mechanical fan on a flathead

During final ***embly of my coupe im seeing that the mechanical fan is gonna end up pretty close to my radiator ( about 1/2 inch ). Wondering if thats to close, or if ill be ok running it like that. I really dont want to run an electric fan. I cant move my radiator forward because im running a hood top, and it will throw everything off.

Anyone have input as far as distance between the fan and radiator?

 

Hmm, 1/2 inch doesn't leave a lot of room for error. If the radiator or the engine shift enough you've got a gouged radiator. I'd prefer at LEAST 1" at the vane's leading edge.

Is the 1/2" clearance at the pulley or the leading edge of the blade? If it's the leading edge of the blades, you might be able to put a 'step' in the vanes of the fan to offset it back toward the engine if you have enough clearance at the belts.

Is this the A in your profile? It looks pretty tight but you may be able to adjust some mounting points to get some extra room.

You may end up making a new hood and moving the radiator forward. Is that cheaper than a new radiator?

Is your driveshaft made already? If not, see if you can get a little room by shifting your mounts back. Maybe elongating the holes for your mounts would buy you some space.

 

some good ideas..im gonna take a look and see if i can scoot my engine back a bit..might work..i was gonna see if i could move my radiator forward a bit, and see if there was a way to sink my grill shell a little deeper on the radiator so my hood would still fit?

 

I don't see that working. The fan needs to be in a shroud and back far enough to draw air out of the whole radiator equally. With it that close it's only going to draw out of an area the size of the fan (mostly the center rows). If you are using truck-style pump/mounts, they are "pretty good" at limiting forward movement, but I could foresee real problems just getting that all ***embled without screwing up a bunch of fins.

 

Engine Shift ? Are You Running The Ford Strut Rods That Bolt Into The Rear Of The Block And Tie To The Frame ?

If Not, Ya Otta Think About It Cus They Are There For A Good Reason.......... So The Engine Dont Shift Around When Ya Apply The Clutch.

 

wouldnt moving my radiator forward on my crossmember acheive that? "Ford strut rods" lol..never heard of them..where do they go?? to the block?

 

WHATS SO FUNNY ?? FLATHEAD FORD V8s ALL HAD A SOLID STRUT ROD THAT WENT FROM THE 2 BOSS'S JUST OUTSIDE THE OIL PAN LEDGE TOWARDS THE BACK WHERE THE TRANS MATES THE BLOCK.

FORD HAD RODS THAT WENT BACKWARDS TO THE CROSSMEMBER, MERCURYS WENT FORWARD TO THE FRONT CROSS MEMBER.

THEY HELD THE ENGINE FROM MOVING FOREWARD & BACKWARD WHEN THE CLUTCH IS DEPRESSED & UNDER ACCEL & DECEL ..

LOOK AT ANY "STOCK" 59A POWERD FORD AND YOULL SEE THEM

 

good to know, just funny that i built my entire car and never knew that , hopefully theres still a way to tie them into my frame. Do they repop those struts? although i cant visibly see my engine moving at all when the clutch is being depressed. it cant really go forward because of the rear ****** mount. are the strut mounts beofre the bellhousing on an 8Ba?

 

Just went out & looked - my '40 Ford has about 1/2" - stock. Not too little.

8BA do not have these. In fairness, you did say "...look at any 59A..."

If you can run a shroud, that's best. 1/2" means you need to be sure your engine doesn't move around too much, but it's certainly do-able. And yes, the anti-chatter rods found on 59A will help with this. They can be adapted to 8BA blocks too...

 

I Dont Think They Re~pop These Rods ..... To Many Guys Useing S/b Chevys To Make Any $$ Off Them.

Yup, Mercurys Had Them That Went Forward.. Extra Long Ones.

I Couldnt Find Merc Ones, So I Used 4 '35 Ford Truck Ones, Cut To Fit & Tig Welded Them At The Neet Lil Flare They Have At The Threaded End.

Ran Them Forward And Bolted Them To The Engine Frame Mount I Made From '26 Chrysler Trans Frame Mounts.

Chrysler Was Kind Enough To Have Already Drilled Holes There For Me To !

I Mounted The Engine With N.o.s. Ford Mounts & Have An 11" Scheifer Clutch ... When Depressed By My 19 Y.o. Daughter, The Engine Would Move Forward About 1/2 Inch..

Not Now With The Strut Rods That Everyone Throws Away, There Is A Reason Henry Put Them On There

 

Kevin Lee..know where i can get a pair of those hurst anti- chatter brackets? could prolly make something up, but would be cool to get a set of those

 

You only need enough room to replace your belts between the fan and radiator.

 

OK..so i think im going to be ok with the 1/2 inch clearnece between the fan and the raiator once i make those anti-chatter brackets to keep the engine from creeping forward. any other flex i should be considering that could cause my fan to hit my radiator ( flex in the frame, radiator, etc?)

 

I THINK IF YOU HAVE THE ANTI CHATTER BARS or HURST "L" BRACKETS .... AND THE RAD IS MOUNTED TIGHT WITH STIFF RODS TO THE FIREWALL, AND OF COURSE ENOUGH ROOM TO REPLACE BELTS... SOUNDS LIKE YER GOOD

 

They are called "anti-chatter rods" You can find them on evilBay sometimes, even a different year will work with some modification. You need these to prevent clutch chatter. Worse case scenario, get some steel rod, thread the ends, weld washers on both ends at the correct position. I've seen fans at 1/2" , it's not going to affect your cooling. I'd rather see a mechanical fan on a Flathead than a non-traditional electric fan.... but then again....I'm sort of a purist hot rod builder.... Good luck!!!

 

Here's a pic of NOS '32 anti chatter rods

 

The rods are there to keep the rearend from pushing the motor forword. They have nothing the do with the clutch. 49 and newer are open drive so they dont need them.

 

I noticed that the Ford fans that I had were shaped in a way that the fan blades projected out in front of the hub that it was riveted to. A non-traditional after market flex fan bolted to the hub gave me almost a 1/2" more clearance. I ground off the rivets and bolted the new fan in place. It worked for me.

 

all good ideas....thanks guys

 

WELL, ILL TELL YA................ IT DOES HAVE TO DO WITH THE CLUTCH WHEN YA RUN A HEAVY SCHEIFER CLUTCH AND IT MOVES THE ENGINE WHEN YA DEPRESS THE PEDAL WITH OUT THE RODS.

AND WHEN YA INSTALLE THE RODS YOU HAVE NO PROBLEM.

STOCK FORD CLUTCHS ARE NOT HEAVY ENOUGH TO WORRY ABOUT IT, BUTA HEAVY CLUTCH IS SUMPTHIN DIFFERENT.

 

im running a t-5 behind my 8ba..the clutch has really easy pedal movement, cant visibly see the engine shifting forward at all. But i am still going to brace the engine with those anti-chatter brackets on the front motor mounts.

also it looks like there some differences in the shapr of the fan on earlier flathead as opposed to later ones. would an early one give me some more clearnece?

 

I was refering to original intent of the rods. Obviously the torq tube has no slip yoke, so the rearend moving up and down wants to push and pull on the motor and trans.