My 29 runs 180 going down the road but heats up to over 200 when sitting in traffic which I don't like. It has an electric fan which was wired to come on with the ignition. It has a Walker radiator with built in A/C condenser which is not hooked up. The radiator has a small leak which is just seeping so I just pulled it out and will bring it to a radiator shop for a flush and repair. I want to install a shroud but the fan is mounted flush to the radiator because of the blower snout and drive (see photos). If I make a shroud that is flush to the back of the radiator will it work or does it have to be spaced back a little? It seems that if it is the latter my only choice would be to move the radiator/grill shell forward a bit (maybe an inch). I guess it wouldn't be a big deal but I'd like to run a hood or at least a hood top so I'd have to custom make one. I'd rather jus run a flush mount shroud. Anyone done that before?
The way its shrouded now you are only covering 50-60% of radiator. Whatever it takes to correct that.
You could try your local pic n pull and look for the early Ford Taurus shroud and fans. You know, the 80's Taurus with the front fascia where there is very little grille opening and is mostly paneled in. They have one of the most efficient fan set ups in the industry Plus the shroud may be closely dimensional to what you have/need (and it is a dual fan set up to boot). The design of the grille on the early Taurus meant that Ford needed to come up with a high efficiency fan/shroud that could literally **** a camel thru the eye of a needle. It's food for thought and the dimensions are close ... .
Have you looked at the Cooling Componants Inc thin shrouded electric fan? I have used these on several cars and really like em.
you need at least 3/4" gap between the shroud and the radiator or your just gonna block things up. No room to do that I suppose, so you'll need a bigger fan or a shallower one. is there anyway to space the radiator foward an inch?
Dude, really? the shroud should be no less than 3/4 deep with the fan mounted outside or its not gonna work. this shroud has a 2" air gap with the fan mounted inside. Any closer than 3/4" gap between the shroud and the radiator will only block off the areas not open to the fan and cause it to get hotter faster and probably all the time. Shrouds should also have leaks, so that when the vehicle speed is faster than the fan can pull it wont cause overheating at speed, thats what the holes are for.
WTF??!! Never put a cooling system together huh. Da Tinman nailed it, there is really nothing to add to that. Just remember you don't have to build a 2inch gap, it can be smaller. Doc.
i never put a cooling system together.........whats that mean......cause i don`t think 200 is overheating?
2-3 inches is as perfect as you can get, but you can get good results down to 3/4". Are you planning on using the ac portion of that rad? if not trade your FIXED high dollar waste of space (LOL) for one without the ac condenser and that will save you enough space (1 1/2" I bet) to make a decent shroud without moving the nose forward to accommodate things. Anytime the temperature of the motor gets more than 10-15 degrees over the rated opening temp of the thermo,, there is an issue. With a 180 thermo, 200+ degrees in traffic is overheating. May not be deadly but when its your baby and your money on the line to fix it you have a right to be concerned.
with that ****py parts store fan, you can shroud it all day and its not gonna help, just get a better fan, those autozone specials ****........there....done
gesus Dude,, why don't you go sit at the little table and drink your juice while the adults have an intelligent conversation. we'll get back to helping you color inside the lines after supper. you have added nothing constructive to this thread AT ALL. **** out so we can help solve the dudes problem without useless dribble from you. if that sounds offensive,,, its supposed to.
just love it how a guy comes on her for advice and a bunch of know it all wanna help him redesign the wheel and talk all fancy and read online while they are giving advice and they can`t even see the real problem.....just love it.........usually tinman is involved.........
Hi. Not trying to be a smart ***, but is the fan blade turning the correct way? i.e is it definitely pulling the air thru the rad and not trying to push it forward. You may laugh but i.ve seen this done before. Other than that Da Tinman is right about the shroud. A flush mounted shroud won't work. And yes 200 is too hot, unless you are cooking crayfish!
to the og poster,, if you have anymore questions please feel free to PM me, I'll be glad to help you out.
I would probably worry about a shroud after I had that done, if its still bad, I dunno many cooling systems that operate well when they leak, and lose pressure. Depends on the definition of seep too, I guess.
Do you run a thermostat? I run a 160 degree and works perfectly. I also run coolant and not water. Damn hot down under. My car runs at 170 day in, day out and only goes up when stuck in traffic for prolonged periods. Temperature has gone to 200 on hot sunny day but comes down when I start moving again. I run a sealed overflow so that when it gets hot coolant expands into chamber and when it cools it is drawn back into radiator. Have you the correct pressure radiator cap as this raises the boiling point of water. Any rise in pressure and temperature it won't take long to find the weak link. As stated, does the fan **** and not pull? I know a fellow who had cooling issues only to find out that he was using a standard flow V-belt water pump on a reverse rotation serpentine system. The there were limitations caused by too small a radiator and restrictions in the radiator inlet. Sounds basic however a few things to consider.
200 at a stop as long as it doesnt go any higher really isnt that bad..but if it bothers you than a shround like Da Tinmans got should take care of that extra 20 degrees. spacing off the radiator is needed as he said. and a good quality fan. Todays SBC's run at 210, and thats with aluminum heads..so One thing...if your trusting a Guage to tell you its running at 200..you might be getting lied to..verify it, dont just trust it as gospel. You can do the boiling water trick to test its viability. or use a known accurate temp probe or IR heat gun Also check your coolant and when you have that rad shop fix your radiator , if they can..have them check and see if you dont have some of your core blocked off ,,from junk..or if its one of those epoxied aluminum radiators , they have been known to get a little crazy with the cheese wiz when epoxing them together and it blocks some of the small p***ages..
Thanks for all the replies. I am running coolant, fan is spinning correctly, I want to keep the condenser because I'd like to run air. Of course, not until I fix this problem. Not sure of the CFM's of this fan. I will have the radiator gone through by the shop. I want to fix this one time, not try this and then that and hope it works. The temps have gone to a little over 200 before I either shut it off or get back to open road and it's been in the low 70's. Here in So cal it can get into the 100's and I also have a place in Vegas where it regularly gets to 115. My last car below could sit in Vegas traffic and stay at 180. It had a custom aluminum radiator and shroud (no condenser). I did move the radiator forward a couple inches so I had plenty of room. I ran both the Deuce grill and stock '34 grill with no problems. So with this car, I would like to use the current radiator and not spend the money on a custom aluminum one. I figure with a shroud with 3/4" to 1" setback, refurbed radiator, overflow tank and a good fan I should be good. I have seen the Taurus dual fan setup before. I may look into that (or something similar) as it may give me the clearance I need without moving the radiator forward. I'd rather maintain the stock mounts if I can but will move it forward if I have too. I can just build a custom hood and sides as on a Model A they are pretty easy. Thanks for all the replies (except for Mr. Negative! ).
The Taurus fans go for $20 complete up here at our local picknpull, that price is hard to beat although I have yet to buy one (they don't look so good with a Flathead). .
You said: "The radiator has a small leak which is just seeping so I just pulled it out and will bring it to a radiator shop for a flush and repair." Uhhhhh..... Fix the leak in the radiator first. If it leaks, the system obviously isn't pressurized, which will allow the coolant to boil at a lower temperature. Boiling coolant has air in it, which compresses. Liquid doesn't compress. Call it "vapor lock" or whatever. Fix the leak first.
Jimbo makes a point -- here's something else to consider. We had problems cooling a blower motor for a customer. The radiator/puller fan/shroud ***embly came from a reputable manufacturer, and wasn't cheap. We discovered that when the manufacturer ***embled the system, they took PUSHER fans and flipped them over to act as PULLERS. They're not the same... pullers and pushers have different profiles, you can't just flip 'em over. we replaced the fans and solved the heating problem. Just food for thought....
You should check the rating of the fan,If the fan draws 5 or 7 amps when running ,you don't have enough power,I know they say its 3000 cfm but by the time you put it up againest a good sized raditor you will be lucky to pull 1500 cfm.Don't skimp on the fan.My fans draw 40 amps when both of them running and you can feel hot air coming out the bottom of my car when standing still.By the way 200 with a small block isn't bad.New corvetts fans don't go on until 240 degrees.Also if you don't have enough room to use a puller you can always push(put it in the front) just make sure the fan blows enough.I use spal ,I have used scotts ball bearing motors which draw less amps but still have plenty power (they are not cheap).I noticed blower setup if your making power with compression expect heat.
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