Radiator shroud from a garbage can

Only it looks a hell of a lot better than those cut off culverts!

 

I think that it is a great idea. I used a vintage Kenmore house fan on mine. I just had to extend the width of the band a bit and it never gets over 180 degrees.

 

I have seen the installation and it's a very nice job, should work well ,if not he can redo it.

 

It looks good, and lots of mid 60's GM vehicles came with a shroud just like that.

 

Great idea. As long as it helps your car when you get stuck in traffic than you've got more than just a trash can. Sweet!

 

I was thinking the same thing--but after seeing it--looks great.Filling in the open parts would really help,too.

 

yea was lookin to see if anybody recalled them shrouds on GM cars, I got one off an old Pontiac.

 

You trashed your car....just kidding. Good idea...in the same spirit as using a wheelbarrow to sink a firewall. I need more ideas like this. cheep-cheep...cheep-cheep.

 

Very inventive and looks great. I'm sure it will be more then adequate for your intended purposes. I may just have to borrow this idea.

 

Great idea. That's what true Hot Rodders do take simple things and adapt them to you car.

 

It looks to be a fully functional, well constructed shroud...
Only thing I would change is the fan spacer.
To work most efficiantly the fan blade needs to be 1/2 way out of the shroud, so the air can escape off of the tips of the blade.
Just go look at the shroud on your daily driver..Or any factory stock set up..
You will see what I am talking about.
Dave

 

Interesting stuff, Dave. I have been thinking about this & started checking things out, measurement wise. For starters, I always heard that your fan should be about 3/4" from the radiator to be effective. I've scoped this out on many different hot rods & it seems to hold true, give or take a small bit. My particular fan is about 2" maximum in depth. If I spaced the fan back another inch, this would mean that my fan would not be close enough to the radiator. So, that would not work for me. To employ your theory (and I do not doubt that it is true), my only other alternative would be to s**** the whole thing & make a new shroud, which could not be more than 1 3/4" in depth. If my vehicle ultimately overheats when the "moment of truth" comes, I will probably sculpt a fibergl*** shroud incorporating your thoery. All that being said, I checked out my factory '66 Chevy truck & the fan does not protrude out of the shroud & that particular fan is a mile away from the radiator. The truck has never overheated for me in the 13 years I've owned it. Go figure.

 

You won't overheat.

 

With a shroud it shouldn't matter how far the fan is from the radiator. If the fan is placed properly in the shroud as mentioned earlier it will work.
Without a shroud the closer the better, but no way as good as using a shroud.

 

Well, I guess that explains why my '66 never overheats. Damn, I'm learning stuff! Better late than never.

 

Looks totally professional, I would never have guessed the source!

 

excellent idea, i'm about to try this. i think i'll make a minor alteration, cut one end straight across and drill so it joins with a couple of screws, so you can sort of snap it open. that way you can remove the shroud without removing the radiator. is that an early v8 mustang/falcon-type radiator you're using? 17 inch fan? if so, i'm definitely going to try this. just got my new '65 mustang three row bit the other day.

 

very resourceful and creative.

 

Very good idea. I would bet that out of 100 people that look at that 1 would pick out what it once was.

Plus with it being galvanized no rust to worry about!

 

Genius!!

Ian

 

On heavy/cl*** 8 trucks fan-to-core clearance is generally more the better until you get about 4" if you have a properly designed shroud and proper fan-to-shroud insertion. This would be one that has a barrel (or garbage can) cylindrical section in combination with a part that tapers out to completely cover the core. Fan insertion is around 40-50%. This reduce, not eliminate the "dead spots", such as the corners but will make more of the core more effective. Also fan tip-to-barrel (garbage can) distance needs to be kept within respectable limits while allowing full movement of the engine, ch***is, and radiator while not causing a hard interference during any of their extremes. Broken fans can be very dangerous and damaging. I like the inventiveness here!!