Electric fans?

[SactoJim]

Here's mine. Couple Merc Sable fans with custom shroud and Spal controller. haven't had a chance to "real world" test them, but I've let the truck get up just north of 200 and kicked them on and they got it down to 160 pretty quick. They are also pretty quiet.

[shifty]

Originally Posted by Boog

I ran across a fan thread just this week talking about elec fan shrouds with and without extra holes in them to allow more air through them at highway speeds. Something about the fans couldn't freewheel fast enough to let enough air through there to prevent heating up on the road. Does Wes's setup have those extra vents and has anyone here ran into this?

That was me and another member bringing up that point.

Wes has not had this problem. Mudder67 (I believe) is the only member I know who has had an overheat problem (until he manually drilled out his shroud). After that, all was fine.

[76bonanza]

Third, fourth and fifth on the kits from wes. to me performance and looks go hand and hand and the kit from wes is a 10 in both. Plus he is a nice guy.

[Boog]

I have seen some other shrouds that have about 6 holes in them with a rubber flap covering them just for this reason. Flaps stay sucked closed under low speed driving but open up at highway speed. May have been a flexalite setup or one of the others so there may be something to this. Maybe only when using the smaller diameter fans.
I know someone here is sure to have a pic of this setup.

[Stano]

Thank you gentlemen I think you just solved my heating problem on my 67 I have been dealing with for the past three years. Around town or low speeds temp is fine but on highway it heats up, not dangerously but heats enough to concern me. I have a dual fan setup off of something we had in the shop a while back and those suckers move some serious air. But the possibility that they cannot freewheel fast enough is very real. I will drill the shroud out this week as I will be taking my truck on a three hour trip on friday and let you all know how it works out. I hope it fixes it since I have replaced water pumps, thermostats, new radiator(twice),tranny cooler with larger fins, and whatever else I could do and nothing made any difference what so ever.

[shifty]

Originally Posted by Stano

Thank you gentlemen I think you just solved my heating problem on my 67 I have been dealing with for the past three years. Around town or low speeds temp is fine but on highway it heats up, not dangerously but heats enough to concern me. I have a dual fan setup off of something we had in the shop a while back and those suckers move some serious air. But the possibility that they cannot freewheel fast enough is very real. I will drill the shroud out this week as I will be taking my truck on a three hour trip on friday and let you all know how it works out. I hope it fixes it since I have replaced water pumps, thermostats, new radiator(twice),tranny cooler with larger fins, and whatever else I could do and nothing made any difference what so ever.

Please post back, because I eagerly wait hearing your response. I want to know before I start wiring this crap up - less work for later!!

[WinDancer]

Another happy camper with the set-up from Wes

[Mudder]

I will post up some pics tomorrow what I did with mine. I am in no way knocking Wes's shrouds but only having one 16" hole in it I felt like there wasn't enough flow. I was runnning temps up to 205 and close to 210 on the highway. It really hasn't been hot here to really test it but it seems to have cured the problem by drilling a series of 2 1/2 in. holes in the shoud. The shrouds Wes sell are first class and I would buy another.

[shifty]

The fitment of Wes's shrouds are incredible, and the powdercoat job is superb. It is incredibly streamline and low profile. The fans are heavy duty, and not anything you can buy at the store. I hope nobody thinks I'm bashing on his product, here.

[fosheec]

I used O'Reilly stocked 16" and 14" fans. Wired them with their own relays. It was probably overkill on my part (I am running a 402 with AC). I ended up wiring a manual toggle switch to the dash because I couldn't get the thing up to operating temp without leaving them off for the first 15-20 minutes.

[Mudder]

As promised thanks to my youngest. (I'm not even dressed yet). Here are some pics I promised. The 3" shroud that goes around the fan was made by myself and a friend. We had done it before I cut the holes thinking it would help the fan draw better.

[shifty]

Hey Mudder, what'd you use to cut the holes so nice and neat?

[Mudder]

You can get the round saw blades in different sizes. They have a drill bit in the center. Work great..

[shifty]

Ah, I have one, thought they were only for wood.

I have some greenlee knockout punches as well that I think might work...will hafta look into it.

[BobbyK]

I run Two 14" PermaCool fan's in a homemade steel shroud.No holes in mine.NO cooling issues.
Those 14" PermaCool fans draw 2800CFM.Got em from Summit.

[timcos]

Here is another one also.

http://www.123classics.com/product_i...armodel=Pickup

[shifty]

Here is the link to the full installation (with pictures) of the unit that ClassicHeartbeat (Wes) sells:

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=216128

With that said, a point was brought up inside that install thread: the 123classics unit doesn't look like it mounts very securely to the radiator IMO. I like the look of the setup, but I wonder about its effectiveness. I really do like that it comes pre-bundled with relays and wiring and stuff, though.

[Boog]

Shifty, I sure like the looks of your install. Real clean. After considering the stock fan shroud has like an 18 or 20" opening in it I don't see why an electric dual 12" fan setup won't cool just fine as is. 2 12" openings equal 24". Should be plenty of air blowing through there running down the road.
Something else I thought about is I have read where some power feedback happens with fan motors turning after the key is turned off allowing the engine to run on a bit. Anything to this?

[shifty]

It's not a matter of cooling better. It's a matter of more horsepower because you're not forcing your drivetrain to push a big machanical fan Personally, I didn't have a place to put a fan.

Power feedback isn't really possible if you are properly using relays - the second that power is removed from the relay, the circuit is broken, and power cannot be sent through to the fans.

[Stano]

Shifty, I am gonna drill mine out tomorrow(thursday)night and I won't be back on until probably sunday evening, but I will be sure to post how it worked out when I get a chance. I am confident it will cure my problem. My truck on a 100 degree day will climb up around 220 on the interstate with my foot kickin it down the left lane. I retarded my timing on the roadside and it seemed to help a little but I want it to stay between 180-195 most of the time like it used to.

[71Dragtruck]

Mine is from Wes also.

[Stoney]

You could eat off that engine. Very Nice

[jamis]

You guys are starting to make me worry. I don’t have any holes drilled in mine.
I cant decide to take it back off now and drill some holes before the rest of the front cap is on

[Mudder]

jamis.......... try it the way it is. with the two fans you may not even have any problems. i just had the one 16" hole in my shroud.

[O'l Buck]

I used the fan and radiator setup out of a 91 chevy lumina minivan. The fan fit in the stock location on the radiator, and the radiator fit in the stock mounts on the truck. I don't have it on a temp switch yet, which has bit me in the butt a couple of times when I walked away from it and left the fan running.