looked for this can't find it, 302 in my 51 shoebox with a "Derale" stainless flex fan, how much clearance do i need from the fan hub to the radiator?Even looked at their web site with no info. Had to run a 1" fan spacer and using a US radiator , radiator. Can easy move the radiator forward, but need to know clearance.
Half an inch is probably the minimum, an inch is better. Kinda depends on how much things move around,a nd how brave you are
I can tell you this. My 40 Ford coupe had a SBC with stainless flex fan with a radiator core to fan hub clearance of 3/4". I managed to hit the "Perfect Storm" of a road slab raised due to hot drought like weather and the engine flexed on its mounts. The flan blade flexed forward and neatly cleared out about 16 tubes in a nice fan shaped swath across the core below the hub. Luckily I was only a few miles from home in a a neighborhood so I nursed it home. Fixed the radiator and bought a nice factory style steel bladed fan which never had any problems.
Don't want an electric fan, looks like if i had an inch or 2 would be plenty, my thinking is the stainless blades as stiff as they are "Should" never flex forward of the fan hub, hopefully!
I have about 3/4" between my radiator and fan on our '54 wagon,,but I have a steel fan so there is no flexing forward. HRP
Never,,quote never a problem. Fans are designed to pull air through the radiator I sat in bumper to bumper traffic for almost 35 minutes last week due to a wreck on I-85. The temperature was 89 and I kept the air running the whole time,never got over 220 degrees. HRP
We always shoot for 3/4". Anything more than that and you either just move air around in the engine compartment behind the radiator or you need a shroud to make sure that the air that the fan is moving actually came through the radiator first removing heat and not just in from the sides doing nothing to remove heat from the coolant... for the last 50 years anyway Was there some kind of new discovery that changed anything? If so keep it to yourself. It's worked too well for me for all these years. Hotrod engines overheating is not a modern problem. They make spacers to dial in the distance so that is not a problem. Fans are only for traffic situations and traffic lights they don't do anything on the road but spin. The movement of the car forces the air through the radiator. PS I don't do electric fans. Never needed one. I have always been able to cool my hotrods with mechanical fans.
3/4" to 1" should be fine. It'll flex but shouldnt flex that much. The blades probably do more twisting than fore-bending. Grab on with your hand and test said theory. But a shroud is definitely worth while. Posted from the TJJ App for iPhone & iPad
Also don't fill your radiator with the beer cooler water while the motor is running. One of the cans may fall out and get caught between the fan and the radiator. **** happens! Posted from the TJJ App for iPhone & iPad
I'm using a 15 in 6 stainless blade fan in my shoe with a 302 ho. Runs 180 in the garage and about 90 degrees outside. This is with a repo 66 mustang 289 rad. . Fan is about 1-1/ 2 from rad no shroud. Fan in pic was changed up to the 15 in. versus the 17 i original installed. Was to close to bottom rad hose
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