This thread is in line with my earlier one about which radiator to purchase. If I put in a new radiator, such as an aluminum form Dewitts, do I really need the fan shroud? Before anyone asks why, I just hate the fan shroud, I want the extra room, and how much cleaner the bay is without one. My logic behind not needing one is that I will have a new aluminum radiator, which I believe should cool better, I do NOT have A/C, so no condensor to block airflow in front of the radiator, and I live in the Pacific Northwest, no major days over 90 degrees in the dead of summer. Average summer temp of mid 70's to mid 80's. Tell m if I am wrong, but can I get rid of the shroud, or better yet, sell it on ebay?

 

an engine fan needs a shroud to work. if you want extra space then thermo fan is the answer for you my friend .

 

With a properly mounted and sealed shroud the air is pulled through the radiator for proper cooling. Without a shroud the fan pulls air around the radiator, the old path of least resistance.

C-3's don't have optimum air flow to begin with so the more air pulled through the radiator the better.

If you don't like the shroud and you're going to but a DeWitt's radiator, give some consideration to the DeWitt's radiator/dual electric fan combo. They work fantastic and you get rid of the stock shroud, fan and fan clutch and it really cleans up and dresses up the engine compartment.

 

as already stated, if you are running a fan / fan clutch you NEED the shroud, along with all the correct radiator and core support seals in place.
The type or brand of radiator doesn't matter in regards to this question and need as the shroud is imperative to proper airflow and cooling.
Here is a good example for you. Two years ago when I was redoing my '78 I just purchased and getting it back on the road, after reinstalling core support, radiator, shroud, etc I somehow wasn't able to get the shroud to sit into position just 100% correctly and it wouldn't snap into place into the clips at the bottom of the core support. I finally gave up and just ran the car as it was with the shroud that way. It seemed fine, no problem. About two months ago I was doing some work on the car and had to have the water pump rebuilt so I decided to work further on getting the shroud to fit properly. I finally got it into place with the bottom clipped into position where it belongs. This closed up a big gap at the bottom that the incorrect position caused. Just closing up that gap of a few inches gave me regular operating temps of 5º cooler than before. Since the airflow is so bad on the C3's to begin with that closing off a 2" gap allows for a decrease of 5º in operating temp, how much difference do you think would occur by not having the shroud on at all!! Believe me, you won't get too far down the road before your temp gauge starts pegging on you.

If you want to get rid of the shroud than spring for the extra bucks on your DeWitts radiator order and get the radiator / dual fan set-up.

 

been there done it

 

Ditto,.......

 

Even the electric fans need a shroud to pull [or push] the air through the radiator. If you only have a 12" fan on the radiator, it will only pull air through that 12" of fan area...a real waste of the cooling capacity of the radiator. You can make a simple sheet metal (or plastic) shroud that will take less room...or you can buy one and pop-rivet it to the radiator frame. Use foam to seal around edges, if you need. As long as you're spending money for good products, you might as well get full use of them.

 

 

vethead...you should already know...from all the previous posts in the last 8 years...that the shroud is required only when the car is sitting...it's of no use when the car is moving. A major use of a fan shroud, or more specifically forced radiator ventilation, is to provide additional cooling for an air conditioner or to keep an engine cool if it's very hot outside or to protect an engine that isn't running right.

The most important part of the cooling system (besides the radiator and water pump) for a vette is the air dam...without it almost 1/4 of the air flow will be lost.

 

i disagree ....my ELECTRIC fan has no shroud. its rare i hit 195 and if i do i switch on the fan and it drops to 185 fast. of course you need a good fan and a good radiator but every case is different so saying its a real waste of cooling capacity isnt correct. on the hi-way a shroud blocks the air so if you have the potential to run no shroud then why have it?

 

I have been kinda 'sitting on the fence' with this one. However I now think the stock rad/fan/shroud set-up is OK if in good working order. My old L36 was OK to a point with the stock set-up but didn't like cruising at 70+ or town traffic. My reasoning is that 'if it ain't broke or it works properly why bother to fix-it' (other than for asthetic reasons) On my new 489/528hp unit I have used a Dewitt's rad with stock viscous fan and shroud. I have made a particular effort with sealing the shroud to the radiator - adding fillet/fill-in pieces so that any air flowing through front cone only goes through radiator and shroud. Using the car yesterday in mixed town/highway the temperature was 175 all the time. It was obvious the engine was getting warm as oil pressure dropped a little after a while - but the Dewitt rad coped just fine. As for summer temperatures - I will have wait see! I have a buddy with the Dewitt Rad/Twin Fan set-up on a hot 454 Vette - it works fine, no issue but it allows the engine to run up to higher temperatures and from then-on the fans seem to be on most of the time, especially in summer.