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By dbird - 8 Years Ago
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I'm planning on changing the cooling fan for the summer. What sizes are other people using, the T-bird vendors seem to be selling 16 inch, but it seems that there is enough clearance for a larger fan and I want all the cooling I can get.
Thanks,
Don
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By paul2748 - 8 Years Ago
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If you are running the stock shroud, 16 inch is about all you can shove in there, based on my 56 Bird. Go with the 5 - 6 blade that is available if you want additional cooling.
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By miker - 8 Years Ago
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I've searched several times, and can't find it. But Greenbird56, Steve Metzer, had a posting on using a Hayden fan clutch and a cut down larger fan. I couldn't go that route due to the blower, but I'd do it in a minute if I could. Since Tucson gets to 107 degrees, I'm inclined to believe him. Maybe that got lost in the last update, or I'm not searching properly, or he'll chime in with it.
For sure you want to run the shroud, and the repop lower one that goes out to the corner of the radiator.
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By GREENBIRD56 - 8 Years Ago
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here is the set-up I finally came up with - without using an electric fan.
As shown, there is a Hayden #2797 Severe Duty fan clutch, a cut down '68 Pontiac 7 blade fan (said to be off a GTO) and a reduced diameter aluminum waterpump pulley. The Hayden clutch is a "bolt-on" fits perfect, the fan had to be (very carefully) cut down to fit into the 18 inch opening - does not just fall on there but an easy fix with a bandsaw and careful layout. The small pulley is off a 289/302 and speeds up the waterpump - as well as offsetting the rpm loss of the clutch slippage (80%-90% speed engaged - 20%-30% dis-engaged). I've had my best luck - using the big block Chrysler sized thermostat and restricting the bypass hose.
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By Vic Correnti - 8 Years Ago
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Back in the day I had a 6 blade fan and it still ran too hot. Once I went to an alternator I removed the 1 inch water pump spacer and after that it ran right at the thermostat.
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By GREENBIRD56 - 8 Years Ago
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I think Vic's comment about removing the pump spacer is the right way to go - and if I re-engineer my set-up again (too many versions already) - I'm going to either remove the spacer or get a modified pump with the wider impeller.
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By slumlord444 - 8 Years Ago
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Pretty sure the factory fan on my '57 Bird is 18".
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By Vic Correnti - 8 Years Ago
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Here is a link for a water pump baffle that is supposed to help, but I don't how good they work.
http://www.larrystbird.com/?s=water+pump+baffle&post_type=product
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By slumlord444 - 8 Years Ago
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I installed one in my T-Bird years ago. Never really noticed any difference that I could tell.
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By Campsite - 8 Years Ago
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To add my two cents worth. On my 55 T-bird,I used the 6 blade fan from a 1967 Mustang with air cond 351 W engine it fits into the shroud about a 1/4 inch, with about 3/8 of an inch clearance. works great
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By dbird - 8 Years Ago
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Thanks for all the input, I was already planning on the thermostat and baffle and I think I've figured out my problem with fan size. I currently have a 18" six blade like this, http://www.summitracing.com/parts/flx-1018/overview/ , which has very narrow blades. When you factor in the wider blades of a more conventional fan it might make the effective diameter greater than just measuring across the center of the blade.
Don
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By miker - 8 Years Ago
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I've used that style fan, and I don't think they move near the air the factory units do.
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By jdwilker - 8 Years Ago
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Hey Greenbird, what was the diameter of the pulley you used? There seems to be several different variations.
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By Lou - 8 Years Ago
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You say it runs hot, what do you call hot?
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By DryLakesRacer - 8 Years Ago
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jdwilker. Greenbirds smaller pulley idea saved my 59 Vic's over heat problem at idle and traffic. The one I bought was 6" OD and chrome from a speed shop near me. I rubbed it with a scotch bight and painted it semi gloss black. Ted E said there were many different sizes for different parts of the country. Mine was 7-1/4". Good luck
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By jdwilker - 8 Years Ago
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Thanks for the info. My original pulley is 7.25" and has a depth of 2.5". I've seen several FOMOCO pulleys that are in the range of 6" in diameter but with different depths. I did find one pulley that is 6" by 2.5", but it's a double groove. I'm thinking that won't matter?
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By GREENBIRD56 - 8 Years Ago
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Sorry for the delay in returning here - as usual work intervened...............
I got the aluminum pulley from CVF and had a friend machine off the back groove to shorten it. Pretty close to the exact required location for the Thunderbird.
You can also use a steel double groove from a 302 - and cut it off short as well. Looks like the price has gone up on the aluminum version.
As the others have said - I really prefer the mechanical drive fans - and when I fitted the Hayden clutch, slippage cut the available speed by a fair amount. Plus - when I got the waterpump speed up a bit, you could actually see water rushing back into the upper radiator tank (which is what my 289 motor ordinarily did) when the thermostat was full open. Be sure to use one of the wide opening thermostats.
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