Technical Transverse front suspension travel

Not sure how a Y block cools; but in my experience a 13" fan is not much more than no fan, even with a shroud.
Maybe hide the your electric fan in a shroud, may look better; even if you can still hear it hoovering.

 

In your opening question you wondered how much movement you could expect under full compression.
Perhaps a more important question is how much movement there is at full rebound!
It's hard to tell just how much clearance there is between your tie rod and your frame.
It appears the only thing limiting rebound is the front shocks at full extention.
If you jackup the frame by the front crossmember you can see how much rebound is possible.
Entering driveways at an angle or driving over a speed bump, etc can cause a lot of wheel travel.
I'm not trying to be an alarmist but this is something I've been thinking about while following your build thread.

 

The whole set up is beautiful, but I wondered too about what he said...^^^

 

Thanks, I built the mounting bracket for it and it is the thinnest electric fan I could find.
Flexalite 111.
It’s only 12” and moves a fair amount of air.

I just don’t like the sound of it running.

Thanks
I’m going to try to take the time to get it the way I want it.
I’m picky like that

If I wanted to use those I couldn’t as my tie rod ends sit on top of my steering arms so the drop would be upwards

I’m not going to get into the whole love hate thing some guys have with flex fans, as far as I’m concerned there’s nothing wrong with them and that’s that.
I have used them as have many of my friends.

@dana barlow uses the same Derale 13”flex fan without a shroud to cool his Yblock without any problems


My buddies T RPU runs a 14” flex fan with no shroud cooling his 351 W with a cut down 32 rad and shell.
His flex fan has been in service for over 20 years.

Blake and Brian
My tie rod is 1 3/4” above the top of the frame rail and doesn’t hit it at all.

I tested it all out for maximum up and down and lock to lock while steering movement to make sure there was no contact.

Something to keep in mind guys is that while I’d like to take full credit for the way I fabricated and set up this front suspension, I pretty much copied what Shadowrods did with their HCLR 27 T chassis.
At least for the front suspension spring crossmember and steering.

They run the tie rod over the frame and behind the rad using the same parts I’m using.
(Steering arms)

A proven example of it is the Street rodder Road tour car they built.

I think it’s going to work fine I just want to sort out this fan thing.

 

I'm running a high angle 13" solid fan. These high pitch angle fans pull a LOT of air compared to normal fans. Pull roughly the dame CFM as a common pitch 17" fan. We ran 19" high pitch on dirt late models with no shroud and had no cooling problems. Hoping it works here since I don't have much room between the fan and lower hose.
SPark

 

Admittedly i scrolled past most of the post but in several similarly packaged cars we’ve put zip ties on the shocks and found no matter how hard we beat on them over thousands of miles they only ever moved about an inch and a half.

I think if you can clear two inches of compression you’ll be ok.

 

Thanks Tim , I’m glad to hear some real world experience.
I’m pretty sure I’ll have between 2 and 3 inches.

 

Yeah man your fine

 

You should be able to see the zip tie on the shock. That would represent the largest amount of movement.

That's after a full season of driving that included at least one big enough bump to dent the oil pan with 5" of ground clearance.

 

I do use a 13in. alum flex an have for many years,I did have a shroud also,tell 5 years ago,too be real about it,worked even better with the shroud. I left it off when replacing a water pump,do to trying to get to a fun get together one day. So far have not put it back on for five years{this is nothing but lazy on my part an the fact that I now have no idea were I put the shroud =I'll likely have to make another one. It is needed for lots of stop an go in city,that I do avoid as much as pos. I can hear my Dad say"Do as I say,not as I do" Run a shroud with any fan. !!!!!
Front spring flexs on my rod alowing about 1in, to 1.5 in. most bumps/axle to frame space in 3in. Front spring is custom made by me,from a number leafs from springs I had,too make hight an soft I needed.

 

If it doesn't work for you, you have the option of moving the fan up using a zips water pump riser.

 

I really appreciate all the input guys. I'll have the new fan soon and I'll know if things will work.

 

Would it be possible to build a couple of unobtrusive bump stops.
On mine (SBC) I built a 1" water pump riser. Looking at your engine (Y block ?) not sure if that is possible.

 

Not even sure if your asking this,but Y-block v8 Fords do have on some trucks a high fan mount set up.stock. But its about 6in. higher then car that is on water pump nose.
Bump stops can be as out of site as just a cut of old tire{ 1in. x 4in, and thick as the part of old tire you pic.
Bolted to under side of frame/be sure to have bolts were they don't hit also

 

No love, or hate for the flex fan. But a suggestion to put the fan on your list of things to check regularly as they have been known to crack where the blades attach. Probably not a bad idea to check any mechanical fan on some sort of regular basis.

Now finish up and get out for a drive! (When the weather is nice)
-Dave

 

It's hard for me to determine from the picture, but with a fan close (1/2" or so) from the radiator, it looks to me that you have enough room.
Beautiful build
Jim

 

It's a little late now, but if you would have increased the wheelbase a few inches, everything would clear. Hindsight is 20/20.

 

Everything is going to be great.
I love the proportions I've achieved and the look.
No need for hindsight here, a longer wheelbase would not be a change that would have been appropriate to my goals or vision of this car.

 

He's got at least 4 months before that's likely so plenty of time as long as he stops changing his mind on everything.

 

Yup true enough Ian, It's an evolution. That darned electric fan bugged me from day one, I kept trying to convince myself it was going to be fine.

 

It gets better every time he changes his mind though.


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Yes it does. Nice ride.

 

Nope, I'm running a Ford in my Ford. Never seen a Zips riser for a Ford!
SPark

 

If you were to build one everyone would want one.

 

I used max drop steering arms from speedway with the tie rod beneath the bones with the tie rod ends attaching beneath the steering arms. No scrub line issues, ground clearance or interference with anything. Your setup looks great, just sharing what works well for me.

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Forgot to say, 4 inch axle drop and mono leaf spring.

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I don't like hearing an electric fan, either. But with a injector pump on the front of my roadster's engine, it became a necessity. And the one I chose years ago had a shroud built into its mounting parts. I put on a simple switch and controlled the fan myself. Cruising around, going down the highway it was off. And you know what? You can see when you're coming into a situation where you need it on. And you can anticipate it and turn it on yourself. Worked for over 20 years.

 

This is way too late now and I don't know if you thought about it and rejected it. Looking at your pictures again would it have been possible to Z the front of the frame the height of the radiator mounts right behind where the tie rod crosses and run the tie rod underneath the frame?

 

Maybe possible but way outside what I wanted to accomplish with this build.

Personally I’m against putting a z into the front end of any frame.

Too many times with front and rear z frames the result is a low slung belly dragging contraption that just looks wrong and out of proportion.

I was after a more classic hot rod look.

 

Received my new fan today it’s a nice piece.
I’m going to work on it this weekend.