I have received my dual 11" SPAL per many of your recommendations. Time to install this next weekend. A few questions...

(1) can I remove the shrowd perminently now that I have the fans?
(2) my car was an L48 thus all of the wiring is there for the electric fan that came on the L82 model. I put a fuse in the panel for the electric fan and the receptical on the right side next to the front "energized". Based on the SHOP MANUAL, the power is supplied at all times while the ground is switched via the temp sensor located between #1 and #3 pistons on block. It is there on the L48 and a wire is hooked up. I plan to test the ground tonight by seeing if the switch closes when the temp reaches 177 degrees according to the shop manual.
(3) do I have to remove the radiator to do this job?

Thanks in advance to anyone that has already blazed this trail and can help save this newbee some time.

Ed

 

The sending unit in the cylinder head between #1 & 3 is the sending unit for the temp guage in your car. On my thermostat housing, there are two temp sending units that I understood controlled the secondary elec. fan. I also thought that it was only operated when the A/C was in use. Do you plan to add an override switch for your new fans and are you keeping the belt driven fan?

Do you have the schematic for your car? I purchased one from http://www.lectriclimited.com for $20 or so. Covers the entire car. It is too big for me to scan, but if you ever need any info off it, since we both have '80 L48 4spd cars, let me know.

Edit: All '80 cars came with an elec. fan in addition to to the belt driven fan. It was part of the AC package, which was changed to standard equipment instead of an option for the first time in '80.





[Modified by Ak. Mal, 4:34 PM 7/7/2004]

 

You don't have to remove the radiator but removing it may make the mounting of the fans easier. Yes, the shroud goes away which really opens up the engine bay and makes it easier to work on.

The auxillary fan on yours was only supposed to come on at high temps or with AC, I think. I would think you will need another temp sender to turn on/off your spals.

 

Actually on a 1980, you have to remove the radiator to remove the shroud. I tried before to remove the shroud on it's on and it wrecked the core of the radiator.

 

Not true. My 1980 L-48 with A/C did not have an electric fan. I think the L-82's had the extra fan, and in 1981 and up they all had the fan, but I know my 1980 did not have it.

 

Are yo sure about that ? If so I was missing mine when I got it cause I had air conditioning

 

I would definately plan on removing the radiator. I can't see how you would mount the fanms without doing so. Did you get a wiring kit with the fans?

 

#1 yes

#2. if you got a kit with the relays and harnesses, use them. if not get some, the fans draw quite a bit of amps. forget how many, but i think its like 11 amps each. get your hot wire off of the starter, wire in the fuses from there. get your key on voltage from the wiper plug. its fused and works well. if you need a wiring diagram, i have one someplace and can fax it to you. yes, power is there all the time, it grounds to turn it on. i got mine from tom dewitt and it came with a temp senser on at 185 off at 165. put it in the top of the water pump, works good. i wouldnt use the old wiring, use relays and fuse both fans.

#3. i didnt, but i have a griffin radiator. had to jack up the car , but went in no prob.

heres something else you will want to do. when you pull the old shroud, there will be a big gap between the x-member and the core support. get a piece of tin and fabricate a filler for this gap. when i first put mine in i didnt do that and when i was at speed the car ran hotter with the electric fans than it did with the factory unit. i think what was happening was turbulence coming in through the gap and trying to blow air from back to front. after i made a filler, no more probs with that.

not really a hard job to do. you will like the fans, very well made, not too loud and they move a lot of air. i live in las vegas, and they keep mine cool ( under 220) on hot days with the a/c on. good luck, hope this helps. regards, j.d.

 

Thanks for the insight and the offer for schematic information if ever needed. I wonder if a previous owner removed the fan from my car?

My plan was to remove the belt driven fan and go with the SPAL units. The SPAL came with a thermostat that plugs into the intake manifold but I also plan to setup an override in the ashtray compartment.

 

This sounds right... I just took a look at my car and there is no evidence of a secondary fan ever being installed.

 

Yes... wiring kit came with the units.

 

Thanks for the input/advise... very valuable...

Could you please clarify what you mean by Key On voltage from the wiper plug? Should I use the Starter power or the wiper??? or does the unit require both?

 

You can also pull power from the positive post at the back of the alternator. Remember to use a fuse and disconnect the battery before doing any wiring work.

 

Thanks! Where do you recommend that I tap the thermostat (manifold or waterpump)?

 

FNG,
I had just the opposite result with a filler piece. My 383 ran hotter with the filler piece in place.

 

Hi,

I installed dual spals on my car and have two recommendations for you.

First, make sure the fans are mounted in a location that clears the front control arm. I had to slide my fans down an inch to clear it.

Second, get power from your alternator. Tap into the heavy wire that runs from the alt to the horn relay. I used one of these...
http://www.madelectrical.com/catalog/cn-1.shtml
... on the inner fender and it really came out nice. Also, the guy at the above link is really cool & helpful. He said Spals draw too much juice to tap into the starter and recommended getting power from the source.
I also used one of these terminal blocks to run an ignition power source from my fuse box that serves to shut off the fans & powers my elec choke.

Hope this helps!

 

I was basing my info on what I had read about the '80 model year. But as we all know, if it's on the internet, it must be true. :bb

My L-48 does have the secondary elec fan. I know the f%(ktard I bought the car from would not have put that on the car. Hell, he took damn near everything off the car.

 

I would put the thermo switch in either the intake, the cylinder head or the T-stat housing.

 

the main 10 guage wire needs to go to a good 12 volt source, i used the battery terminal on my starter. the 'key on" voltage is the small one that goes to the relays. this wire needs to be off when the key is off and on when its on. i guess it doesnt have to be , but if you run it to an always on wire, the fans wont turn off when you shut the key off. waste of battery since the water isnt being pumped anymore and the only coolant that your going to cool off is the water in the radiator. theres 3 wires, i think, id have to go look, on the plug that goes to your wiper motor. one of em is hot when the key is on only. thats where you get your key on voltage to the relays. check your wiring diagram and youll see which wire i mean. like i say, if you have any probs, ill fax you the diagram i got with my fans. study it for a while and you can figure it out. i mounted my relays on the left side of the cowl, so it makes a clean installation.

i put my thermostat switch in the top of the water pump. probably not the best place, but it cycles pretty close to where its supposed to according to my temp guage. the hole for it in my intake is right under my upper hose, so i couldnt use that one. didnt feel like putting it in the head. i figured the water temp at the pump would be close enough for rock and roll. if i could figure out how to post photos , id take a couple and attach em, but i still cant figure that one out.

flynhi: interesting!! man, mine would climb to the high side of the 220 mark and still creep up. had to open the headlites to get it to cool down a bit. really a bummer, cuz with the stock shroud, on the highway it always ran about 205. however, mine isnt a solid filler. i cut slots and bent them down with the open end towards the rear so some of the air from the fans could get out the bottom, cuz these suckers are slanted down. then welded up the side of the slot and made a kind of home made louver out of em. made 3 of em across the bottom and now it runs nice on the highway. course im not cooling a 383 either. wish i was!!

anyway, sorry for the long winded post. hope this helps. if you have problems , keep asking. cheaper than frying some wiring or relays. but really, once you start to get your hands dirty, not that hard to figure out. good luck, regards, j.d.

 

Thanks again for the geat advise.