Here is part of my winter projects,
I'd figure I post this for discussion, possible future use by others etc.
I was running hot this summer, particulary in stop and go traffic. I had a 3 core brass/copper radiator. So I figured that it was time for a new setup.
I wanted to use electric fans so that I did not use engine power to cool the radiator and also in traffic an electric would be running full boar even though the engine might be ideling. So I did research on fans, particulary on cmf and thickness of the fan.
To start with after the big block swap with a long water pump I had about 2.75" between the front of the fan and the radiator. I had the small block fan shroud adjusted to center on the fan (since engine was now about 1" toward the passenger side)
After doing research I was leaning toward the SPAL Dual 11" 1400 cfm fans setup which comes with its own shroud and has a max thickness of 2.5". So I made a mock up of the new summit radiator and fans. As you can see below it would clear the nose of the waterpump but the one fan motor has the potential of hitting the power steering shaft.
I got the summit radiator and come to find out they misrepresented the size of the core. (I even called their tech line to verify its width, they said it was 24.5" which would have given me 1" wiggle room ended up being 22.5 Doah!!!)
So I went to plan B two spal 11" hi prof fans cfm same as the one that came with the shroud. Luckily SPAL has their tech drawing and specification posted on the web so I was able to make a full scale drawing to layout the two fans and they fit if I place one high and one low.
I also made up some mounting brackets out of brass to mount them in their proper locations. See large printout with fan layout and brackets:
(red circle location of wp nose)
The brackets turned out nice, I polished them up.
My plans at this point, (once the fans are delivered and I can verify that they match my drawing) I plan on painting the radiator black so it doesn't stickout when looking at it from the front.
I am debating on nickel plating the brass so that they will stay shiny. The reason that I chose brass is that I was able to drill and tap a brass bolt in from the back and place it flush with the back (I cut off the bolt head and silver soldered it in place). I only have .25 clearance from the water pump and I could not afford having the brackets stick out. I plan on putting a thin coating of silicone in the back of the brackets to prevent them from rubbing on the radiator core.
The other item on the to do list is that I am looking at doing a hydroboost conversion because of the low vac signal at idle with my cam. I just haven't had a chance to hit the salvage yards yet and find an Astro van.
Tom
