I was thinking about running an Electric fan on my Kat because I hear that it will free up some horse power. Is it true that it can be up to 20 Horses? Is there a down side to doing so? Don.........:TU:
I would not recomend any electric fan or fans unless there is a space issue in front of the engine. The clutch fan combined with a shroud pulls way more air than the best of the electric fans. As for power losses, the viscus coupling of the cluch fan releases above 3000 rpm, so parasidic drag of the fan is really neglegable as a power loss on any street/strip car. Consider the excess drag on an alternator that has to compensate for a high amp fan set-up. Most of the fan companies claim some cfm rating that sounds great, but they don't tell you that the cfm rating is at 14 or higher voltage. Jeff.
This is a tuff subject I have been researching for a while for my 73 Boattail project. I to the point of crapping or getting off the pot. I am going to an aluminum radiator for sure. Most good companys will such as BE KOOL will match horsepower to a particular setup with fans and radiator. But I have found that alot of guys dont recommend the electric fans. The alternator is definitely a must upgrade if you do electric fans so I am told. I called the guys at TA performance and the recommend not using the electric fans with the radiators they sell. Noise for some people can be an issue also with the fans. An advantage with the electric is the movement of air at a stop with no loss of movement of air regardless of engine rpm. But the most cfm I have found with dual electric fans is about 2800 and some people say a good clutch fan can move at least 3000 cfm depending on the shroud, rpm, etc.... Alot of high horsepower street machines are using electric with aluminum radiator with no problem. BE Kool has several setups with a standard system kit that is supposed to cool up to 1000 hp. They have smaller systems for 700 hp, 500hp etc. Get out your check book though, they get expensive..... Thats my two cents..... CJ
No such thing as an energy free lunch. The alternator, with an electric fan set up, must put out more to make up for the fan's electrical load. In doing so its increased electromagnetic field strength further resists the rotor being turned by the belt. Accordingly, it diverts power away from the drive line just as a regular fan clutch would. Anyone who suggests you would be saving HP needs to show you an honest head to head comparison performed by an independent entity under controlled conditions.
From what I have found from this site is that a good 7 blade clutch fan with a good shroud and a aluminum radiatior is the way to go and due to the power loss with electric fans you have optimized cooling with the least amount of power loss.... Has anyone used any of the coolent additives??? CJ
I would not recomend the water treatments such, as water wetter. Supposedly, there is a bad chemical reaction with aluminum parts that causes rapid electrolisis where the aluminum gets eaten away faster than I can eat a good piece of pizza. Getting back to the use of clutch fans, I read an article in HotRod a few years ago where they did a chasiss dyno comparison on a Plymouth duster with a crate 360 with several different fan combinations. The worst power loss was with a aftermarket flex fan, but when they switched to the clutch fan they gained 30 horsepower. I live in Arizona and use the stock 40 year old radiator with a slightly modified fan shroud from an 84 Dodge Diplomat 318 car and a clutch fan from some fairly late model GM and A/C running full on my 63 Wildcat with no overheat problems. I know your 65 has a cross flow radiator which is probably easier to find a donor car in the wrecking yard that has a shroud that can fit the dimentions of your radiator. Bottom line is, it's very gets fairly expensive trying those electric fans only to find out later that they may not work better that what the engineers at Buick designed for your car.
