I’m installing a new radiator with electric fan in my Parklane. I’m looking for a place to put the sensor. Is the place I circled on the pic where there is a plug an ok place for the fan’s sensor?

MplsMike
'56 Parklane
Minneapolis, MN

J Bergman (CVA #4380) here.

This location is the return line from the radiator and will sense the radiator outflow (return to the engine) temperature. You'll need to make the adjustment for quite a bit lower temperature - and the radiator inlet temperature may vary a bit with ambient temperature in spite of the thermostat being wide open on hot days.

It may be worth experimenting, though.

Conventional "wisdom" would put the sensor somewhere at the radiator coolant inlet; perhaps in intimate contact with the lowest portion of the radiator top expansion tank. Your fan thermostat settings would be higher there, but still require some experimentation.

Regards , JB

55 Ford Crown Victoria Steel Top

Ted Eaton recommends putting the temperature sender/sensor in the thermostat cavity in the intake manifold. Ted drilled and tapped my manifold for a 1/8 NPT sender. Looking at the intake manifold from the front, the hole is to the left of the hole for the heater vacuum valve. 

I put mine in the upper radiator hose with a piece easily bought on line summit and many other venues have them. Can also be used to trigger electric fans.

Mike, still lovin his 57 t'bird after 53 years!

I did the same before Ted drilled & tapped my manifold while also opening up the plenum/carburetor base to 2 ovals and blending the runners into the plenum. Ted said that if the thermostat were to become stuck closed, having the sensor/sender in the upper radiator hose would give a false reading. In the case of an electric fan, it would not come on. Having the sender in the manifold has the added benefit of a cleaner appearance as well. However, I don't know that I would go to the trouble of drilling & tapping the manifold, unless it had already been removed from the engine, which it had been in my case.

Thanks all for the replies. I too am not overly exited about removing the intake. I think I may try using an adapter in the radiator hose.

MplsMike
'56 Parklane
Minneapolis, MN

Assuming your upper radiator hose diameter is the same as my 55 Tbird's, you'll need a 44mm/1.75 adapter. I bought mine from American volt.com. It's black-anodized aluminum and is drilled and tapped for a 1/8 npt sender as well as a ground screw (screw included. Price is $19.95. Although it also includes hose clamps, I thought they were cheap and didn't fit well, but I have no complaints regarding the adapter. For an additional $10, they will include a sending unit, but it might not be compatible with your fan/temperature gauge, and I can't attest to the sender's quality. 

Check your PM.

Mike, according to RockAuto, the inside diameter of the 1956 Parlane's upper radiator hose is 1.5 inches, which is smaller than the Tbird's 1.75. American Volt does have a 1.5/38mm adapter; the price is the same ($19.95). 

TED EATON is correct (well, ain't he always?).

The sensor has to be behind the thermostat to read correctly. That side of the WP is not going to be at engine temp as it is drawing return coolant from the radiator.

The fan(s) will not get the correct signal and cut on quickly enough.

I wonder if his modification was ever shown in an article or post?

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No disagreement with any of the above. But I’ve used adjusted controllers on several electric fan installs on the bird and other cars. Some have used water temp senders that screwed in, but others have used a small probe that slipped between the radiators tubes through the fins. I was skeptical of those initially, but they went right in with no forcing or damage. There’s typically a rubber cap on the front side so the incoming cold air doesn’t affect the temp reading.

You get your choice of where you place them, near the top inlet, at the bottom outlet, etc. Depending on your preference for which is best. The controllers typically include a relay for the fan, and a high low adjustment. You set your turn on temperature (say 190 or 200 with a 180 stat), and then the turn off a bit lower. I ran my last one at 190 on and 180 off. Fan didn’t run at road speed, and with the delta setting didn’t didn’t short cycle. Worked good on my bird, and we all know about keeping them cool in traffic. Some even start slow and ramp up in speed if required. Makes them less intrusive in traffic on a cooler day as they aren’t as loud.

miker
55 bird, 32 cabrio F code
Kent, WA
Tucson, AZ