My 30A had a chronic heat problem due to the radiator being moved back 2". Here are photos of my solution. After I would go out in 100* SoCal heat and dare it to get hot.. Not a whimper. Would sit at 190 in traffic or on the FW. Fan thermostatically controlled would come on at 195 and off at 180. Shroud was 3/4 deep and the blow back panels would dump air on the highway but **** in and force all of the fan's CFM to pull through the core. Also ran top and sides. Yep another story of 10# of **** in a 5# bag
I don't want to get crazy,but I would check with a heat gun and see if your flow through the rad is reduceing temps going tru the motor and heads.I use a flowercooler pump ( pushes water like a fire hose.If you say its running hot double check ,once I had sending unit once that was affected by the placement near the header.Gauge said 230 never boiled over and when I checked with lazer it was 205.
I would throw that electric fan in the trash can where it belongs and install a real fan with a shroud. Install a good 180 degree thermostat and forget about cooling problems.
This always comes up in the spring and seems to never get settled. It just wouldn't be right if I didn't say something... 200 ain't hot. Period. You don't have anything to worry about until you cross 230-240.
As a engine builder, the FIRST thing to catch my eye, was the statement about the fan being wired to come on with the ignition. Very bad, correct this too. Nothing worse than cooling off a cold engine. { Da Tinman- I dont have to tell you, not to let what was said bother you, heck your probably still laughing!!! }
Spork, Don @ US Radiator, Without going through a whole "laundry list" of things to check first I'll simply stick to your original question.. A flush mounted shroud with no air gap could possibly help a little at idle but will create havoc once the car starts to make HP and move down the highway.. "Bad Idea".. Two things happen at idle when you mount electric fans flush to the core, 1) You limit the amount of radiator being used at idle to the cir***ference of the fan (in your case it looks to be a 16" fan as opposed to the actual core size of 19" by 20" approx.),, 2) least important but happens never the less, you create a convection effect in all four corners.. Air, like water, travels in the direction of least resistance and there's a tendency for engine compartment air (heat) to be constantly pulled back through all four corners of the core (picking up heat from the un-cooled portion of the radiator) to the front of the radiator which increases the air temp traveling through the 16" opening. In a Model A it's not a big problem but in a 40 Ford for example it's huge.. Don't have all your dimensions so will suggest the following.. 1) Change the stat to 160 if you haven't already. If your running a 160 stat now and your operating 180+ that's another issue and won't go into it now.. 2) Spal offers a 16" fan that's only 2" deep.. Not the best CFM's but we use a lot of them and durability has never been an issue. Mounted to a 5/8th" or 3/4" deep shroud you get adequate core clearance in a 2 3/4" space and now your utilizing all of your radiator core as opposed to say 60% of it. I noticed you dropped the fan down to miss the blower snout and may have to lower a bit more to get the clearance. Spal also makes a 14" thin-line fan that's an option to miss the blower as well.. You can mock the whole thing up with cardboard in a few minutes to check clearance.
dude, cut through the BS and get rid of the Walker ****, Cooling Componets ****, etc. I've been that very expensive route, done everything this msg. board and pros can come up with. Bottom line: get a efficient aluminum radiator, good shroud, mech. high pitch fan, and forget it forever. cooger
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