I currently have the stock radiator in my 76 Nova with pontiac 400/TH350 (the motor was in the car when I bought it) It starts to get hot cruising down the highway and in traffic. I'm looking for a good radiator/ electric fan combo someone out there has used or is using. I know there are alot of poor quality units out there that just don't work. I'd like to get it right the first time. Thanks

i have a 2 core griffin alum. rad. with 1" cores and I made a 1" deep fan shroud and mounted the 16" elec. fan to the shroud and it works great even on a high comp. motor. Here's a pic: http://inlinethumb41.webshots.com/9896/1100063034044272537S600x600Q85.jpg (http://rides.webshots.com/photo/1100063034044272537nnPhCz)

Four core, beats any three core, and is twice as effective as a six cylinder two core radiator; so it will help. You can not expect to get full coverage with electric fans. They use two 12" fans which are not as efficient as one 18" mechanical fan. Without a shroud covering the tip of the fan blade (mechanical or electric) you reduce the effective area of the blade by a third; as the air on that portion of the blade just slides off the end of the blade without a shroud to stop it.

You can not have a radiator that is too big when it comes to cooling the frontal area of the car restricts it’s size. Just think of a diesel truck. That huge radiator is cooling a 350 horse motor, it just won’t fit under the hood of a car. You want the largest physical dimensions that will bolt onto the radiator support (in your case an air conditioned BBC radiator should work). BeCool and others sell radiators by horse power. Don’t be bashful, you might not need a thousand horse cooling capacity, but it will still bolt into the same place as your existing radiator just be a lot thicker.

Copper or aluminum? Copper conducts more heat than aluminum, but aluminum is a stronger metal. Because of this the tubes can be larger (a larger area is under more stress for any given psi since there are more square inches under pressure). More area means that even though it doesn’t cool as easily as copper there is more of it to transfer the heat. If you like a stock appearing radiator then Griffin makes one that appears stock once painted black (use special radiator paint, not insulating enamel paint found in a common spray can).

I don’t like electric fans because from an engineering point of view they suck, just not as well as a mechanical fan. Compute the area of two 12" circles (226.19 square inches) and compare that with one circle of 18" diameter (A=π r^2) circle of 254.47 square inches. Now consider that the majority of the air is moved by the portion of the blade furthest from the central hub (radial velocity increases with the square of the radius) which tells you that a blade 50% longer will move more air because of its increased area and the tip speed of the blade.

The biggest factor involved in moving the air through the radiator, and the reason the electric blades are so small is because it has a wimpy 1/6th of a horse power motor. Compare that with the power of a SBC. Which do you think could turn a bigger blade better?

The "reason" every one goes to the electric fans is because they are new! Trendy, Fashionable, (I’m just waiting for the introduction of a designer label electric fan with a spiffy exclusive icon). Oh yeah, that and all modern cars (not muscle cars from the sixties) have a lower hood line for better aerodynamics (dictated not by stylist but by the EPA for mileage reasons). If you stuck an 18" diameter fan centered on the water pump in a new (well this assumed they still had front wheel drive) it would slice through the hood. And as mentioned new cars are mostly sidewinders with the motor put in wrong, and driving the wrong end of the car. So a fan stuck on the end of the motor would miss the radiator by a few yards (or should I say meters?).

There is no reason any one can give me to put an electric fan on an early model Camaro, or third generation (1968-’74 Nova); same for a 1957 to 1996 Chevrolet (B-bodies). Some SUV’s are saddled with electric fans, only because GM likes to have one part fit all, and since they don’t make mechanical fans any more your Caddy (former Suburban when it cost half as much) is stuck with it also.

Larger Dave

There were 2 stock radiator sizes in the 75 - 79 Novas. The standard radiator was not very wide or long. The support cushions are 21" apart on the std cool and 27" apart on the HD cool and AC equipped cars. If you have the smaller size the core supprt can be modified to accept the longer radiator. There is area on the drivers side that needs to be removed to allow more airflow through the larger radiator. After removal the standoff part that keeps air from going around the end will need cut off and fastened to the core support with 2 screws. The holes are already in the core support and the standoff. The solid line shows the part to be removed, the dotted line is the part that is reused and the circles show the mounting holes.

HD and AC support
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j199/64elcamino/Aluminum%20radiator/P7050007.jpg

std cool support
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j199/64elcamino/Aluminum%20radiator/stdcoolcoresupport.jpg

Modification of std cool to HD cool.
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j199/64elcamino/Aluminum%20radiator/modification.jpg

Dave thanks for the info on fans. I knew the large diameter clutch fan cooled better but now I have the technical "why" it does.
One more comment on the newer vehicles and the use of the electric fan. These engines do not tend to run hot even with the tiny radiators that are installed. My son has a 94 Firebird and 2002 Impala. Both were having fan issues and both were still drivable in the heat with the AC running as long as the car was moving. BTW changing the fans in the Impala was not fun at all. The bird just needed a new sensor.

Thanks for the info and the comparison. The car currently has a flex fan the previous owner put on. Does anyone know of a factory or after market clutch fan with a short shaft. The pontiac water pump sticks out pretty far and I would like to get a larger alum aftermarket radiator.

I have a large aluminum radiator to put in my 77 and with the long water pump the fan still sets properly inside the fan shroud.
Pontiac and Olds engines were used in these X bodies, so there should be a factory fan clutch fan set up that will fit. Check with Napa on an clutch application using a 350 Pontiac engine in a 76 Ventura body.

I found this post intriguing because I have a 355 that is running around 220 degrees and I would like for it to run cooler than that. I have an over sized radiator installed because the original sprung a leak. I installed the old radiator when I still had the 305 in there. With the 305 a shroud was not needed to keep the motor cool. Now I have a dual electric fan setup installed with a coolant temperature sensor. When I saw the pictures of the two different radiator supports. I went right down to the garage and found that I in fact have the standard, more restricted, version. If I was to cut the extra metal out would it really make that much of a difference? Just kinda curious...Thanks in advance.
Doug

It will allow air to pass over more of the radiator core which could only help keep the temperature down. The standoff that needs moved over when the opening gets cut out is now restricting airflow over that part of the surface. So it has water flowing thru just no air flow to disapate the heat.

It will allow air to pass over more of the radiator core which could only help keep the temperature down. The standoff that needs moved over when the opening gets cut out is now restricting airflow over that part of the surface. So it has water flowing thru just no air flow to disapate the heat.

I see how it can only help...hmm...I guess it is worth a shot before I shell out the money for an aluminum radiator and high flow water pump! Haha! Thanks for the reply Philip, I knew I could count on you!
Doug

I didn't have a radiator for my project so I had "no choice" but to buy an aluminum one :D

It is a Northern Radiator unit. I hope it cools as good as it looks.

http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j199/64elcamino/Aluminum%20radiator/alumrad3.jpg

I didn't have a radiator for my project so I had "no choice" but to buy an aluminum one :D

It is a Northern Radiator unit. I hope it cools as good as it looks.

http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j199/64elcamino/Aluminum%20radiator/alumrad3.jpg

EEEEWWWWW PERRTY! What did that run ya? (if you don't mind me asking) Also let me know how it does for ya...I just may be in the market for a good one at a good price. Thanks,
Doug

$396 + shipping, but that was awhile back. I hope to find out how all the parts I have purchased over the last 4 years will work by the end of this year :D

$396 + shipping, but that was awhile back. I hope to find out how all the parts I have purchased over the last 4 years will work by the end of this year :D

I know that feeling! I just didn't take as long to get my stuff together. It was a hair over two years for my most recent overhaul. I swapped the motor, trans, gauge cluster, and seats. Now I'm working on redoing the door panels. I can't tell you how many times I have said it will be done after I do _____. I think I'm a liar cause looks like these projects never end. Do they? Haha
Doug