Your shroud is stronger than some I've seen for the tri 5's. Reckon you could step up to a fan with more blades ? Neat post.
I wonder if using vinyl would do anything different? How is vinyl different for fiberglass, newbie ass question.
You need some kind of fabric that the fiberglass resin will soak into so I don't think vinyl would work.
I want to say thanks for the tech, took your lead and built one myself. Had to do some rework from the original as the bottom radiator hose interferred with the bottom of the shroud. Just cut-out around the hose so there was no more contact with the shroud, cut a fairly heavy plastic drink cup in half, placed it over the cut-out on the inside of the shroud and glassed it in. Installed the shroud Monday afternoon just in time to jump in and head for the airport. Ran noticeably cooler on the way over and then back yesterday evening. I will have to raise the shroud just a hair as the fan makes minor contact with the top of the opening under heavy acceleration.
How did you attach your shroud? From your pics it looks like you moulded the fiberglass around the lip on the radiator.
I just used 2 pieces of aluminum angle and bolted to the radiator support and then into the side of the shroud. They are located about half way down each side so you can't see them in the pictures. I also used a stick on rubber weather strip from Home Depot mounted to the rear of the shroud to fill any gap between the shroud and radiator as well as prevent rattles.
Well, this didn't solve MY problem (the bottom half actually restricted airflow, removed it and it's the same as it was without a shroud), but it did work for hkestes's... Back to the drawing board. BTW, no problem with the heat at all melting the plastic. I'm going to try closing up the areas that allow the air to go around the radiator, and maybe replace my precious chrome 4 blade with a 5 blade. Thios is a shot through the grill, you can see that there is large areas where air can go around the radiator, thats' the underside of the drivers side headers. Looks like I could use a zip tie on those turn signal wires... In this shot you can also see that the flange on the side of the radiator doesn't go all the way down... the piece of aluminum with the red mark on it is the mounting angle.
Cool! Er, I mean not cool! Closing up the gaps around the radiator is how I solved the cooling issues my '41 Ford had. That AND the shroud made a huge difference, even with a four blade fan.
The areas you are talking about that allow air to go around the radiator, are those gaps where the shroud meet the radiator?
No, where the air can go around the radiator from the front directly into the engine compartment... I was also thinking about removing the hood, and putting the bottom piece back on... I have fenderwell headers, and the heat might be building up under the hood, and there is no where for it to escape to.
Brilliant idea, as everyone else says. If it isn't helping your cooling, I seem to remember somewhere recommending that the rear edge of the cowl should leave around half of the blades' depth exposed - this allows air to be thrown out centrifugally, and not all just pulled through like an airplane prop, so moves a much higher volume. It might be worth a try trimming the back edge a bit before you throw it all away?
The top half is only slightly deeper than halfway... I was thinking I could drill holes around the bottom edge to throw the air down and under... I have a 5 blade flex fan I could try too... but I can throw a shop towel at the front of the radiator while it's at idle, and it'll stick... Am I moving enough air?
Sounds like it, although I can't claim to be an expert Many, many years ago I replaced the 250 six in my '67 Camaro with a smallblock. I stuck two fancy electric fans on the rad, but was forever having overheating problems: an older, much wiser person told me to ditch the electrics and put an engine fan back on with a shroud, which I did and never another problem. Later I had a SBC in a Pop (Anglia), with a marginal rad, but with a flex fan and cowl it worked fine. Both my cowls were just rolled rings, with no infill around the edges to cover the whole core area - don't know if that helped any?
UPDATE: Fixed the leaking intake, no other changes... Now the car stays at 175-180 no matter what the conditions... Even through 2 cycles of a stop light in the FL mid-day heat... I'm calling the fan shroud a success.
Very good tech tip! I know you took care of your problem, but I have a couple of observations. In the photos it looks like the overflow hose just hangs in the air. If this is the case, you will benefit from using an overflow tank and a closed system cap. That will keep all the air purged from the cooling system. Also the waterpump pulley looks to be larger diameter than it needs to be. Using a smaller one will spin the water pump and fan faster for the same RPM engine speed. Alden
WOW!!! So simple to do, but I would have never thought of it. My heads now spinning full of idea on all the things I can make using this approach. Thanks, Tom
Why is it great threads from HAMB pop up when you Google. Sweet idea, just found this thread yesterday by Googlin' how to make a fan shroud. Already started the mock-up. A bit of a challenge in my COE with limited access. One thing I did different, since I am still waiting on the UPS person to deliver my 16" fan - I made an 18" disc from Masonite with a 5/8" pilot hole. This locates the fan opening perfectly: Another similar how to article in Street Rodder mag here.
I've had issue with the top of the shroud sagging and the fan coming in contact with it... Fiberglass resin is still just plastic and being next to a radiator, it softens a little. I'm thinking that if I glass in a piece of 1/8" round rod across the top, on the inside where the shroud is unsupported, it would solve the problem.
Here's my first coat of resin over the stretchy cloth - That's 86 cents worth of swimsuit liner remnant. Think I was the only man in the fabric store.....
You da Craftsman! Thanks for taking the time for the post. I really do have a Center Console to build for a 1956 Chevy Truck.
Here's the COE shroud after last wrap - and after rough trim. Challenge now will be to get it in location, even at half a shroud. May have to remove floor boards to get it in there in one piece. Either that or split it down the middle....
I've done a lot of glass work and this is a great idea. Couple of tips for those trying it, you can glass our aluminum frame or mounting bolts in. Locate them on your form and just bury them in the glass. After the bondo coats, use a wrinkle finish paint as primer to avoid having to 100% finish sand it.
Taped her in place for a test - Before it would not hold a shop rag at the top of the radiator at slow idle..... Look at her go now.....
COE shroud all done - Good little project, a few evenings of work over the course of a couple weeks. You can only do so much every night anyway, then let things cure. Did split it down the middle and added a strip of glass for a 2" overlap. Bonded Rotaloc 1/4 - 20 nut plates to the back for the split and mounting. Simply shot it in Krylon high heat radiator satin black. Not very visable so did not bother with a skim coat of polyester spot putty or anything. To heck with the shop rag test - that is a 20x40 terry cloth towel folded twice - 4 layers held in place at slow idle - on top where it had no idle air flow before.
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