Cooling My New Tiger UPDATE 3-25

[adventurer-96]

UPDATED 3-25, see page 2

Well, it’s finally back after a long stay at a shop for a full mechanical and body restoration, and it’s an amazing car. But, it’s also a HOT car, and I don’t just mean fast!

Some background on the car – stock 260 w/no shroud (didn’t come with it when I bought it) and stock fan blade, Fluidyne core radiator. Horn holes haven’t been blocked up yet (that’s this week’s job) and I need to seal the radiator at the top where it meets the body, new valence too so I’m not seeing the overlap that they mention in the Tiger Cooling article.

I had the gauges rebuilt and the temp gauge reads around 190-195 when cruising steady at 45-70mph. When I stop for gas, fill up, and start up, it’s at 220, then it drops back down when the speed picks up. Stop-and-go traffic causes it to rise up too, around 210-ish. Fortunately, I live in the middle of nowhere so I’m able to get the temp down again by driving, and when I stop the car I open the hood to let it cool.

A few more things – I read through the Cooling tech tip, and hat’s off to the folks behind the data. The engine was rebuilt, and I understand that it will run a bit hot but that’s going to take a while, and I’m not sure what the results will be. The temperature spikes I see with no airflow aren’t going to cut it living out here in the desert, so I’m making some changes, and I wanted to run them by you folks.

1. Close the horn holes I’m going to use some aluminum flashing from Home Depot painted and bolted into the threaded horn holes. I’m also going to see if I can seal off the top of the radiator.

2. Pusher electric fan 11″ Maradyne from http://www.absoluteradiator.com that I’m installing in the – you guessed it – front of the radiator. I would have gotten the one from Summit recommended in the article but I ordered this one first, so we’ll see how it goes. I’m going to run 2 aluminum brackets across the front of the radiator w/holes drilled out every inch or so to allow for airflow. They’ll be bolted into the existing extra holes on the radiator frame. I’m guessing it will reduce airflow across the radiator on the open road but I think that closing the horn holes will offset that. I’ve been thinking of different ways to switch it, and for now I’ve got a toggle that will mount in the dash. That way, I can see if the fan will cool before sinking more $$$ into the temp sensors. Of all the sensors I saw, I’m thinking I’ll go with the drain plug sensor w/an adjustable temp switch since right now the car’s running a bit hot for the 195deg switch. Option 2 would be an adjustable that goes in the radiator hose.

3. New Fan Blade Since I don’t have the facilities to raise the engine, I’m going to use a Flex-A-Lite 1340 assuming it’s not too thick, and I that’s also assuming I can find someone locally to bore out the center of the fan bored out to 1″. I’m open to “drop-in” options, I don’t mind losing a few horsepower since the car has zero when it’s not being driven due to potential overheating.

4. Working with the Valence I’d like to get some sheet metal or even some plastic to see if I can’t install something to smooth out the airflow going into the radiator.

5. Shrouds Other than the oh-so-expensive original shroud, has anyone found one that’s from another car that would work?

What do you folks think about these options?

[tigger]

Congratulations on your Tiger ownership. The images in your profile indicate A VERY nice and clean original. I rarely get to see rust-free cars other than in photos. 🙂
The Tiger’s engine compartment is very tight and since heat rises, you might want to consider putting a LAT hood on your Tiger. Purchasing an Alpine hood and installing the rear heat vents also helps to let the heat escape. The Fiberglass Lat Hoods are made down your way in Southern Cal. A fan shroud is a necessity, occasionally they show up for sale on ebay, and patience might uncover one for you. I’m fabricating an aluminum shroud for a customer, but I believe steel ones have been re-produced by several people. Try S.S. There has been an economical fiberglass shroud available on ebay occasionally. Maybe that is in your budget.
The factory rad mounting panel was designed by a crack-head 😛 for the Alpine. Crooked and small. Personally, I designed a new panel that allows air into the whole rad. The bottom half of the stock panel is a waist of sheet metal. Function should of dictated form. Has anybody tried cranking a Tiger’s engine with the hole supplied in the valence??
Not all flex fans are good, plastic ones are garbage. There is a six bladed Ford fan that works well for many(sorry, no part #).
An electric pusher fan is a great idea, blocking off the horn openings/engine compartment and restricting fresh air makes me giggle. 😆 I’ve heard mixed opinions on the fluidyne rad. A definite “winner” is a Griffith’s rad that Tiger Auto distributes. It is pretty close to the original specs and drops in fairly easily. 8) Thicker rads aren’t smarter.
Do you have any images of your Restored Tiger to share?

Rob Martel

[barry-knight]

A cooling system is no better than the weakest link, but, ultimately, the only way to get rid of heat from the engine is to transfer the heat from the radiator to the air and that requires moving lots of air THROUGH, not around, the radiator. Since your problem occurs when the car is not moving, you need to move more air through the radiator under those conditions and that means some sort of fan(s).

Closing off the horn holes may be a good idea, but you still need to move lots of air through the radiator. Not knocking electric fans, but even the largest cannot match the air movement of a properly shrouded water pump mounted fan. It may take several HP to turn a water pump mounted fan, but a one HP electric fan would pull something like 60 amps (do the math; 1 HP = 746 Watts, a 1 HP electric motor with 90% efficiency = 829 Watts, 829 Watts @ 13.8 Volts = 60 Amps).

A good water pump mounted fan is a start, but an un-shrouded fan is inherently inefficient. A well fitting shroud will not only improve the fans efficiency, it will also reduce air recirculation. IMO, the Tiger shroud leaves a lot to be desired; the opening is too big for the fan and the bottom of the shroud is open.

If anyone has ever found an alternative shroud that fits, they have done a good job of keeping it a secret. The hardest part of making a shroud is the round opening; ideally, it should have a “tubular” section that completely surrounds the fan with minimal clearance (the less the better, but allow for engine movement). I recommending finding a shroud with the right size opening and then using flat sheetmetal to adapt the center of the shroud to the Tiger radiator.

Just my opinion; your mileage may vary.

PS – My post took a couple of hours from start to finish and I never saw Rob’s post until after the fact. The bottom line is that I don’t want anyone to think I was disagreeing with what he said. Blocking off the horn holes probably reduces recirculation, but a good shroud addresses that issue. As Rob noted, heat buildup in the Tiger engine compartment is an issue and reducing airflow does not seem like a good idea.

[anonymous]

There are two remaining installments to the cooling project in the Rootes Review. The February issue, due in your mailbox at any time now, addresses radiators, air flow, water flow, and a host of other variables encountered during the project.

The March issue will have a summary of the findings and a recap of the project.

Tiger Tom and Chuck King spent a lot of time on this project, and their results seem to be very conclusive.

Fred Baum
Editor
Rootes Review

[adventurer-96]

Thanks for the replies, and the comments on the car. I really lucked out in getting this car, and the restoration has been interesting but then aren’t they all. I haven’t been able to resize any of the photos of the restoration in progress, or the “finished” product, so I haven’t uploaded any to the website. I was blessed with a car that was almost complete except for the shroud and the hard top.

I’ve relied on a lot of reading to try and figure out what to do regarding the overheating issue. I knew from the start that since the car didn’t come with a fan shroud that it was going to be a challenge to cool it, not to mention that the engine was rebuilt which according to some will add to the temperature in the engine compartment.

It’s funny that you should mention the hood because that’s one of the things about the restoration that looking back I would have done differently. But, I started the project without a lot of background.

I’m not a mechanic but based upon my understanding of cooling systems, plus the data in the cooling article, it seems to me that the key is airflow across the radiator, not so much through the engine compartment. I can’t find the Ford six-blade fan, and even if I could I wouldn’t want to trim it and as I mentioned at the moment I have no way of raising the engine to accomodate it. But, thanks for the tip. I’m not a huge fan (pun intended) of flex fans but that may be the way I’m forced to go, at the very least a different one.

One major point that we can all agree on I think – no shroud is a bad thing. I need to find something, and I think this week I may try to call a junkyard or two in the area and ask them if I can bring the car down and try a few on for size. Barring any luck there, I’d have to keep looking for one or have someone form one for me, which would probably be the same $$$. Not to mention, shelling out $400+ for a shroud that might not cure the problem at idle in the desert in summer isn’t a gamble I’m willing to take just yet.

I need to start somewhere, I’ve got the electric fan and now I’m working on the mounting bracket. I need to remove the radiator this weekend to do that, which offers me a great opportunity to flush it shortly after a rebuild, which can only be a good thing to get rid of any metals that might have made their way into the cooling system. Any suggestions on coolant by the way? I was planning on picking up some of the less-than-toxic stuff that’s on the market now and cutting it 50/50 w/distilled water.

I’ll keep adding to this thread as I get deeper into the project but I suspect that as I make the airflow into the front of the car more efficient that I’ll have more luck keeping the temperature gauge needle closer to straight up and down.

Thanks again for the replies, I’m glad I found this resource.

[anonymous]

There was a six-blade fan on ebay a couple weeks ago, and as I remember it went for something around $375.00

You can do a lot of modifications for $375 to make a cooler ride.

Fred Baum

[adventurer-96]

I just ordered a 6-bladed 8600 fan, 15″, it should be here around Thursday. I know I’ll have to have the center opened up, I wonder if I’ll have to have the fan blades trimmed since I don’t have a shroud. I’d hate to do it if I don’t need to as it appears to cut down on the air moved through the system fairly significantly but I’m guessing it’s a must-do.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI … AMEWA%3AIT

$237.50, Reserve Not Met. Lots of things to do in place of that amount of money, like buy one and do it myself!

[fast-tiger]

I just put a alum. rad. from Doug J and put a pusher fan in front and used a 13″ plastic fan blade on a 260ci Tiger and it has’nt went over 190 yet and most of the time its down around 170 the owner said it’s the best its ever been and he bought the car off the show room floor in 66.
I also run the same set up on my car and the plastic fan has seen 8000 rpm’s alot and it stays together and also my car does’nt go over 200 and its a 331 with some compression and a 250 shot of NOS.

[adventurer-96]

Maybe the Griffin would have been a better choice, but I do think that the Fluidyne is doing the trick right now, just a little hotter than I’d like.

I think things will look a lot better once the pusher fan is installed, I hope it handles the issue I’m having. The wiring harness and thermostat for the drain plug in the radiator are on their way, let’s hope the thermostat switch fits the radiator plug! Wouldn’t it be typical if it doesn’t?

What I really need to find is a fan shroud. Has anyone tried adapting a universal one to a Tiger?

[tigger]

Jerry
If you are using a plastic fan then I know it works due to your passion for power and record of success. 😀 The plastic fans that I have had less luck with distorted too much and lost their form then function at higher speeds. Do you have a part mfg reference? Cloning your car would lead to success 😆

Barry,
I agree about the Full Pull of an enclosed fan shroud. 😀 The Tiger’s steering rack is due south without much space to play in. We have had a request for an as original Shroud in Aluminum. During fitting,(Bring on the Summer!) I’ll work on an aluminum filler panel to help with the purposeful movement of the air. Hopefully a simple piece can be fabricated. Yes Air will come from the least resistance Make it journey through the rad 🙄 . Whenever Non-Structural, Aluminum alloys are King. Aluminum Heads, Aluminum Rad, Alloy transmission maybe next? 💡

Adventurer,
Check out the clearances around the fan with a cardboard pattern. Play a little arts and crafts with some construction paper (bring the kids along!)and do a Mock up of what you need. This will help in your JunkYard Journey since it’s always summer for you down there! 😉 Today it is only 10degrees fahrenheit. 👿 I have never heard of any replacements. Maybe some rice-burner will help out the cause ❓
What do you think of that mess of crooked metal in front of the lower portion of the Tiger Rad. DOH !! 😈

Tigger

[anonymous]

Adventurer-

Where did you order the 6-blade fan? Do you also have the parts number?

Let us know if you do any modifications to it to make it fit and work.

Fred Baum

[adventurer-96]

I’ll add a review when the fan gets here, I suspect it’s a repro but I want to get it in my hand before saying one way or another. The local Ford dealers did a nationwide search for a few of the fans recommended on Tigers United and in the cooling article, and came up no dice, so that makes me think this product will be a repro. I don’t want to keep the info to myself, it’s just that before recommending doing business with someone one way or the other I like to see what kind of finished product or service they offer. I’ve had bad luck pointing people in the direction of a business in the past and having a bad end result with the business after sending them some work that ultimately wouldn’t have gone there if I’d gotten the work finished before opening my big mouth.

Good tip with the mockup, I’ll have Art Class Thursday or Friday night! A nice disk of cardboard with a 1″ hole is easier to make than a balanced, trimmed fan blade in addition to figuring out how to “custom-make” a shroud. It’s pretty damn cold out here in the mornings, sometimes below freezing, then it gets up to the sixties in general, not my kind of climate. Pick a damn temperature range, already, one way or the other I can deal with.

My car is garaged at a friend’s house for the moment, so I can’t run into the garage and get the dimensions of the radiator. I would think that finding something that’s similar could be adapted at least for the upper half of the shroud, like maybe this kind of shroud:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI … AMEWA%3AIT

Just an example of something I found on ebay, but like I said having the car at a junkyard with a pile of fan shrouds might be the way to go. At least it’s better than going to work.

Regarding the metal on the front of the rad, I’ll have to take a look, I didn’t see too much of an issue with mine but as I mentioned it’s not a stock radiator so maybe the bottom’s a little higher. I picked up some 3 or 4″ rubber that’s used in something to do w/carpets that I walked by at Home Depot that might help to seal the top of the radiator to the nose of the car, improving the airflow on the top. Maybe it can also be adapted to be an air dam as well if I’m REALLY bored/desperate.

Any recommendations on coolant?

[tigger]

Coolant: Taste, Colour or Smell? 😆 Seriously, that’s a discussion with your Engine Builder and Rad manufacturer. I prefer Red over Green 😛

[adventurer-96]

OK, it ends up that the fan is a 17315 Derale, basically their heavy-duty black fans, rigid not flex. I knew the deal was too good to be true, I’m fairly certain that this fan won’t fit, even if the center is enlarged and the blades trimmed if required, because it seems like it will be too thick. So, it’s back to the dealer. 🙄

Instead, I can get one of these locally:
http://www.flex-a-lite.com/auto/html/40 … onomy.html

It’s worth a shot, I think it would be easier to try.

I’m going with about a 50/50 Zerex/distilled water mix based upon a few things I’d read, I just didn’t know if anyone had any other words of wisdom.

The temp switch and the wiring harness showed up today, and I’m really happy because the relay comes pre-wired with a lot of wire, plus it’s set up for a manual override switch if you want to use it. Redundancy is good.

I’ll post a report on Saturday night, assuming I’m not up to my elbows in antifreeze all day.

[Chuck & Wanda King]

Check six,

I’ll be glad to give you as much info as I can, but most of what you need to know (and believe) is in the tech tips article , part 1, 2, and 3 (coming up) on this web site. This is an example of pennies make nickles, nickles make dimes, etc. Look at the various data and plots and see how much is gained by certain enhancements— some are more beneficial than others. Get your biggest gains where you can, and add some of the refinements along the way—–they’re all listed for you.

I’ll address some of things you asked about and maybe a few more. I’m going to start with the mechanical fan because a lot of air and lots of your time will have to do with this. A 15″ fan will help tremendously. You said you don’t have the equipment to raise your engine—– sure you do. A scissors jack a piece of 2×4 on your oil pan is all you need. It’s much easier if you have stock exhaust manifolds than headers, but simple enough none the less. Leave your transmission mount attached, remove the single nuts on the engine motor mounts where the bolt portion passes through the frame bracket. Then raise the engine up with the jack till the bolt clears (make sure your hood is open for this), slip in an 1/8″ thick washer, lower the engine and replace the nuts. You’ve just gained 1/4″ at the front of the engine where the fan is over the rack. All the cars are just a little different here and there, you may not even need to do this.

Both the Derale and the Imperial flex fans mentioned in the article sell for about $30. I personally prefer the Imperial even though it doesn’t draw as much air the way it comes as the Derale. It”s more of a simple bolt in and you can just increase the pitch of the blades by gently, symmetrically bending them (without putting a crease in them) to get nearly the same airflow. Imperial is sold at Advanced Auto.

The shroud: Just having the shroud in place will increase the air drawn through the radiator by about 25% (see data)—– that’s alot! Enclosing and sealing the shroud will add nearly another 25%. If you’re going to use a 15″ fan, then I”d say to stay with the Tiger shroud or the aftermarket Tiger shrouds available. If your going to enclose it, there’s much more that needs to be addressed than I’m willing to get into here. I may give a tech session on this at the upcoming United, if your going to it and can wait till then (otherwise call me sometime).

If your going to stay with the 13/14 fan that you mentioned (13 1/2″) or any other 14″, there is a shroud out there that can be modified that makes a nice, clean, functional enclosed shroud. It takes a little work and ingenuity, but the basic shroud is there. It’s from an 86 Ford Taurus (or years of that body style) 6 cyl. Part # E7DE – 8146 – DA. I’d just check the junk yards till you find one, and you can probably get it for $5-$10.

While you’re at the junk yard, see if you can locate that Fairmont/Zephyr water pump pulley we mentioned, and put that on as well.

This brings up the next point. What you said about machining out the fans (and hubs) to 1″. The mounting hub on the shaft of the water pump is pressed on, simply have it removed, reverse it and repress it to the PROPER location and you won’t have to have that other more expensive machine work done.

The Fluidyne radiator: All I can say is that it was not a good performer in our tests. I’d rather stay with a stock rad than that. Best of all I liked the stock recored using the VT Windsor core (local radiator shop can order it). Griffin is a great choice if you get enough air through it (not so good if you don’t)

The electric fan: Good to use as an auxiliary, but get as much as you can from the mechanical side first. The little 4 paddle 10″ Dodge colt fan is super (Summit’s 4 paddle 10″ looks like the same thing). The Mazda 626 11″ is a good one as well. Remember to keep the fans shroud about 1″ away from the rad ——– it make a big difference. As for the switch, I like the adjustable thermostatically controlled switch (about $20 at Advanced Auto). The sensor can just be placed and held firmly against the side of the rad tank and then you can just adjust it to what temperature you want it to come on. Keep it fused, but on the constant hot side of the fuse block.

Changing the air flow within the valence using air deflectors actually consistently raised the engine temp by about 1 degree. I know it sounds odd, but I can only tell you it did it every time. Only when an air dam was used that went below the crossmember did we see a decrease in engine temperature. Go ahead and try it, but you’ll need a digital temperature gauge to see he difference.

[adventurer-96]

Chuck, first off great work on the cooling project. You’re right, you have to have data to make educated decisions about the options you’re looking at. I hope to have more info for you folks tomorrow evening, and I hope to be able to give some results that might help someone in the future.

In my case, like I mentioned, had I found more insight into the radiator issue I wouldn’t have gone with the Fluidyne but now that I have it, I’m stuck with it for better or for worse! I’ll try my fan, and if it doesn’t work well then I’ll pick up a 4-blade.

Thanks for the pointout for the Ford fan shroud, I’ll see if I can come across one. The same goes for the Fairmont/Zephyr pulley, it’s high on my list of junkyard items to find. Right now, my intent is to get this car driveable, and later I’ll look into getting an original shroud, etc. But, as mentioned earlier, $450 can go a long way towards working on a lot of cooling mods.

In raising the engine, does that create any stress on the transmission?

I’ll know a lot more tomorrow once I get a good look at the engine fan mount, and I install the pusher fan. I picked up the 414 six-blade 14″ fan today and had the shop drill out the center to 31/32″ it’s the Flex-A-Lite black fan. I figured the price was right and it was a lot easier to have the shop drill out the plastic center, and then fit it as required tomorrow. I just read that it ranked lower than the stock fan in terms of air moved, but at least tomorrow I’ll have a chance to test it out. The nice part is, if I can actually install it in an expeditious manner, then I can go ahead and drive it around to see what the results are.

[adventurer-96]

Brake work took all of my time in the shop today, the fan *might* be tomorrow if I can get time off for good behavior at home.

[adventurer-96]

I took out the radiator yesterday to install the pusher fan, it will fit nicely once I finish getting it mounted.

Then, there will be two tests. First, will the airflow be interrupted enough to see the car run hotter on the open road, where it’s done fine so far? Second, will the pusher fan actually cool adequately while idling at a stop?

I’ll try all this before blocking the horn holes, too, to try and keep it somewhat scientific.

The radiator’s at the shop right now getting a drain installed so I can use my switch and wiring harness from Vintage Air.

[adventurer-96]

Small update – when the engine was rebuilt, they replaced the hub with a 5/8″ hub it seems, the hub measures at 5/8″ and the 4-blade fan has room on either side of the hub, so I’ll be able to use a standard fan blade. I ordered another fan blade, this time NOS, from http://www.greensalescompany.com in Ohio. Very helpful, they were able to look through a variety of fan blades from the period that were 6″ w/different diameters and hubs, very knowledgable. I’ve got one on order that’s 14 15/16ths, or thereabouts. I went with it instead of the Derale as the Derale is about 2″ thick, and it might not have enough clearance with the radiator. Plus, I’d rather use a Ford part if I can find one. Anyone want a Derale fan new-in-box before I return it? 😉

I’ll post a report when the Ford fan shows up, hopefully soon.

[adventurer-96]

The fan is great, truly NOS, and it was actually 14 5/16ths. It fit on like a glove. They also had a smaller pulley available at Greenlight but I figured I’d try this first. Also, I installed the electric fan as well as the adjustable temp switch. Here are the results:

When I first drove the car, it ran at about 170-175 on the gauge for about 10 minutes, driving 40-60mph. Then, when I turned off the road and slowed down for about a tenth of a mile and turned back, the temp climbed up to about 195 and remained steady at the same 40-60mph range. When I stopped the car, I let it idle for a few minutes and then turned it off and opened the hood. Boilover! 🙄

So, I installed and wired the relay and adjusted the electric fan to come on when I saw the temp just a hair above 200 on the gauge. I suspect I have some air in the system because the fan worked for a few minutes, then shut off, but when I checked the temp on the gauge by turning on the ignition it read about 225-230! 😯 But, no boilover indications, I suspect that a small bit of air made its way to the top when the car was shut down which led to some erroneous indications. I don’t want to adjust the temp switch lower because I only want it to work in traffic.

I may take the car to LA next weekend to meet up with some CAT members, before I do I will test out the car in the local area to make sure that the fan does give enough airflow when stopped to prevent boilover.

Thanks to everyone who posted here, I think this will be a good discussion to come back to in the future to see how things worked out. Special thanks to Greenlight for the fan – nice to know I could get a Ford 6-blade fan that I didn’t need to trim and I didn’t need to get off eBay.

[Chuck & Wanda King]

Check Six,

So did you put the smaller pulley on or not? Was it the one suggested from the Fairmont? Also, did you block the horn holes? These two things were good for at least 20 degrees in combination.

Remember, blocking the horn holes is advantageous on the highway as well. The shroud is something you should really pursue. That Taurus shroud I told you about will work with the fan you got. It will need to be modified by cutting and adding some sheet metal with pop rivets, but you’ll be able to figure it out. Your looking at some major improvement here as well. When we did our tests with the horn holes and smaller pulley, we had a shroud in place. I’m not sure if you’ll see the same improvement without it.

Increasing the pitch on your fan blades is easy and good for still more improvement. Get it where you can with what you’ve got. I told you before that the Fluidine radiator was one of the poorest performers in our tests.

Keep going on this and keep us posted.

[John & Gwen Logan Sr.]

Adventurer 96

I think there is a possibility that you are over reacting to your cooling problems so here are my comments.

First of all, like most Sunbeams, your complete temperature measuring system may not be accurate even though you have a “rebuilt” gage. If you want to know how accurate it is, remove the sensor, hook it up with enough heavy wire including a ground so that you can place it in a can of boiling water heated with a propane torch. With the ignition on, read the temperature. Find out what the temperature of boiling water is at your altitude and you can then figure out the error. If you have a 10 degree error on the high side, which is not unusual, and a 185 degree thermostat then your 190 – 195 degree temperature is right on.

Having the temperature go to 220 degrees when it is stopped is entirely normal. The temperature rises in all cars after they stop. This is because the coolant absorbs the heat from the block and because it is static, the temperature rises. Your other car will do that but it probably doesn’t have a direct reading temperature gage like the Tiger so you don’t know it. 220 degrees is no problem. if you have a proper 13 psi radiator cap it won’t blow with your mixture until the temperature gets over 130 degrees. What ever you do to try to stop this is a waste of time and money.

You don’t say what the ambient air temperature is when you are driving. That is a very important piece of data.

Yes, you must have a shroud, you will get an improvement with a better fan, seal the horn holes, seal the radiator above and below between the bottom tank and the suspension cross member. Add an air dam below the cross member. This will cause a vacuum below the car that will help suck the hot air out of the engine compartment. You can trim the radiator support that runs in front of the radiator for a modest gain but I don’t recommend it because it is structurally important. There is nothing else you can do to the front end to help much.

If you do find a Maverick or Pinto fan, you don’t have to trim the whole blade. You only have to notch the blades so they will clear the steering rack.

[adventurer-96]

Chuck, John, thanks for the replies.

No new pulley, but I think that Greenlight has them in stock if (like me) you can’t find one locally. The horn hole project is next, I just wanted to see what this did first before changing things further. Also, thanks for the words on the shroud, I’ll pick one up and start working on it, luckily a local junkyard has a few.

Again, it’s “love the one you’re with” when it comes to the Fluidyne. Not the best choice, but it’s the one I have on hand.

John, I agree with you regarding the temp gauge inaccuracy. The ambient temp on average I’d say is about 55-60 degrees. Like I mentioned, I suspect that the location of the temperature sensor for the gauge might have some air, inducing further inaccuracy. I understand the temperature rising when shut off, makes perfect sense, also that’s why lost of modern cars have the temp switch hotwired so the temp fan can come on after the car’s parked. The problem was when the car was turned back on it wouldn’t cool unless driving.

The fan blade installed without any need for any trimming, what a touchdown I can’t believe I’m the first one to find a bolt-on 6-blade fan that didn’t need to be trimmed. I’ll have to post the Ford part number when I get to the paperwork at home.

Bottom line – the car would boil over when sitting at idle after driving it to reach normal operating temperatures, requiring that I change something in the car to allow it to be driveable in traffic.

I’m not sure where we’re moving to in a few weeks/months but since it might be a hot climate like Phoenix I’m trying to go to the extreme to get it ready for whatever temps it might encounter. Plus, with the situation right now, I can’t take the car into LA for fear of a boilover in traffic. Hopefully this will be a start to a permanent fix.

I’ll keep you posted.

[adventurer-96]

OK, 4-4 1/2 hours on the freeways of LA and it drove GREAT! I even got caught in some traffic around Hollywood which I’d been dreading, and all went well. The temperature fluctuated between 170-200 on the gauge depending on uphill or downhill, traffic, etc. When I stopped in Torrance, Buck checked the temp on the radiator and engine and they were 171 and 195, respectively. Neat tool, point the laser and it tells you what the temp is.

I also got a chance to hear the electric fan turn on twice after shutting the car down, both times there was a delay of about a minute, so I feel confident that system’s working.

My two last projects – horn holes and a shroud.

Is it a good idea to permanently open the thermostat? Is there a drawback to that?

[adventurer-96]

Famous last words…

I started the car today and it spewed all of its oil on the driveway and garage, looks like an oil line in the area of the remote oiler broke. I’ll be getting a small filter and a block mount tomorrow, I just hope I can clean the oil up before it stains my friend’s driveway…

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