cooling fan

[oino]

Was thinking of lossing the electric cooling fan and going with a regular one mounted to the engine. Less wiring I have to do later. Some of the tbucket guys here in lincoln have it that way.
I bolt fan, put on a shroud and done.

Any reason why I shouldn't do this?

 

[donsrods]

Some guys swear by mechanical fans and if properly set up and shrouded they work well. You will want the biggest blades you can get in there, close to the radiator, and with a shroud that lets the air get pulled over the entire finned area of the radiator. You figure, mechanical fans were used for years and years on factory cars and were fine.

Personally, I like electric fans (SPAL brand) because they work great and let me control the temp at traffic lights. It all boils down to personal preference.

Don

 

[Youngster]

I always figure 1" for fan to radiator clearence.

Ron

 

[oino]

i need a new fan anyways. The cheap electric one I have now is loud as hell. But for under $30 I could get a mechanical one and make a shroud.
The wiring for the current electric fan hasn't been don't yet on my new car. Was used on my old car.

 

[EX JUNK]

I am running a mechanical fan without any shrouding and even in the heavy stop and go traffic and the super hot summers here in Orlando, I have NEVER overheated. I chose a mechanical because I don't like the look nor the sound of an electric fan in an exposed engine compartment of a T. But as Don said, "it all boils down to personal preference."

Jim

 

[sstock]

I'm with Jim on this one. Although I run electrics on all my other vehicles becuase they are superior IMHO. On a bucket running a quality radiator with a mechanical fan is my cup of tea. Just something about seeing the mechanical fan going round in a bucket that is appealing. Besides, you don't have to hide all that plethora of big gauge wires/grounds relays and senders and switches. Like Ron said, keep the fan about an inch away should be perfect. I'm getting away without a shroud because I live in the PNW and am running a 4 core radiator, warmer climates a shroud would be a staple I would think.
Steve

 

[benT]

This is the one time Jim and I disagree. I prefer an electric on an open/no hood hot rod. Its more compact and I'm less likely to get my or others hands tore off while tuning. Not to mention that it allows me to run the rad closer. I have about 1/2" between the fan and the waterpump pulley.

 

[EX JUNK]

Ben, you need that extra bit of room running a Ford mill which is longer than the Chevy. Plus the Chevy distributor is in the rear away from the fan whereas the Ford is right next to the fan, so I see where you are wise to run an electric fan.

Jim

 

[tfeverfred]

I used a manual when I first built my T and it worked great. After the rebuild, I went electric and it "kinda" worked. One day my radiator over flowed and shorted it out! I switched back to manual and will never go electric again. No wires, no shorts, no switches and a manual looks cleaner and cooler.

As we speak, I just ordered a new SS fan from Speedway. There's a show coming up and I wanted some "bling".

And though it can be tamed...... electricity is the DEVIL!

 

[oino]

Okay, manual it is.

 

[Dirt-T]

I am at that stage where i need to decide on the fan. I might be able to fit a 15" fan and not hit the top hose.I am leaning to the electric fan/shroud.

 

[Lee_in_KC]

I'm a big fan (sorry) of the electrics. Very tunable with temp switches, only run when needed (mine hardly ever comes on, triggered by a 190* switch in the driver-side head), doesn't really need a shroud, but you can just use a flat sheet of aluminum screwed the radiator frame with a cut-out for the fan. Be sure to run it off of a relay triggered by a temp switch.

 

[fordsbyjay]

I love electric fans. I only use Spal because they seem the most reliable in my experience. It is a "get what you pay for" deal IMO. You can make a small shroud and mount it to the rad and mount the fan to the shroud. Nice and compact. Here is the shroud I built for my car. I made my bends on a piece between two pieces of wood. The picture is a mock up with a used Spal I had but I put a new Spal to replace the cheapo crappy thing the prev. owner installed on my car and lasted 1500 miles.