Re: Electric Fans?

[Christopher Eveland <eveland@domain.elided>]

> Does anybody run (GOOD) electric fans on their rig? I am interested in doing
> this but have many concerns. I have had several guys tell me that the Spahl
> (not sure of the spelling) is a good choice. I saw a Ford with these on it
> and it looked real nice. The guy had two of them on the radiator with a
> custom aluminum shroud. It was a little noisy when they kicked on but It
> cooled perfectly and had the automatic thermal switch with a manual overide
> toggle. My SII runs hotter than I like and it may be the clutch fan. I have
> considered replacing that with a non-clutch type fan but I am intrigued by
> the electric setup. Would I gain any HP from this and would it be worth the
> effort?

I run an electric fan on my 800 w/ chevy V8.  For me it was just a lot
easier, because the mechanical fan would have been only about 9" in
diameter if it was going to clear the front frame crossmember.

I use the Flex-a-lite "balck magic" fan.  I think its model number 250
or something.  This fan pulls more CFM of air than anything else I know
of, which is why I got it.  I've heard this is the only fan that you
really want cooling a V8 without help from anything else.

If you take off the mechanical fan, you'll pick up some horsepower. 
When the fan is on, you'll be putting more load on the alternator, which
takes some power, but generally, it doesn't need to run all the time. 
Of course while 4 wheeling, you tend to be going slow, and its on more
often, but driving around town and on the freeway, it will hardly ever
come on.

The only thing I don't really like about it is the themal switch it
uses.  It is a brass bulb pressed up against the radiator core.  It
tends to be too sensitive to how the air currents are moving around
under the hood, which means its temperature changes when you are
relatively still vs on the highway, etc.  Not too big of a deal, and
probably has a lot to do w/ my airflow being pretty messed up due to
sawzall work required to get the engine in there.

Hope this helps,

-Chris
'67 800