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Can I run a fan off of a crank on a Chevy?

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by brian26, Apr 3, 2009.

  1. For hood clearance I had to go with a radiator that lays back 45 degrees (Art's).

    No room for a fan on top, how about an adapter to runa mechanical fan off of the crank pulley?


    [​IMG]
     
  2. wrenchrocket
    Joined: Mar 16, 2005
    Posts: 197

    wrenchrocket
    Member

    got any pics of the engine bay?
     
  3. No I don't.

    You can see the radiator leaning back and a waterpump end close to it here though. There is plenty of room on bottom for a fan, but I wondered if there was such a thing as an adaptor for these.
     
  4. DocWatson
    Joined: Mar 24, 2006
    Posts: 10,273

    DocWatson
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Build a shroud with an electrical fan, set it in the shroud enough that it wont be seen.
     

  5. dannyego
    Joined: Mar 12, 2008
    Posts: 1,387

    dannyego
    Member

    why not just run an electric fan? I cant see a fan on the crank being that efficeint with the angle of that radiator. You would have to make some sort of bizarre shroud as well
     
  6. Locomotive Breath
    Joined: Feb 1, 2007
    Posts: 708

    Locomotive Breath
    Member
    from Texas

    Yes, you can but I don't know of an off the shelf adapter. If you do find or build a crank adapter stay away from the stainless flex fans. The vibration from the direct crank mounting causes them to crack rather quickly. The black injection molded "Flex O Lites" work just fine and don't crack.
     
  7. Thanks.


    May have to go with an electric fan. Crazy thing is, my brother is a machinist with his own shop, but I hate to bother him. (The wifey hates race cars, new or old)
     
  8. 35Chevy.com
    Joined: Nov 27, 2007
    Posts: 542

    35Chevy.com
    Member
    from New Jersey

    Im sure you could but with the radiator laid back the fan wont blow any air thru the coils

    Gary
     
  9. dbradley
    Joined: Jan 6, 2007
    Posts: 1,036

    dbradley
    Member

    You might look at extending the nose to seal off at the radiator and install an electric fan that "fills" the nose in FRONT of the radiator. This will be slightly less efficient since its harder to PUSH the air through than PULLING it through from the backside. So get the highest CFM rating that will fit in there. Be sure to seal the radiator all the way around, sides... top.... bottom and seal the fan to the nose. And use a thermostat. OR, you could just run it on alcohol :D
     
  10. Mr48chev
    Joined: Dec 28, 2007
    Posts: 33,822

    Mr48chev
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Take a look at a fan off a late 80's Cad Deville front wheel drive. I have two of those cars and the fans can pull some real air. They are pretty thin and should be dirt cheap in the junk yards.
     
  11. Revhead
    Joined: Mar 19, 2001
    Posts: 3,027

    Revhead
    Member
    from Dallas, TX

    the turbocharged 86-87 Buick grand nationals had crank mounted fans for the intercoolers, don't see why you couldn't do the same here.
     
  12. donut29
    Joined: Mar 6, 2006
    Posts: 1,518

    donut29
    Member
    from canton MI

    We have a crank mounted fan on are 40 merc been on there for over 15 years now I think it came from MR.40
     
  13. Have talked to Mr 40, their supplier went out of business a couple of years ago. They cant get them anymore and did not know of anyone that makes them now. I have a couple of 40 Fords that I would like to run the fan like that, there was an article a few years back about cooling the 40 with their crank mount fan. Works great, am going to have to fabricte my own if I cant find these anymore.
     
  14. oilslinger53
    Joined: Apr 17, 2007
    Posts: 2,500

    oilslinger53
    Member
    from covina CA

    not sure how well it would work. waterpump pulleys that the fans are usually mounted to are smaller than the crank pulley, meaning the fan would spin considerably slower at any given engine rpm than it normally would. just my thoughts. it would probably work
     
  15. i recall seeing that crank fan drive from Mr 40 , if you have access to a lathe i see know reason why one could not be made. i just measured stock SBC pulleys from a 283 and the water pump pulley was slightly larger than the lower one , meaning the pump turns slower than the crank...so mounting the fan on the crank should not cause any problems

    after saying all that , you are probably better off just using an electric
     
  16. Rick Sis
    Joined: Nov 2, 2007
    Posts: 710

    Rick Sis
    Member
    from Tulsa OK

    It sounds kind of scary to me. My concern is spinning anything at a higher RPM than it may be rated for, and I'm also uncomfortable about hanging something on the crank unless I knew for sure it wouldn't effect the balance. So, unless the fan was designed for the application, I would proceed with caution.
     
  17. Von Rigg Fink
    Joined: Jun 11, 2007
    Posts: 13,418

    Von Rigg Fink
    Member
    from Garage

    i think you have reached the need for only using an Electric..with that angle on the rad. and the low setting crank I dont think you would be pulling much air thru the radiator anyways..more like sucking up shit off the road..
    shroud a nice big electric in there and add a few fail safes into your set up..and cross your fingers it never takes a shit on you in traffic or many many miles from civilization
     
  18. Electric fan it is. Thanks guys.
     
  19. Buick Grand National Turbo cars have a plastic fan on the crank.
     
  20. Back in the day Walt McHorter made a drive for the supers. It was his own design and used a ford 6-cylinder ford water pump. The entire idea was to lower the fan placement to get it to run centered up in the radiator. Chat with some of the old super guys that you might know to see if any of these parts are still around >>>>.
     
  21. plym49
    Joined: Aug 9, 2008
    Posts: 2,802

    plym49
    Member
    from Earth

    Absolutely. The 322 nailhead Buick in my tub has this. The car was built in 53 and it has never given a problem. On my car, if the fan was mounted on the water pump pulley the fan blades would hit the radiator tank. By moiunting it on the crank there are no clearance issues.
     

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