That is a beautiful shroud by Just Gary! My mechanical fans are both 19 1/2 (the 4 blade and the clutch fan) PhilA said it was the ring around the fan that was critical in a shroud and sure enough 60s Chevies w/o AC really only ran a ring with the 4 corners open. A ring is easier than a total shroud. And then there is 2Olds T! If SPAL can cool it?! I am still confused but I am learning a lot thank you all.
You're absolutely right about a shroud becoming a door instead of a funnel if it's too close. I've tried shrouds in close quarters, and you will find it wont help at idle, and may result in the engine running even hotter at highway speeds when it blocks air flow. I would make sure I had a quality fan that moves enough air, and get it within 1" of the radiator core for it to pull air well.
At road speeds, the areas of the shroud that have the cooling flaps are where the incoming air gets trapped, and in some cases will raise the temperatures. This is why the flaps are installed to balance the air flow from stop lights to road speeds. Every car has it's own unique character, front grills, bumpers, hood drop, so we have to figure out what needs to be done to overcome these obstacles. This arrangement can be used on both electric and mechanical fans. As to the fuel related issues, Jim addressed that perfectly using the Wix return style filters. Sharkco: It would be very helpful if you could take the time to take good pictures of your car, grill area, radiator/engine bay and post them up in the large format. Otherwise we are spending our time working blind.
I called this one in my PU the "Shroud of Torino" since it was from a ford muscle car site. A kit-type shroud that you have to cut the hole in, form the hoop and attach it to the shroud and then rig up a mounting system. I used 4 bolts that on the left side double as the overflow line attachment points. I added a bunch of bucked rivets, four faux reinforcements to the corners (just for looks) and welded brackets to the aluminum radiator to make mounting easy. Then powder coated in semi flat black. Mechanical fan, Desoto Hemi. And shrouds are not just beneficial for mechanical fans. I called this one "Shrouded Cover-up". It one is Lee's creation at Br***works on my roadster. I had to run an electric in front of the blown flatty so we did as best as possible to hide it by burying it in this rather shiny shroud. I might add it cools the flatty very, very well. Like I said, out of sight/out of mind even with my hood off you cant see the silly fan.
According to Engineer Dale Kelly, written in July 1957, the 57 Olds J2 temperature gauge tripped the "Hot" light on the dash at 232*. I truly feel that allot of folks never realized this regarding their old cars and trucks, somehow they have a memory that says they all ran at 160-180 degrees, which is far from reality. Link to the data: Popular Mechanics - Google Books
Someone asked to see this . . . I'll do my best as it was at least 15 years ago. The aluminum race car radiator was sourced from Speedway (I think). Picked up for cross-flow and size. The shroud was sourced from two Toyota(?) pickups mated together to have the side bulge on both sides.
Oh! the horror…..your shroud doesn’t cover every square inch of the radiator body….the inefficiency. … my Ford’s misses the bottom 1/4 because of trans lines and works fine. Nice JK
Standard GM fan ducting. Even the arm holding it has a hole in to allow air through. Non-standard 6-blade flexi fan which moves a significant volume of air, even at idle. Noisy at speed. The only way you'll have a quieter fan is to either get one with staggered blades that cuts down on the single-note howl, or use a viscous clutch if you have space. Phil
I worked at a Lincoln/Mercury dealer in the early 70's and we sold Pantera's. There was a Ford bulletin about the Pantera running 260 degrees in traffic. If you verified the temperature and it didn't exceed 260 (the cars had 22 lb pressure caps) the fix for the customer who was worried was a 1/4 ohm resistor in series with the gauge.
I was told to only worry when it gets over 240. I’m use to working on new cars that the fans don’t come on until over 225. 260? Wow.
...and that's why they stopped using gauges showing actual temperature in cars. People who think they know what the ideal temp get worried when reality doesn't agree. If it's just a gauge showing red or green people are happy as long as it's green. Keep it simple, stupid!
Saw your roadster at the Beaches Wed. night opener last night! It's a fantastic car, and we all fell in love with it!
Have you tried using an infrared heat gun to check your system at various points. When its running cool, check the water coming out of the engine to the radiator. Then check the temp coming out of the radiator back to the engine. Check the fuel line temp too. Then do the same thing when its hot and see how much temp drop you are getting thru the radiator. Also check for the possibility of radiator hose collapsing and restricting flow. Another trick is modifying the radiator (if its a crossflow) so that it makes a triple p*** instead of a single p***.
Yeah, had a blast last night. Having the Slo-Poks there makes it quite an event. Thank you for the compliments, sorry I missed you. Would like to meet sometime.
Billy, we were talking to Mark Brislawn,and told us about the best built car at PIR last night. After following his directions, when we found it, it turned out to be your 34. Highly detailed machine, great workmanship throughout, sorry we didn't get to visit.
Those are some mighty high compliments Marty. I am sorry I missed you, big turnout and a beautiful PNW evening in the park. Sounds like there was quite the HAMB turnout last night. We need a banner and a reserved night under the shade trees for all the local HAMBers.
The Jalopy Journal
