Belt vs electric [Archive] - Team Camaro Tech

: Belt vs electric


Car nut
Jan 5th, 05, 07:25 PM
posted 01-02-2005 04:02 PM
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I have a polished BeCool in my 69 Rag. It does run cooler when moving but, sitting at idle my car is still getting a little hotter than i would like.I now have a big flex fan at the correct position w/ the factory shroud. My mechanic said i would not need an aux push fan.Should I get the spal 16" electric pull fanor fans. He told me the cfms are not as good as a belt driven fan.
P.S. after the BeCool rad install my long polished overflow tank could not be installed because it was so long.
Thanks,
Brian

http://community.webshots.com/user/69ssrag

HOTRODSRJ
Jan 6th, 05, 01:14 AM
YOur slow speed/idle conditions warming is due to insufficient airflow at idle. May I ask what type of flex fan you are running? My 69 ragtop with a 400+hp airconditioned Hotlanta location always runs right on the thermostat cycling points. I am running what many consider the best fan in the business....a Derale heavy duty series flex fan 17217. All flex fans are NOT created equal as you know.

Your mechanic is wrong. High quality electric fans will move more air at idle than the mechanical ones...I don't care what your running. Even BB fans. The Derale comes real close in the CFM department.

You could run a booster fan if you want. It will make a difference but I would consider a Derale from Summit at $55.

I don't know what type of motor and hp you are running and... assuming that you have enough timing at idle and mixture is okay as well.

Car nut
Jan 6th, 05, 01:12 PM
Thanks Steve,
It is a crate 350/330hp which i believe is running good.I think the fan is an 18" I dont remember the brand but it is run of the mill. The car has a lot of black and chrome so it retains heat pretty well. Is the Derale a electric or pully? I was thinking of the 16" spal electric puller which will bolt right up.
Brian

http://community.webshots.com/user/69ssrag

HOTRODSRJ
Jan 6th, 05, 03:07 PM
Brian.......the best air mover fan I have found is this one series that Derale has.

http://www.derale.com/img/ChromeHDFlexFan.jpg

Check the web page out at http://www.derale.com/flexfans.shtml and look at the #17XXX series only. The others are junk in my opinion. If you don't have one like this....then I think it's worth a try.

Does yours have straight blades or curved like the example above. If you have one that is like the ones on the page below the 17xxx series then I will assure you that the Derale Heavy Duty will blow (pun intended) it away.

Joe Harrison
Jan 7th, 05, 02:00 PM
That look like a Ford Fan. No joke someone gave me one that looks just like that and said it was off of a Ford. Can't tell you what though. Should be cheap, almost free at the junk yard.

Joe

Car nut
Jan 7th, 05, 02:51 PM
Steve,
The fan looks good. Mine looks similar but it is not heavy duty. It is not like the other pieces of trash.I guess the derale is stiffer. If I go that way I will still put A 16" spal aux pusher fan. I have been running hot for as long as I can remember. Will the electric give me more air at idle than the derale without having 2 fans? I also think you gain a few horses, or do the derale and the aux. Thanks Brian.

Mark Donahue is a smart man.

HOTRODSRJ
Jan 8th, 05, 01:43 AM
The problem with putting a "pusher" fan on the front is that you have an interference problem with the hood/latch front support up the middle of the grill...me thinks. The only way you can fit a 16" fan in there is buy one with a small motor and they are worth sh$#$^@! Or buy a small one and offset mount it. Either way ...not very good.

I would suggest because of the way it's mounted, a pusher will loose about 10% of it's CFMs and if you were to use the Derale fan it would not be as effective at idle.

I would suggest you mount the electric fan in the pull position inside your shroud if you have room. I have done this installation. I know this depends on several issues such as do you have a short or long pump (could be due to pulley requirements).....clutched fan....etc....but, I know on my 69 I have room for a big 16" heavy duty fan in there if I ever needed it. By putting it inside and pulling you would be able to mount the larger motor series and it will not interfer with the mechanical fan or visa versa. Several OEMs are now doing this on trucks.

Another way is just buy either a Tauraus or MarkVIII fan and exclusively use that. The Taraus fans are great as well as the Mark VIII fans. But, you will have to upgrade your charging system whereas these fans typically suck down 40amps.

jumpstart
Jan 8th, 05, 11:51 AM
I recenly put in a new rad with an electric fan. I was also not sure on the push/pull option. I decided on the pull due to an aux trans cooler mounted in front of the rad. HOTRODSRJ is right, a 16" pusher won't fit the rad support opening. The Spal fan I use is Mod.#-SPA30102036. It's rated at 2360cfm. Not sure how valid the rating is, but with the new fan/rad combo I havn't had any overheating problems. It runs 180 at speed (30-60mph) and at 195 the fan comes on and maintains 180-190. It uses a 195on/180off fan switch. Here's a picture of mine. Hope it helps.

http://www.BartonekDragRacing.com/webfilez/Radfan1.jpg

Car nut
Jan 8th, 05, 07:34 PM
Whew, I agree guys and thanks for saving me the headache. Pretty sure I have a short pump. Impressive Jumpstart, no shroud? I was told numerously [ you have to have the factory shroud ]. This looks like the ticket. Brian.

Joe Harrison
Jan 8th, 05, 09:47 PM
A fan shroud should be used when using a belt drivin fan on the front of your water pump. I have seen electrics like the one above both ways. If you can get a shroud I think it would be best but the fan above is so close that I don't think it would make much diffeance with this type of installation.

Joe

Car nut
Jan 9th, 05, 06:29 AM
Beautiful,gotcha.Thanks
Brian

CarlC
Jan 9th, 05, 08:13 AM
There's some info on my website about the Mark VIII fan. Even with the big-a radiator that is in the car it will still work with a long pump. Mounting can be made much simpler than mine.

It is by far the best bang-for-the-buck electric fan on the market at about $150 from Rockauto.com

Car nut
Jan 9th, 05, 04:51 PM
I had the fan but I sold it with my 98 Mark VIII.
The way to go for me is a becool setup with the shroud. Hopefully my altenator will not explode. Thanks Carl.

jumpstart
Jan 10th, 05, 08:35 AM
The guys at StreetRodStuff (http://www.streetrodstuff.com/) set me up with the radiator and fan above. They felt that using the electric fan with a should would infact hinder air flow at higher speeds, such as highway or somewhat slower speeds. With the shroud around the fan, it would block most of the airflow though the radiator. That would require the fan to run considerably more often. I was actually convinced by them NOT to buy their aluminum shroud (~$100). graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Car nut
Jan 10th, 05, 04:26 PM
So you have the spal puller w/o the shroud? did your car overheat before? is it better now? did you notice a difference?

jumpstart
Jan 10th, 05, 06:21 PM
The car didn't overheat before. The stock type radiator had a leak, so I decided to go for the upgrade to an all aluminum rad with the electric fan. It had a three core radiator with a heavy five blade fan w/o a clutch. It also had the stock shroud. Never overheated, but having to either replace or repair the radiator, it was a good time just to clean it up a little. Much cleaner look like this. I already had a high amp alternator, so the 30amp draw from the fan isn't a problem. The fan may seem too close in the picture, but it's mounted per the instructions. The car doesn't run cooler, but it cools off very fast once the fan comes on in traffic. Maintains about 180*. With the natural flow of air through the rad while driving, the fan isn't needed.

Car nut
Jan 11th, 05, 02:25 PM
Sounds just like what i need. Thanks. Brian