Almost ready to finish motor mounts and rad. mount BUT not sure about how it will cool. Here the deal no room infront of motor but there is infront of rad. I plan on running AC and hope a 17" pusher fan will cool. The rad is 22"sq. 3 pass alum from 55 chevy it fits in a chopped 35 truck shell with a hood. The engine is a ZZ4 chevy ( thus the hood ) The only thing I can do without moving engine is to go with a smaller rad. that I can move farther into grill. Don't want to move anything but if you guys think it wont cool now is better than after I get it running. And sorry in advance for spelling
I've never seen a pusher fan alone cool much. They usually do more to block the flow of air through the radiator at speed than anything else. Even worse through an A/C condenser too. Radiator looks small as is. I'd be moving that motor back until I could fit a good solid steel fan on there.
I would move the motor back. Run a mechanical puller with a good shroud, and the pusher for insurance. Hard to tell from the picture buy you are running short water pump right?
Pushers are more of helper fan. Pullers are stand alone. I ran an aluminum desert cooler radiator in my '32 with an electric puller fan. The radiator was so efficient, I never used the fan, even in traffic on 100 degree days. It always ran at 185. When the radiator started leaking, I went with a copper brass radiator, but it wasn't as efficient as the aluminum. In traffic, I had to use the fan.
Lots of new cars come with pusher fans only, and they cool just fine. The whole thing about them blocking airflow is a myth, I have installed pusher fans and they work fine with the right size fan.
Thanks - To know is always better. The chopped 32 rad that speedway sells is smaller 20.5 x 17.5 this would let me move it forward so I could get a puller on it. But you said my 22" square may already be to small. A mechanical did not work on my Avatar 34 had to use THE FAN MANS fan the one one with the side motor worked all summer long AC and Calif. Anyone ever try the Speedway rad? I think it's a Griffin ( the one's with the Epoxe )
The new Cooling Componets puller and shroud is only 2 5/8 inches thick. I just got one for the 32 panel project. I think one should run an alternator with it. They recomend a 70 amp. relay.
With just the radiator you might get lucky... with an a/c condenser up there... no friggin way. Pusher fans are aids to assist in drawing additional air through the radiators core and the condenser at low speed or when there isn't much frontal area to create suction and venturi... nothing more. Remember... you want to create a vacum to pull air through the radiator... and condenser. Is there any possible way to move your radiator forward? Can you retab the mounting and/or shell? I'd explore your options as much as possible. It's that or your going to have to move that engine back a touch. If you plan to run a/c I'd suggest either a pusher fan in addition to a engine fan with a shroud. For the most part from our experience at the shop... electric fans suck... and not in a good way. An engine driven fan blade (not some cheap p.o.s. flex fan) with a properly fitting shroud will outperform the electrics every day of the week. [edit] here's one of many threads on this subject... http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=299097
Both of my 3500 lb. daily drivers, with A/C, P/S, P/B, and closed engine compartments have mechanical fans that cool great in Houston heat. Make room for a good fan, and forget the ugly, inefficient plastic stuff.
Lots of new cars come with pusher fans only, and they cool just fine. The whole thing about them blocking airflow is a myth ...and Toyota spends $1 million designing the entire nose of those cars to make it work - and it's still a bad idea.
My car is quite different..HOWEVER..very small compartment..even smaller grille with a Griffin 18X17.5 and puller with shroud cools even here in southern Arizona in summer. Motor is 350..worked camels..about 10:1. Runs on thermo (185*) occasionally going to 200* in summer. Never any spitting. Unit was sold with shroud and fan. Added the flex fan to get more ait under hood..solved vapor lock issues.. Two years running the small Griffin 2 core (1" tubes)..suprised how well it worked.
Very nice Jag. I just helped a little on Sloppyseconds Grandpa's Jag it's like yours but oringinal it ran hot untill fan could be replaced, but very cool car.....Jim
Other things to consider: antifreeze is a lousy coolant. Use only enough for your environment; I live in TX, garage my car and use no antifreeze, just distilled water and a bottle of Red Line Water Wetter. Make sure your system is always full by having a recovery tank that always has some water in it; if it runs dry, the system will be sucking air when it cools down. Many tanks are too small; use the biggest you can fit. Use a cap with a pressure rating high enough to ensure the engine doesn't boilover, but not so high the radiator springs a leak. I run a 7# cap in the winter and a 13# cap in the summer. I run two electric pusher fans with a Dakota Digital controller. And I don't use a thermostat; it restricts water flow. The fans keep the temp in a 5 degree range.
Electric fan manufacturers will tell you a pusher is only 70% as effective as a puller. My puller is only 3-1/4" deep and works well with my blown flattie in traffic. It doesn't even run when going down the road @ 60-70 mph.
I had two pushers on my 34 when I first bought it, and it would get hot in traffic. The water pump pulley was only half inch from the radiator, so that's why the builder went with the pushers. I bought a stainless fan from speedway, with the blades angled inward, that worked on the pump pulley. The angle of the engine was the same as the radiator, and you could see the blades pull toward the radiator when the engine revved, but it never came in contanct with the radiator, and it solved my cooling problems. Rich
Run only a pusher on my 37 coupe with a flatty. Stays cool. I think you're playing with fire (pun intended) trying to get one to cool with AC.
Your wrong. You need Antifreeze. It acts as a lubricant, and keep internal parts from rusting. Plus you also need a thermostat. The coolant will pass through the radiator too fast, and won't cool it as efficient. Trust me, I'm ASC Certified. You might be patching a problem with your method.
I run a 15 inch pusher through a Walker radiator specific to my 54 (no A/C) and a stock 305 small block. Fan cuts in during summer heavy traffic and maintains 180F through an adjustable thermostat switch all the time. Under driving speed the fan doesn't come on.
FWIW I have a similar problem in my '51 Ford, pulleys too close to the rad and reworking the motormounts isn't an option right now...I'm running a horrible flex fan as a pusher(you already know how well that works). I trieed to run a v6 mustang single fan(same as a contour or taurus fan, can't remember but its the internet hot setup) but it interfered with WP pulley. So now I'm trying a dual fan from a Ford(taurus, contour, whatever) becuase since there are 2 fans side by side the motors don't interfere with the center pulley, and I can even trim the shroud a little if need be in the center. Good luck
huh... The longer coolant the stays in the radiator the better it cools down... or at least has a chance to. There's an aluminum radiator manufacturer out there that claims it's radiators cool XX% better than a copper brass radiator... but when it came to put up or shut up with us they admitted that was only if underdriven pulleys were used... now why would that be? I'll tell you why... so the waterpump turns slower and keeps the coolant in the radiator longer so it can cool down... well duh... you can do that with ANY radiator. No wonder they refused to take a wind tunnel challenge that we offered to pay for. False Advertising... apparently it works oh yeah... let me add that for every pound of pressure you add to your radiator cap you increase your boiling point 2 degrees...
1) The Red Line Water Wetter has all the additives that would come in ordinary antifreeze. Check their website redlineoil.com. 2) I don't buy the "slow flow cools better" theory. It doesn't compute if you do a little basic thermodynamics re heat transfer, etc. I broke a lot of "everyone knows" rules when I built my car. But I'm open to contrary arguments backed by scientific facts.
Decker, ASE Certified. I must be getting old. I'm certified in Engine Repair, Engine Performance, Front Suspension/Steering, and Brakes. I've been a Mechanic since 1963 Tweakman, Looks like you still doesn't get it. I don't know about Red Lines Water Wetter's additives. If so that's OK, but coolant running through the radiator too fast will not do the job it's supposed to do. It WILL NOT GIVE IT TIME TO COOL. Think about it. You mean the faster the coolant cool goes through the radiator faster it cools? That doesn't make sense. The faster the water pump pushes coolant through the radiator doesn't make the radiator efficient. Put your finger in a fire, Then blow on it for a second or two. Then stop. It will still be hot. The more you blow on it the cooler your finger will get.Or put it in ice for a second or two. Wouldn't you want to keep your finger in a little longer???? I don't know how I can explain it any better. You need a Thermostat
neither do all of the customers whose cars we've fixed over the years that "knew how to make it better"... and I work at a shop that specializes soley in automotive heating and cooling. maybe you just got lucky... try these ideas with your daily driver and get back to me.
the new cooling components fan as stated before is 25/8s thick and pulls 2700 cfm plus/ it works its a puller. ran one on 32 with air 180 degrees just put another on 40 ford/ going to install another one on another 40/ run a themostat / antifreeze/ and have used water wetter. 180 air off, 195 200, air on 90/ 95 degree day
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