At some point in the recent past, my car’s PO installed or had some Bubba install a new radiator. Not having read any of the numerous threads on this forum detailing what a PIA it is to remove the fan shroud (hint: ya gotta tilt the radiator support forward), said Bubba found it necessary to take a Sawzall and cut large gouges out of the shroud so it could clear the upper control arms on the way out. Not being an OCD kinda guy, he reinstalled the now-butchered shroud after installing the new radiator.
The good news is that the car still runs cool even with the shroud’s aerodynamics FUBAR’d. The bad news is that I can’t stand looking at it and am on the hunt for a new, correct shroud. The catch? As has been noted elsewhere on the forum, there was a major change in many components during the ‘76 model year, with the under-hood changes including a new radiator, support bracket and shroud that became standard in the ‘77 models. Some have said that the changes occurred early in production (~ October, ‘75) but my car — which retains the A6 compressor and other ‘76E features — was built in February of ‘76. So?
Well, first thing is that, when you can find one, suppliers are asking big bucks for what they are calling a ‘76E shroud ($900-$1500!) because of its allegedly limited usage. But my car is in the 23K serial number range and that makes for a pretty sizeable market for the early shroud. To make matters worse, the shroud they picture usually looks like the ‘73-‘75 shroud. While that design appears to fit the ‘76E support, it is a two-piece design, with a separate ring at the engine side of the shroud. The original ‘76E shroud is a one-piece design (and made of molded plastic,I believe, not fiberglass like many replacement shrouds).
The help I am seeking from fellow Forum members is a lead or leads to a new or NOS injection molded, one-piece fan shroud that fits the ‘73-‘76E support bracket. Ideally, it’s in the ~ $300 price range of the ‘73-‘75 shrouds. If it’s 3 times that number, I may just investigate using the two-piece design. This is a (nice) driver, not a show car, so I guess I can live with a few compromises.
Anyway, thanks for hearing me out, and your comments will be appreciated.

 

Why not just convert to electric?

Your future self will appreciate all the extra space under the hood.

 

So much easier to work on just about everything with electric fans.
There is the down side however. A higher output alternator will most likely be needed, along with the necessary heavier wiring. And with air-conditioning a trienary switch installed in the high pressure line is highly recommended.
So there's no free lunch.
But I can pull my C5 electric fans in minutes, and remove my A arms without removing the studs from the frame.
Replacing my radiator is also a lot easier.
And my fans never run going down the road. So it frees up a few H.P.

 

Although it's called early the switch happened late. Mine was built on 4/29/76 and it has the early shroud.

I had a buddy with a '76 built in early June that had all of the '77 changes, so I've always guessed it happened sometime in May '76...

 

You guys make good points, but I can still hear my father tell me, as I stared at the engine of my mis-behaving ‘66 Mustang, “90 percent of all car problems are electric.” With an overheating engine being one of the true, pull-off-the-road-and-shut-her-down problems, you can replace a busted fan belt with a piece of rope in an emergency. If your electric fan(s) stop working on hot day while you’re in heavy traffic, there are fuses, thermostats, switches and other gremlins that may or may not be fixable on the side of the road. That being said, I’ll investigate the C5 and aftermarket options for e-fans. Would I need a new radiator (aluminum?) or can I use the existing, stock unit that’s in good condition?

 

l would be willing to bet that you could put a 75' shroud in it.......the 76' probably has minor differences that make it special to the NCRS crowd.......
Electric fans can be dead nuts reliable.....it is 100% on the install and parts quality......that said, I run a 500hp 406 sbc with a 100% factory correct cooling system save for the hi-flo thermostat.

Jebby

 

Your Dad has a point. But I'm willing to bet my ability to fix electric fans on the side of the road is greater than my ability to fix a mechanical fan. I built in redundancy such that each of the two fans is on an independent circuit, and can be triggered manually.

Recently, the water pump in my (stock setup) 79 began to fail. By the time I removed the shroud (hood, clutch fan, radiator, shroud, etc), I just decided to pull the engine instead. The harmonic balancer in my 80 (dual-Spal electric fans) failed right after this, and I was able to swap it out with everything in place, thanks to the extra room afforded by the electric fans.

You should be able to use your existing radiator with C5 or dual-Spal fans, if you want.