Hi HAMBers, My tired orignial radiator in my 63 comet needs replaced. I bought a stock replacement but it was too thick...didn't fit because it hit the fan. Dimensions weren't exaclty the same. I was thinking of replacing with an aluminum with an electric fan. Can I jettison the old fan if I use this replacement. Thanks all, RNY
Depends on the electric fan, they are definitely not all equal. The ones that come on the chinese aluminum radiators generally don't work very well.
No, I meant the steel fan on the car. Is there a spacer that can be reduced to create clearance with the aftermarket radiator you mentioned?
He means the spacer between the water pump pulley, and the stock mechanical fan. If you have a V8 in that Comet, there should be a spacer there. Those can be had in a variety of lengths. If you have an inline-6 the 3-core replacement radiators are a snug-fit. I have an index finger width between my fan and radiator, with an inline-6. If you have an inline-6 the brackets on the ch***is, where the motor mounts bolt on are slotted. You can slot the transmission mount ones, too. I backed my engine and transmission up 1/4" to make sure that everything cleared. Noting beats a copper/br*** radiator from a reputable supplier. Almost none of the aluminum ones that fit this ch***is are any good. If you absolutely must use an electric fan, the only ones that I will tolerate installing are from SPAL. SPAL is an OEM for many major automakers, including those that produce hypercars. If a SPAL fan is goon in a Ferrari Enzo, it is good in you car.
@Bandit Billy was referring to the spacer between the water pump pulley and the mechanical fan. If you have a 260 V8, Ford made spacers in several lengths. Aftermarket also.
There's not a spacer, I don't think. It's bulky where it bolts on for sure. Maybe an aftermarket fan would be lower profile?
This is a 1963 V8 Comet: This one has no fan shroud. Since it does not, you can see the fan blades well behind the top tank of the radiator. Even the thickest (3-row) radiator is not thicker than that top tank, so there is plenty of room for a mechanical fan. There is room for one with an inline-6, too, even with a 3-row radiator. If you have an inline-6, they do fine with the 2-row radiator. The only way that you would have the fan too close to the radiator is if there is a spacer between the water pump and the fan that is too long, or you have a water pump and accessory drive from a much later model Ford, that is inappropriate for this ch***is. Ford made close to 25 different accessory drive setups for the small-block Ford engine over the years, before they even went to the serpentine-belt stuff. Only a few of them will properly fit this car.
All I can add is that I went with a 3 row aluminum radiator with dual electric fans in my F100 with an inline 6. It was a tight fit. Those 12" fans just didn't move enough air to keep the temps from creeping up in 100+ degree temps while driving in town. I went with an engine driven fan with a custom length spacer, and a "Mike Built" shroud. It is really tight and was a total pain to fit. But it stays within acceptable range. After the I did that, I noticed that wifey's Toyota has a multi speed fan. Maybe there's an OEM electric fan that'll do the job and fit in the space you have. Something to look at in any case.
Ford didn't make it easy for engine swaps in the 60s-70s.... and helping you sort out what you have, will go a lot better if you can provide clear pictures of the front of the engine, from a few different angles
Dang, y'all. Spacer popped right off. It was stuck on with paint. Guess I'm good to go. Thanks everybody!
Make sure that the fan clears the pulleys. You may need a shorter spacer to clear or get the same spacing between the fan and the radiator you had before. 60's and 70's Fords were a real headache when I was working on a lot of them in the 70's. Way too much of "If it has this engine and trans it has these _______ but if it has that engine and trans it has those_______ rather than have simple things like brakes be the same on all but the high performance model.
Lots of old cars didn't come equipped with fan shrouds. Unless the factory deemed them a being needed, the car didn't get a shroud. Lots of fan shrouds died with broken motor mounts and were never replaced after the motor mounts were replaced. And lots of radiators were swapped out from junk yards with radiators where the shroud didn't attach to the "new" radiator, didn't fit with the "new" radiator, wasn't deemed as being needed, or were a pain to work around and got pitched.
Fan shrouds became the the norm when the engine set back from longer front ends and radiator supports moved forward. Think of a 59-60 Chevrolet V8 with no shroud and needing 8-10” of a fan spacer to get the fan close enough to the radiator to be efficient. When guys started putting in SBC’s in 55-57 Chevrolets where 6’s had been and left the radiator in front of the support minor heating problems occurred. Move to today with its blends of gasoline and every engine seems to need help and a shroud almost becomes a necessity. It’s the way it is. I like a mechanical fan and what ever it takes ti work.
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