hang the consequences. Rover wanted everything to be right with the R8, and thank god it's rubbed off onto the current ownership too.