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Electric fans - Which one's do you guys run?

Babaganoosh said:
Barely any pressure in the side tanks, it's a snug fit.
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I think I may go with that one; my tape(s) may have an error of like an 1/8th of an inch, gonna double check when I get home and see I’ll make some marks without using the end of tape; I think it being held snugly in there would be better than having it not; thanks for the input; I’ll update this when I get them for other people if they happen to have the same rad. Specs on website for rad do say 28 3/8th; if I have to I could cut the corners to bend in the sides a bit. I think it should jam in. If all else I could just send back to summit but will end up costing me; I’ll measure again and take a leap of faith I think.

Thanks again everyone.
 
If i could hijack for a moment for a somewhat related aspect:

Might using a mechanical fan help keep the carburetor cooler during low speeds or idling? Being that the mech fan is closer to the engine and the way it's positioned----it likely keeps a breeze blowing across the top of the engine as well as the carburetor.

Electric fans do a great job drawing(or pushing) air thru the radiator, but generally don't blow across the engine or elsewhere underhood?

For those of us who do have the room for a mechanical fan and still run carbs, would the fan likely at least keep air circulating around the carb so as to keep the temperature lower? It seems so?

Granted, i don't go off road (at least not intentionally), but i do spend a fair amount of time in traffic-----in the northeast there's no way around it due to traffic and never ending construction. It could be 3AM----and you might sit in traffic.
 
I can't find any reference to it online right now, but I swear that GM had to use an electric fan on some carbed applications in the 1980's, blowing directly on the carb (heat soak issues IIRC) , which would seem to indicate even if there is a cooling effect from the engine driven fan, it must not be very effective.

With powerful enough electric fan(s), you'll create air movement through the engine bay anyway, with proper shrouding, the majority of the ingested air will be from outside the engine bay.

Might be able to get an electric fan with custom shroud mounted high enough for at least part of the fan to be directly in line with the carb, doesn't seem like it would be real efficient at cooling it though.
 
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dyeager535 said:
I can't find any reference to it online right now, but I swear that GM had to use an electric fan on some carbed applications in the 1980's, blowing directly on the carb (heat soak issues IIRC) , which would seem to indicate even if there is a cooling effect from the engine driven fan, it must not be very effective.

With powerful enough electric fan(s), you'll create air movement through the engine bay anyway, with proper shrouding, the majority of the ingested air will be from outside the engine bay.

Might be able to get an electric fan with custom shroud mounted high enough for at least part of the fan to be directly in line with the carb, doesn't seem like it would be real efficient at cooling it though.
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Oh, and i just remembered-----the electric choke might get a "little" hot also during prolonged idle.

i dunno----i'm just thinking aloud here: elec fans tend to be tight against the radiator whereas mechanical fans tend to be closer to the engine and it seems at least the top 1/3 of the fan is blowing right in line with the carb.
 
Electric choke is pretty simple...once it's hot, it's hot, I don't see how airflow over the choke coil one way or another would make any difference. Getting hotter doesn't open the choke up any further than "open".
 
dyeager535 said:
Electric choke is pretty simple...once it's hot, it's hot, I don't see how airflow over the choke coil one way or another would make any difference. Getting hotter doesn't open the choke up any further than "open".
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i meant the choke coil itself----would excessive heat damage it? Then again, maybe i'm worrying about stuff i don't need to be worrying about. It's probably designed to run under a range of a few hundred degrees....
 
My Griffin radiators had the large Spal fans. God they were loud! Like air-raid warning loud. I hated that and the shitty Griffin radiators.
I switched out both setups in my ‘68 C10 and K5 going to your basic Spectra diesel radiator (extra thick double row) and Spectra Windstar replacement fans. Each set up was like $250 total. I will probably never run another set up. It’s quiet, works great, simple, and easily replaceable at any auto parts store. Do your own relays and carry an extra. (Though I’ve never needed one)
 
vandelay industries said:
i meant the choke coil itself----would excessive heat damage it? Then again, maybe i'm worrying about stuff i don't need to be worrying about. It's probably designed to run under a range of a few hundred degrees...
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I'd say not a concern to have, at all.
 
dyeager535 said:
I'd say not a concern to have, at all.
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Yeah I think that guy is way overthinking things; I’ve never heard of overheating a carb except in extreme conditions (ie racing); run one of those phenolic or even regular spacers and you’d be fine separating the engine heat from the carb.

Regarding the derale fans I’m getting the back order just got filled and my fans and controller will be here by August 4th.
Before I ordered I had one of those “duh!” Moments and cut a piece of wood at 28 1/4” and it fits nicely with an 1/8” of play.
I realize now I had the tape butted up between the rad tanks to measure the core and that was my error as it took 1/4” away from my measurements.

I’ll update after I get the fans and install them; also I have a picture of how I reconfigured my bypass hose from water pump to intake incase anyone ever pondered that; the space is tight so you have to run it through the top instead of the front of the intake. Using a size adapter and a 90 degree fitting on top of intake and a ~65ish degree fitting from the water pump, it aligns the path up perfectly to where you can just run a straight hose between the two. This is regarding people who’ve swapped to vortec heads.

I’ll upload that later to show how I’ve done it.

Another thought I had was running a coolant filter which I totally forgot I was gonna add to my summit order and it’s now shipped; does anyone here run one? I thought it’d be a good idea; as I saw a bit of rusty coolant when I took off my radiator intake hose to change my thermostat to a higher flow one (and 180 degree temp).
 
I think the key is changing your coolant at the proper intervals. With good coolant, corrosion isn't a thing.

Depending on how the heater core is plumbed, no bypass is needed with the Vortec heads, as the heater hose is the bypass. On heater cores with a shutoff valve obviously that would be an issue.
 
dyeager535 said:
I think the key is changing your coolant at the proper intervals. With good coolant, corrosion isn't a thing.

Depending on how the heater core is plumbed, no bypass is needed with the Vortec heads, as the heater hose is the bypass. On heater cores with a shutoff valve obviously that would be an issue.
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On the bypass aspect; this is what I heard too; and by drilling the thermostat it acts as a bypass as well. But in practice I was getting temp spikes like there was an air pocket or something; my heater core is plumbed to return to the radiator and output is through the top of intake. The only thing I can think is I’m getting exhaust in the coolant but I’m fairly certain that’s not the case.

Based on other experiences I’ve read about the bypass was needed and it seemed to have solved my issue. Just my experience.
 
Could be a bad thermostat too....they have become generally very unreliable unfortunately. Allowing bypass may have helped alleviate one that doesn't work well.

As you said, experiences, I've run mine with the heater core fed from the front of the intake and dumping into the radiator core. Never noticed any spikes, except when my radiator was on its last legs.
 
dyeager535 said:
Could be a bad thermostat too....they have become generally very unreliable unfortunately. Allowing bypass may have helped alleviate one that doesn't work well.

As you said, experiences, I've run mine with the heater core fed from the front of the intake and dumping into the radiator core. Never noticed any spikes, except when my radiator was on its last legs.
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I ruled out it being the thermostat as it had a few different ones in there with the same problem and all of them had the holes drilled in it as a makeshift bypass; although it would take longer to heat up. Ive put a high flow one in now with no holes; hoping it goes ok now. Just waiting on these fans before I drive it.

What kind of vortec heads have you got? Because the ones I have are missing the hole that is usually there on non vortecs; they are GM ones can’t remember casting number I think 062s but could be wrong.

If you have edelbrock heads or other aftermarket ones you may not have this problem.
 
Apparently 906s. Took me a while to find a picture of the single hump casting identifier. Hadn't noticed it wasn't the sawtooth before.

full
 
Being a bit of a thread necromancer here... OP did you ever this setup and running?
 
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