Gold Dragon

Getting ready to fire up the Vette after a year long body off. Purchased the car with dual electric fans for the radiator, they look original for the car. Would like to go a different direction, and switch to what I feel is a more reliable system. A flex fan on the pump. I know there are pro,s & con,s to this and I would like to hear what others have done to keep it cool. My Vette is a 69 with a 71 LS 454.

Nowhere Man

Tom Dewitt

Gold Dragon

Thank you Nowhere Man. Dug up some great info on Toms radiators. My car already has a direct fit aluminum radiator. Not sure if it is one of his. My concern is that the electric fans could fail, plain and simple. I have also read the argument that it is better to pull cool air in rather than 195 degree air out. Want to get this right. The fans are a significant draw on the electrical system as well.

Nowhere Man

Why not get rid of those and go back to a clutch fan

sug

I went with dewitt radiator and the 427 has never over heated or even came close . Dewitts are well made radiators that look good and some nice tig welding by some one who knows what there are doing .I will definitely get another one if needed.

Gold Dragon

That's the plan. I ordered a flex fan and 2" spacer. Worried about clearance issues. As you know the radiator has a wicked lean, and just not a whole Lotta room when the hood closes.

Nowhere Man

that is worse then what you got. cancel that order and order a
stock seven blade fan and OEM clutch. unless you don't like your hood when that flex fan fails. and make sure your fan shroud is in good shape

Mr D.

If you are not going with the GM engineered cooling system than you are throwing money down a rabbit hole.

drwet

Tried the flex fan thing when I was young and foolish. Don't make that mistake. Get a good quality factory fan and try and find a good fan clutch. The factory system works well. The fan noise without a clutch will drive you nuts. And be aware its hard to find a good fan clutch these days. Most of the aftermarket units suck.

Rodnok1

Flex fans suck, electric fans seldom fail. They need to be properly wired.
You can wire them so they run lower speed except when temp reaches a certain point.

M A Fry

Flex fans use more hp and are less efficient see this episode of engine masters :

stingraymaniac

I switched to 2 12" electric on mine, after seeing the engine masters episode
It steals alot of power, and they didn't test the clutch fan when it's fully engaged

terrys6t8roadster

You must like noise. Flex fans sound like a turbine, plus a fan schroud is required. Electric fan failure? Then why are so many newer cars running electric fans? T

doorgunner

There is a great article rating different types of fans. I would have thought that flex fans would be at the top of the list when it comes to efficiency....not so.

Nowhere Man

There is a reason no car manufacture uses them. Car manufactures still use clutch fans to day for a reason.

Rescue Rogers

I just replaced my new clutch fan with an electric because it works much better than a clutch fan when sitting in traffic. Its mounted on the radiator and with the fan shrouded so tightely it pulls more cold air through than the clutch will with the big air gaps. Most new cars do come with electric fans. Its pretty easy to upgrade your alternator to handle the load and the system can handle it since the higher amperage is going though the main wires back to the battery, if they were to get too hot the fusible links would let go and no one here has posted those problems. The only difference I noticed is thtat my amp guage stays in the positive side more than in the negative. I upgraded for the fan and the new H4 lights I'm using. Very happy so far

If your electric fans are pusher fans I could see how they wouldnt function as well as pullers. Good luck.

Nowhere Man

only because the engine is sitting side ways with no room for anything. and the cars with the engine the correct way there is either A no room for a fan clutch, and B the design of the car dosn't allow for a fan clutch. and that accounts for every single car on the road. now trucks and SUVs on other hand still use clutch fans. the ones with electric fans will have a towing package

Gold Dragon

Thank you for the advice guys. When I got home last night the Summit box was already on the porch. Going to put the fan on the shelf an use it on another project. It won’t be going on the Vette. I had no idea that a fan could steal so much power from an engine. Will be using the dual electric fans. Sounds like they will do the job well, if they are wired correctly.

Nowhere Man

it won't be anything you notice while driving it that the fan is robbing power. the fan clutch will work just fine as well as the electric fans. there are other things you can do to help with cooling

read this

http://www.camaros.org/pdf/corv_cooling2.pdf

flyeri

Good choice. The only problem I've ever had with an electric fan was a blown fuse on a Subaru. One fan quit and when I replaced the fuse I never had another problem. The fan on my 68 only runs when I come to a stop for a minute or in stop and go traffic where there is little or no airflow. Steady 20mph + and it will never come on. Wire it correctly and use a good controller. I have it set to come on 10-15 degrees above normal highway driving temp (180) and it cools it 10 degrees and shuts off.