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searching the forums i found post from 2005 but nothing recent. i am in the middle of a 383 swap with a serpentine belt system. there are a bunch of new[er] fan systems out. what are you using? are you happy?
1979 with a Dewitt's aluminum radiator.
auto with working a/c (wife said so)
searching the forums i found post from 2005 but nothing recent. i am in the middle of a 383 swap with a serpentine belt system. there are a bunch of new[er] fan systems out. what are you using? are you happy?
1979 with a Dewitt's aluminum radiator.
auto with working a/c (wife said so)
The top to bottom coverage of the shroud is good although the side to side coverage leaves perhaps three inches on each side outside the shroud. That said the shroud fits in &between bolts for the A-arms and in front of the pullys so there is no installation hassles.
Being in LA and having the air conditioning on and willing to drive in traffic on hot days - the big-ish 383 can overtax the radiator and fan. Turn off the AC in these worst case conditions and the fan pulls the temp back down to thermostat temperature relatively quickly. Hit the highway and temps come down quickly.
Be aware that these high power fans need a fair amount of amps - so cabling has to be taken into consideration on the install.
I have a beautiful DeWitt radiator also.
Happy? Yes. Modern car perfect... no. That is not to denigrate either the radiator or the fan - its asking a lot to cool these beasts at the boarder line under difficult conditions.
All that said - I kept my stock shroud from 15-years ago when I started using electric fans in the event I wanted to switch back to an engine driven fan - but I'm not ready to do that.
Last edited by Carl in LA; Jul 22, 2017 at 07:23 PM.
I have the same as Carl. 496 cu in and the fan can be adjust at whatever temp you want it to come on/off.
No complaints whatsoever and I am using the OEM radiator. Nothing fancy.
The top to bottom coverage of the shroud is good although the side to side coverage leaves perhaps three inches on each side outside the shroud. That said the shroud fits in &between bolts for the A-arms and in front of the pullys so there is no installation hassles.
Being in LA and having the air conditioning on and willing to drive in traffic on hot days - the big-ish 383 can overtax the radiator and fan. Turn off the AC in these worst case conditions and the fan pulls the temp back down to thermostat temperature relatively quickly. Hit the highway and temps come down quickly.
Be aware that these high power fans need a fair amount of amps - so cabling has to be taken into consideration on the install.
I have a beautiful DeWitt radiator also.
Happy? Yes. Modern car perfect... no. That is not to denigrate either the radiator or the fan - its asking a lot to cool these beasts at the boarder line under difficult conditions.
All that said - I kept my stock shroud from 15-years ago when I started using electric fans in the event I wanted to switch back to an engine driven fan - but I'm not ready to do that.
Slightly off topic, but that accessory with the belt around it on top, is that part of the smog system? I'm in the early stages of planning to rip out the computer and smog system in my 1981 and also have that accessory. It seems to connect to those damn pipes on the exhaust manifold making me think its part of the system that I can remove.
Some neat tech out now on OEM fans, the c7 uses brushless
Apparently they come on slow, no big hit to your electrical system I guess you could call them smart so they can truly keep a steady temp rather than fluctuate, that drives my up the wall.
If I had to do it over and go electric Id be looking for a take off from a HD truck, V8 luxury car, they move a chit ton of air and generally last indefinitely;upgrade wiring as needed, woudlnt need a shroud either. Anything off a MB will last forever
@ AbovetheLogic, I LOVE it!! I love repurposing things, like using an old cell phone as a alarm clock. and a good fan is $100 not $400.
@cruisinartvette there is a huge post about using a fan system from 1994-97 Ford Taurus and the newer focus/mark VII they also push about 2500-3500 cfm. the part that gets expensive is a fan controller that has variable speeds and A/C override. I see it as different solutions to the same problem. I really like the "Pan Shroud" that just makes me smile.
I took off my pan shroud / syclone to run a taurus fan, it wasn't any better and when it died I put the setup back on and have been running it now for a few years and no overheating.
It ran hot on the freeway but that was without the lower spoiler. Put that back on and its fine. 100+ degree days in Las Vegas. Fine.
Maybe the aluminum heads help... but I also have a roller cam and plenty of power.
searching the forums i found post from 2005 but nothing recent. i am in the middle of a 383 swap with a serpentine belt system. there are a bunch of new[er] fan systems out. what are you using? are you happy?
1979 with a Dewitt's aluminum radiator.
auto with working a/c (wife said so)
I have a 78 with a ZZ383 + GM Serpentine Kit with AC. Dewitt's Rad plus their Dual Spal Fan kit. I use the car for Track days and everything runs nice a cool. The main downside to the system is the ability to maintain constant temp. 2 Temp points.
1. when to turn on > set temp
2. when to turn off > set temp.
When on AC fans always runs.
The good thing is when the car is in motion rarely do the fans kick in.
I dont remember the name of the person from Dewitts that was so cool and helped me out so much. I bought a radiator that was used as a display, it has some scratches and was modded to be used with LSX hoses. I love the look of the dual spals but I could not afford $900.00 for the setup.
I should mention that I probably got that sweet deal because I can drive to the factory in about 45 minutes and to be honest once the radiator was in the car i never saw the sracthes and it is behind that huge fan shroud. now in the middle of a swap I have to make some choices as to what I want the end to look like. actually... that's not my main concern, its the air flow (cfm) I want to put a Kenworth radiator and a 10k cfm fan, but they will not fit. I just don't want an overheat issue. its not super hot in Detroit but we seem to.. or I seem to sit in traffic a lot. and I love the car and drive it as often as i can.
I might suggest the fans and shroud off a C6 2005-13 vette. You have to use a piece of 1" angle aluminum to hold the top and 2 simple brakets at the bottom to slip into the core support. They clear the a arms ( barely)THey are reasonably cheap ( I paid $75 for mine) and if they ever take a dump replacement fans can be had at almost any good parts store. Good Luck/Users/jimperillo/Desktop/IMG_3330.JPG
@Kanv your pic, looks nothing like the fans i can find for a C6. I would be happy to use a gm fan, like you said part stores are many. 2 car dealerships and 3 parts stores at different ends of my street.
I am using a Flex-a-lite black magic fan to cool a mildly cammed 427 SBC, with working AC. I am using the fan with a Champion 4-row radiator. No cooling issues in Ohio summers (90-95 in July-August). From my experience, this radiator and fan combination provide plenty of cooling for a big stroker motor. I have been running this for the 3rd year now - hope that helps.
I am using a Flex-a-lite black magic fan to cool a mildly cammed 427 SBC, with working AC. I am using the fan with a Champion 4-row radiator. No cooling issues in Ohio summers (90-95 in July-August). From my experience, this radiator and fan combination provide plenty of cooling for a big stroker motor. I have been running this for the 3rd year now - hope that helps.
Cooper, not dissing your engine at all i would love to have it but i bet a Coke that your cooling system would cool almost any car on the street,
electric cooling fans.
