I am trying to researching electric fans for the old man and myself. ( both 32 grilleshells). firstly there are a few factors that influence what I am chasing and also a few questions that need answers and not myth. -the fan has to front mount so a pusher is required -it cant be bigger than 14" due to the mounting area -it cant be deeper than 3.5" at the highest point due to the peak in the 32 grille insert ( which drops away to 2.5" depth at the edges. -I want the biggest CFM I can get to cover the blower and the fact that I like to drive in traffic when ever I have to. not shy away from it -straight or curved blade? this is the myth part, as yet I havent found any info that is "scientific" in why curved is "supposedly' better. Ratstertold me his straight blade is ****** loud and the curved in his bimmer was quiet as?? maybe this is the reason? anyone know. - is there a calculation to figure out what CFM you need? there is a vast difference in the CFM and the cost, I can only ***ociate the increase of CFM and cost due to a better motor, as the plastic would cost the same for the same size fan. companies to steer clear of or to go for? I have found ever since I put the blower on the roadster that it is getting hot, I have known about this and played with my set up. going into the all american day it was dribbly speed and when I had parked the rod had hit 230 on the gauge, and promptly decided on turning the car off to spew some of its guts out. this is only the second time it has done this. prior to the blower going on it would run at 160-180 day in day out and I would only have to hit the fan if I was in traffic. you could drive home in traffic, stopping at lights etc and when you got home grab the top radiator hose and hang onto it, that is how cool it ran. when I went to the blower the plan was always to move the fan onto the front of the radiator as I hate the look of it on the engine side and I was restricted room wise. the 12" I had I found to be to 'deep' for the front of the radiator- that is when the measuring tape cam out and I started to pay attention. at a sandown swap I found 3 fans 1x10" and 2x8" so I used the 2 8" ones, I discoved the other day that one was wired in to push and the other pull. so on tuesday night before the local cruise night I rectified that. however it was a cool night , but on returning home I let the car idle and it got up to 180 and looked to go further, I'm not even happy with 180! now at present the car will sit on 160 on the open road ( thats the thermostats opening range) on hot days it might reach 170-175 , that I am happy with due to the increase in ambiant temp. So cooling ability is not an issue, its obviously the ability of the fans to do the 'cooling' when motionless. I dont know the CFM of the fans. the old man did the calcs and the surface area I am covering with the 2x8" fans is actually less than the 12" I had , plus they could be half the CFM to what I had. this is unknown. dont anyone go off on the tangent of shrouds, as its not an option. Does anyone know , -and equation for figuring out what CFM you need -curved vs straight and not myth. -brands? currently looking at SPAL so what is known? -cant be bigger than 14" -cant be taller than 3.5" in the center, and the smaller the engine size the better -would like to get up around the 2000CFM thanks for any help.
You might want to look on the net for Perma-Cool fans. I think they're made in Canada. I have one on my blown Merc flatty but it's mounted on the engine side of the radiator as a puller. It's only 3-1/2" deep but it's 17" OD. Rated at 2750 scfm and blades are straight. I do not have a shroud on it. Most mfgs. of electric fans suggest that a pusher is only 80% as effective as a puller. Mine has a thermostat probe that fits in the fins of the radiator and the thermostat is adjuatable from 160 to 210 degrees F. I also wired to a toggle switch under the dash in case the thermostst quits. Mine's not very noisy and very seldom runs at highway speeds and my motor even stays <180 in traffic on a 95 dergee day.
Here's a chart from custom auto radiator on there fans. Did the ratio of the water pump drive change with the addition of the blower? Sometimes spinning the pumps faster will cause less cooling. Did you add any water wetter or purple ice to the coolant this helps lower the temp 5 to 10 degrees?
Not to hijack the thread but I got a dumb question and it sounds like this is what you are already doing. Can I completely eliminate the mechanical fan that's on the front of my hemi and just hide an electric fan in front of my radiator? I'm using a 38 ford truck grill so there should be room I think. No ugly electric fan showing plus I can gain some room in the engine compartment. edit: I found the answer on the hamb already here: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=95818&highlight=electric+fan that'll teach me to search first i guess!
Flat,My fan is a cooling compontant set up without shroud mounted in front of rad.I do not run themostat any more since I installed blower.I think the air is all ready headed and cycl charge will be hot,.Have not run hot yet, even in the summer.I also do not run a hood I think that helps also.
Not To Be A Wise *** But Your Not Happy With 180 From A Blown Flathead And Only A Pusher Fan Setup?? Thats Incredible. Around 2400-3000 Cfm Would Be My Goal, But I Am Afraid You Will Not Find A Thin Fan With Only 14" Blades That Will Produce That Kind Of Cfm. Beware Of Cfm Ratings Too, Most All Advertised Fans Are Rated At A 0 Pressure. This Means The Blades Have No Restrictions From The Atmosphere. Real World #'s Tend To Be Considerbly Less. I Probably Read But What Kind Of Rad? This Will Make A Diffirence Too. I , Again, Don't Think You Will Realisticaly Be Able To Cool It With Your Restrictions. Just My .02. Shane T.
I'm going to do the same for my coupe, put the 32 grille and the fan in front of the radiator... For this I use a common summit fan.... maximum size for good cooling... Show pictures soon... good luck
blown 49 will check them out, havent heard of that brand, I would dearly love a fan that could do over 2000CFM but seems not many do in 14" size, the ones I have seen on ebay look like they might be cheap ones?? anyone know about them? 4tford, any chance of sending me that chart? I opened it up but cant read it too well. cheers. flatdog, I have thought about pulling the thermostats, but would like to sort this out without having to do that IF possible, but it is one of the next moves I had thought about doing shaneT brand new 4 core radiator, as I have written, rad is doing its job, car is cool when moving its only when sitting in traffic. cheaterpete, do you have the part number or info on that would be interested to know.
One more thing to try are the additives. Evans cooling, Royal Purple, Redline, and many more have additives to water/antifreeze mixes that do make a diffirence(at least in ht two I have used Redline and Royal Purple). Between 3 and 7 degress lower temps are not uncommon.That radiator is doing a hell of a job.
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