I've done some reading about ways of keeping these nailheads from running hot... like copper vs aluminum radiators, the number of cores and so on. My '63 Electra has a/c so I thought I'd skip over the trial and error and go straight to an electric fan. Assuming the cooling system is clean and healthy to start with, an electric fan should solve the problem of ocassional over-heating on hot summer parade days, right? What fan do I want and where do I get it? If anyone has photo's of their fan installed, that would be helpful too. Thanks Pat
I would grab two electrics fan off a 1994-1996 Chevy Caprice 9C1 or any other Caprice that had dual electric fans. They have their own shroud and everything, and if they can keep a police car cool during a bunch of idling with an LT1, they should work great with the Nailhead.
Pat, Not only the fan, but you'll want to think about how you control it as well. These in-radiator probes with unfused power to the fan are junk IMHO. The in-rad probe is innacurate at best, and the adjusters were very unreliable. Ideally you want to measure water temp at the intake BEFORE the thermostat, and have the fan switch on 5* above at the thermostat temp. Hayden makes a good screw in sender with a relay to activate the fan, and an adjustable controller. Costs about $65. Whatever you use, put a good solid 20 amp fuse in there!
A good mechanical fan will pull gobs more air than any electrical fan(s). (An engineer at Flex-a-lite told me that) If you really want to go for broke, try putting a "pusher" electric fan in front of your radiator, with a mechanical fan behind it. But, if max-cooling is your requirement, stick with the mechanical fan for the puller. Also, make sure your radiator is not clogged, your water pump is working right, your fan shroud is functional, you don't put too much antifreeze (25% is more than sufficient for most climates- more will hurt heat transfer), and you might even try some Water Wetter if you want to get fancy. And don't use Barrs leak, it plugs any hole it can find (including flow passages). -Bob C.
Some people love electric fans others.... I have a junkyard setup on my 70 455 with 5 core brass radiator. Cannot tell you how much I love this setup. I used the painless wiring set for it. A little pricy but has thermostat control, circuit breaker and relay so I do not have any worries about electrical failure. I have never heard anything good about a flex fan. I have seen the added pusher fans work well on a lot of hot rods and Mustangs. These vehicles have less room for a good sized radiator so they need lots of air.
Crown Vic's have a huge electric fan with shroud also. I'm not sure if it's police car stuff only or not, but I have seen them and they look 16"-18".
Most 91-93 Tracers & escorts have a 17" 2-speed fan with a very wide shroud. Kinda tough to find these days, but they're an excellent fit.
Doug, Where did you get a 5 core brass radiator and how on earth did you mount it? I am sure it will not fit in the rubbers on the top and bottom of the radiator!
I needed a radiator about 3-4 years ago (to replace my non-repairable aluminum one, but that is another topic). I went to the local radiator shop, and they suggested a custom-made radiator, it wasn't much more money. So I got a 5-core, and had them make it 1" wider at the same time. It fit fine. A 5-core radiator will give some mega cooling, as long as you have enough airflow. -Bob Cunningham
yeah, and flex fans are junk, so i probably wouldn't put much stock in what that guy says... p my single large electric fan cools much better than a clutch fan ever did in stop and go traffic, at lights, ect. even if the design of a mechanical fan is superior, it's still only spinning ~700-900 rpms at idle, whereas a good electric can do over 2000.
Don't forget damands on the charging system, new alt, relays, elect. fans that draw lots of air need current. I would go with an alum rad, 2 core 1" wide, should be plenty. If you are getting any airflow at all this should be fine. BTW i run a griffin 2 core 1-1/4" with a flex fan and is plenty in 100deg. weather.
You guys are missing one point with the flex-a-lite comments...the guy said mechanical fan, not flex fan. And sure he works for flex-a-lite but they sell other stuff too. Just wanted to point that out. I have their 20", 6 blade clutch fan (it is NOT a flex fan) on my GS and that thing works excellent, will keep cool better than the 18" 7 blade, and every electric fan I tried was basically useless at idle on a very hot day (granted they were all singles and that was a while ago, capacities have gone up I'm sure). First time out with it I thought my temp gauge had broken becasue it never moved!! I feel better too with some new metal in there, rather than a 30+ year old fan (I've seen many with small cracks, loose rivets, etc). Just some more info. later Tim
The most powerful single electric fan available is the Lincoln Mark VIII fan. It will produce a true 3500+ cfm. It requires 100+ amps on startup and 35+ amps continuous to run. Almost all aftermarket fans have overinflated cfm ratings, except for Spal and Derale, as proven by independant testing. A good rule of thumb, found by testing, is 100 cfm per amp drawn. If someone advertises a 2500 cfm fan that only draws 10 amps, well that's not gonna happen, not with true cfm anyway, maybe marketing cfm.
