Another Electric cooling fan question

[mnido]

I am building from the ground up a 1974, 331 stroker, Explorer serpentine setup, aluminum radiator ( recent mass buy ). This build will be 75 % street, 25% mild trails. I live in San Diego. I am considering electric fans for cooling. I like the look, very clean. I see a lot of negative stuff about electric fans on this site, but in the hot rod world they seem to be the fan of choice. I am only interested in new equipment. Has anyone setup electric fans and been completely happy with them ?

 

[zbronco]

I have a explorer set up on my modified 302 and tried the electric fan route. I had a 2400 cfm derale fan.. It worked fine when idling but could not keep up on you were moving.

I switched to the explorer clutch fan and problem went away.

I am betting you can find someone that has an electric fan working or make enough modifications to get one to work but your time and money are better spent going with proven methods. A nice looking fan shroud does not look bad..

 

[Broncobowsher]

If you have enough surface are on the radiator then electric is fine. The issue is a design flaw in the Bronco, there isn't enough surface area in the limited area we have for the radiator. So a small radiator, usually thick to try and squeeze out as much cooling at of the least area. Electric fans typically lack the power to pull air through the restriction of the core. When going through a thick core, the advertising CFM ratings don't mean anything. About the only new fan that has a chance of working is the Spal high performance line. They do OEM work and know how to make fans that can move air through a thick core.

My latest trick I only have half figured out, electrically controlled mechanical fan. A friend had a clutch go bad on his Dodge Cummins engine and gave it to me for study. Turns out the threads are exactly the same as the Explorer water pump. Now to find the control diagrams, a fan that fits, and put it all together. Until then the stock Explorer thermostatic fan is the next best thing.

 

[getfuzzy]

Mark Vlll electric fan. The big problem is the room between the rad and the water pump. Mine will hold 195 in traffic in the dead of summer. BCB triple pass rad and one of chucks water pumps. I like the way the mark fan fits better than the Turas fan.

 

[mnido]

Thanks Guys. Based on what I have learned I will use the Explorer fan and a modified aluminum fan shroud from Summit. Thanks

 

[BRONCOBERT]

I have the Hows aluminum rad and no room for an electric fan even the slim designs wont fit, so I stuck with the mechanical fan and shroud, works great.

 

[01Dudley]

http://www.dufftuff.com/16_Pusher_Electric_Fan_66_77_Bronco_p/3130.htm

We have not updated this in awhile, but this fan is actually reversible and is rated at 2215cfm. Our kit comes with the brackets to mount it to the radiator housing and not thru the core with plastic mounts. We use this on Silver(street driven 351w) and Loco(trail driven 408) and have had no overheating issues with either. We also have a new steel shroud that goes all the way around the fan.

 

[tatersalad]

http://www.the-fan-man.com/sidewinder.html

This side winder fan pulls 2400 CFM and can be clocked to clear most anything...

 

[mnido]

Thanks all. I will stick with the mechanical fan. Thanks Again.