Ok, my avatar has a flexfan in it and it's noisy as all get-out.... But the car doesn't run hot, so it's doing it's job. But the noise really does bug me. Sounds like a school bus when you punch it. So I've been eyeing a clutch fan set-up. I can get one for under $100 with all-new parts. I realize this is marginally 'trad', but I rarely open the hood anyway so functionality is the real question here. Not going electric.... So who is running one? Are there pluses/minuses? Do they put extra stress on the water pump? I'm running the '62-65 all-aluminum SBF water pump/cover, it's not quite as 'robust' as the later pumps so I'm wondering if the extra m*** on the shaft will be a factor.
Why not put on a standard fan and forget about it. The clutch fan may save a tiny bit of gas but it will take years to save back its cost.
I have never had a flex fan that helped cooling. Just flattens out at high rpm to not rob horse power. Dave
I don't care about the gas savings, but they do free up some horsepower. These were pretty common on OEM hi-po motors starting in the early sixties, I'm looking at this as a performance upgrade without the noise....
I may go to a clutch fan. I started with an old Mopar 7-blade steel fan (stock car days leftover) and the car ran hot immediately if I was stopped. Put a shroud on, a little better. Went to a Derale flex fan, kept the shroud and it helped quite a bit when creeping along. But it is loud when I jam my foot into the Holley. I'll have to start scouring eBay for deals.
Clutch fans keep many, many vehicles cool. They run when needed and freewheel when not. Looks may be the only drawback. Not important to you. So many got tossed in favor of flex fans. Seems like the right choice for your car.
I don't own a clutch fan, so I can't vote. It's on the list for both my dormant projects, though. I like the principle it works on.
I use the Hayden 2765 on my 514 BBF. Been on there for 5-6 trouble free years. It's the shortest one I could find with the correct bolt pattern, I think the 428 CJ guys use this as a replacement.
one other thing to ponder is the space between hub and rad as clutch fan takes more space due to viscosity hub.just a thought
I have had a ton of older cars with clutch fans on them. I have replaced a few only one on my own vehicle. I prefer the stat controlled clutch to the engine speed controlled clutch. I actually have one in the ba*****t as we speak. They seem to be a part that is usually found on a heavy car as opposed to a light one.
My truck had an aluminum flex fan on it when I bought it. I replaced it with a regular steel fan from Speedway. It sounded like an airplane was right above the roof! The wife and I could barely carry on a conversation (some may consider that a bonus). I replaced that with an OE GM clutch fan. Nice and quiet. Never had a cooling issue.
I use them on my personal car and most customer cars. The Fan i use is a 7 Blade part number k193 from Cl***ic Industries and the clutch is #215046 from Carquest which is a heavy duty fan clutch for a 70 Cadillac Eldorado or the standard Duty which is a to 215049
This is a stock 7 blade on a factory ac Mercury. It is not quiet, as a matter of fact, it is louder inside the car than the old Thrush Turbos that are on it. I've been thinking about switching to a 5 blade, hoping it will be little quieter. There are pros and cons and it sounds like you have thought about them a good bit. I will say that I have had a fan clutch break at the shaft, while I have never had a standard fan failure. That being said, I have both setups in use.
If it's noisey it must be frozen or stuck.. All mine have been free wheeling until temp went up on a real hot day or climbing a grade..
They can be noisy when they engage. I don't currently have any clutch fans, but I have had many over the years, and they work fine. But yeah, you can be on a long grade and when the clutch engages you'll hear it for sure, and when the temp cools down and it goes back to freewheeling you notice the drop in noise too.
If life is great for me I'll never run another flex fan. I've had too many break in the past 40 years and if they pull enough air they make a lot of noise. Add me to the list that agrees with Jimmy6 in that s55Mercury66's fan clutch is locked up. If it is making a racket when the engine is cold it is froze up for sure.
I just replaced the clutch fan on my coupe with a new clutch fan, the old one was locked up. Everything I own has a clutch fan except the PT, it came with an electric fan. Gene
I try and run clutch fans on all my cars , The roadster and the 37 not so much because it wouldn't achieve the look I'm going for. I never run electric fans on my cars because in my book its one more thing to worry about , while as long as the fan belt is in place the fan is turning. Are electric fans HAMB friendly? Not quite sure And every thing I've ever read and experienced ,that above 35 mph or so a fan is fairly useless ...unless you have a REALLY strong tail wind
There's a pretty long fan spacer installed now, so length isn't an issue. I do need to check diameter though...
Back in the 60's, when I raced my street'n'strip car on weekends, I actually got a dude to trade me his clutch fan for my solid fan and a 6-pack. I didn't do it to save gas or because it might be quieter. I did it because I thought the clutch wouldn't rob as much horsepower for those 1/4 mile blasts. But then again, I spent a lot of my paycheck back then on things I thought would make my car faster. That fan lived a hard life and always ran like a Swiss watch.
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