Yeah, I like the look of an original metal fan much better but...... Someone handed me a freebie elec. fan. Late model Ford I think. Built a bracket to run it in the roadster. No thermostat yet, just a toggle switch. Quite and moves plenty air. Need to rig a shroud of some kind to improve it. Kept the flattie from a melt down this summer....
I don't believe anyone on this thread has said they would rather use an electric fan over a mechanical setup. On my 56 chevy the original 6 cylinder was replaced with a 350, the radiator was left in the 6 cyl. position and had all the room in the world for a mechanical setup. As a matter of fact, a fan extender even had to be used. My 62 Chevy wagon had the 283 replaced by a late model 350 and the stock mechanical setup works just fine. Streetrods, a different story. I doubt many would be able to use that 4" T Bird setup. I've had many streetrods and only two a 37 Chevy and a 33 Plymouth both with 350's that had enough room for mechanical setup's. On all others electric fans were used due to space constraints. I've also had problems with temp switches, relays and fuses. My point in posting here was to point out that if you do need an electric fan buy the best like a Spal. In this hobby you know your going to get stuck in traffic at some point and overheating or watching a temp gauge is no fun. It could down right ruin your day.
The wife wasn't bothered by the loss of the fan. We were done with the Fiero at that point and were just waiting for the price of scrap plastic to go up before we got rid of it.
Taurus dual fan from a SHO will fit a 24" Mustang radiator with no problems and is thinner than the Taurus single fan for more water pump clearance. Dual Taurus fan in '58 with 24" 1968 Mustang rad and 460:
........Sometimes there a lot of work to get a junk yard fan to work.....Spal fans work very good...... your time is worth something too.....
Some Crown Victorias from the 1990s had an electric fan inside the fan shroud. Even though the main fan was engine driven, heavy duty cooling cars had an electric as a backup in case of overheating. I don't know the CFM but with 18 inch blades they must move some air. I tested it in the house, laying it flat on the floor and it sucked all the crap out of the carpet. In cops cars they kept idling engines cool all day. In civilian cars they were only backup so were hardly used and are in good shape. Look for the 2 wire plug entering the shroud on top of the passenger side. They are bolted to the shroud with 3 tabs. I haven't installed it yet. My Taurus fan is pretty good. Not great, but good. http://members.shaw.ca/pekpress/electricfans.html
I'd break out the torch before I used a shitty electric fan, I hate 'em with a passion. The only cars I've ever had with cooling problems, were electric, stock AND aftermarket.
This was quite interesting and very helpful. I only have 2.5 inches between water pump and radiator- looks like an electric is out and I am back to the old school fan stand by for the next thread HOME Made Shroud- Lets see em hahahhaa oh my aching back lol
I'd rather change any of the above on the side of the road (but have never had to), than a water pump that is worn out from the extra load of a fan blade.I won't even get into the unreliable clutch type fans (not that the design is bad, they are just junk like most of the new foreign made parts), flex fans that don't cool worth a crap and tend to come apart, or the general safety issues of having a huge spinning steel blade under the hood. It really depends on what you have, though, as far as what works best. Towing, or have a huge engine compartment with a well-engineered factory shroud? Might as well use it. Otherwise, use the biggest electric fan you can find...and be sure to have an alternator that can keep it functioning. You generator guys are out on that one. BTW, a Fiero electric fan is a perfect fit on a 55-57 Chevy, as long as the rad is in the 6 cyl position (ahead of the core support).
Bottom line, electric fans don't belong on a traditional pre '64 hot rod. This is still a traditional hot rod site, no?
ford taurus 2 speed fans... mid 90's they flow better than black magik fans... grab the alternater out of there too... thay are 130 amps of of the box. I use adjustable temp fan kit (the soft start one more expensive higher amperage) from summit. here is an alternate instal http://www.pirate4x4.com/tech/taurus/index.html I used this type install on my motorhome and the temp never went above 190.. even in climbing hills in montana.
Sure, with what was available pre-GTO. I bet you could make a Nissan motor work, or better yet a Prius hippie motor! But it would still be uncool. My mechanical fans don't over heat. I have had problems with electrical fans, however.
The Windstar/Freestar fans are good. But you will have to make a shroud. "...won't even get into the unreliable clutch type fans (not that the design is bad, they are just junk like most of the new foreign made parts..." Have run into the electric clutches on a mech fan yet?
How do you "break out the torch" and make a mechanical fan fit when the engine is within a couple of inches of the radiator or there's no room for the fan to clear radiator hoses? Sometimes the only thing that will fit is an electric fan. Does that mean your not a hot rodder?
Move the engine back. What the hell did guys do for fifty years before there were electric fans, EFI, etc. etc.? Is this a street rod board now?
They did, and still do. Some of the traditional extremists remind me of restorers, always trying to push their rules on everyone else. This isn't correct, that isn't correct...its all a bunch of horseshit. I'll bet 95% of the cars owned by people on this board have at least 10% parts manufactured after 1964. Some may not be obvious, but where do you draw the line? This isn't the Concours d' Elegance. Build your car the way you want it.
`90 and up t-bird with the 3.8 v6 has the same flowing fan as the Mark, just picked one up a couple of weeks ago at the wrecker for $10.00 bux
I had a spare junkyard electric fan for my '88 Celebrity and ended up using it on my Model A radiator. It has been on for a few years now and cools much better than the flex fan I had before. It comes with it's own shroud. I "stock" a couple of junkyard ones in case I need them for either car. Similar ones are on the mid sized GM cars of the late 80s and early 90s. I like the ones with the swirl blades as they seem to work better. My final setup uses a Hella relay and a Chrysler minivan grounding fan sensor to trigger it. The minivan sensor is set to ground at 170 and the car runs down the road at about 180-185 with a 160 thermostat. The relay is protected by a fusible link. Don't use glass fuses in a fan setup. They will slowly melt rather than blow from current flow. DAMHIK!
Richard D, have you ever built a streetrod or a car that that didn't have enough clearance to use a mechanical fan? Or would you tear out the firewall and move the engine back so you could run a mechanical fan instead of an electric one? Who in their right mind would do that? I don't think you "get it". The car in your avatar is far from a traditional hot rod. You don't have to impress everyone with "breaking out the torch".
Nicely put, gman! The mark VIII/tbird is an 18" giant that you need lots of space between the wp pulley and rad. The 3.8 v6 style like off a mustang moves a lot of air and has the built in shroud, but still wasn't narrow enough for me. I used the dual fan setup off a 90s contour or SHO. That way there's no motor right in the middle where you need the most clearance for the wp pulley. Built in shroud, moves tons of air, I like it. If my low speed dies somewhere I stil have the high speed to get me home on. There's lots of positives but you all know what they are. Mainly for me its the only way to get a fan in there.
Sure would, or just do it right the first time. I've seen lots of 1920s and 1930s cars, with full hoods, and mech fans. How did they do it for fifty years without the electrics? I am building my T so everything will be pre-64, and fit a mech fan, drum brakes, F1 steering, etc. P.S. My Riviera is a custom, not a hot rod. I wouldn't even have photos of it here, because it's a '65, but Ryan(the owner of the H.A.M.B.) loves '63-'65 Rivis. It shares the '63 body style, so I squeak by. The wheels are early 60s correct, and the airbags are not visible. And it has a mech fan, no shroud even, and never overheats.
So the guy complaining the loudest about what is traditional and what isn't, has bags on his own car?
We had to use an aftermarket electric fan on a new chevy van...we put a big hydraulic pump in the front of the engine and took up all our space for the mechanical fan. I bought a Black Magic electric as it had the highest rating for aftermarket fans at that time...it worked great and moved a ton of air....watched the temp gauge needle speed down to our set temp....problem was I had to replace it every 18 months...wore completely out...and it was expensive. Admittedly, the guys ran that truck 2 shifts a day {16 HRS a day), every day 'cept Sunday.
I knew it, Richard D doesn't even own a hot rod yet he's telling us to cut firewalls and move engines back to run mechanical fans so we can have a "traditional hot rod". Yeah right, he's going to "break out the torches". It never fails, those who complain the loudest, have the least to contribute.
Come think of it, I used to own a 95 tbird and the elec fan croaked when it was 5 years old or less. For as little time as I have my car on the road it should last 100 years or so LOL
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