• Hi Guest!
    You can help ensure that British Car Forum (BCF) continues to provide a great place to engage in the British car hobby! If you find BCF a beneficial community, please consider supporting our efforts with a subscription.
    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

Electric Fan vs. Texas Cooler

Share this page

longbridgehealey

longbridgehealey

Obi Wan
Country flag
Offline
I’m currently having to replace both my radiator and fan (that’s an entirely different story) in my Longbridge built 1957 BN4. I’m thinking either an electric fan in front (pusher) or a Texas cooler. Planning on 160 degree thermostat. Any thoughts on which fan? I’m in Florida😎
Thanks in advance,
Larry
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Re: Electric fan vrs texas cooler

Larry,
I need both.
The Texas cooler works well, but I had to add a slim pusher fan (Spal) due to stop and go driving during Dream Cruise week.
Plus I added the fan shroud extensions from BCS.
I'm not sure of any advantage with a 160 degree stat. vs 180.
Good luck.
Douglas
 
Re: Electric fan vrs texas cooler

When I restored my Longbridge BN4, I installed a Texas Cooler. It worked well up to 100F ambient, when the "Navigator" started to melt. She talked (ordered?) me to install AC. Now I have both. The electric fan is required by the AC.

If you go with electric, it will be noisy (says a guy with headers and side exhaust) and require an alternator. Electric draw is about 20 A, with a 40 A circuit breaker. You will need a relay, temperature switch and a manual switch to turn the fan off before turning the battery master switch off.
 
Re: Electric fan vrs texas cooler

Thanks to both of you. John, AC has always been sort of a far off dream in the never ending list. I do have it running an alternator.
Douglas, which Spal fan are you using? I was wondering about using both, you two are encouraging me to actually go that way.
Thanks!
 
Re: Electric fan vrs texas cooler

This may seem a "dim" comment but can you run both...aka mechanical fan and electric or do you have to remove the mechanical and rely on the electric only.
 
Re: Electric fan vrs texas cooler

barnman said:
This may seem a "dim" comment but can you run both...aka mechanical fan and electric or do you have to remove the mechanical and rely on the electric only.
Click to expand...
The electric fan is usually in front of the radiator and the mechanical one is behind it, so yes, one can run both. There really isn't room between the radiator and water pump for an electric fan, unless one uses an electric water pump located elsewhere.
 
Re: Electric fan vrs texas cooler

Larry,
When I added AC, I had to upgrade the alternator to a 105 A one.
The AC condenser in front of the radiator leads to some tight fits. I had to put my Spal fan in front of the X-brace, or redo the X-brace, which I didn't want to do. Consequently, I'm running a 13" Spal fan, mounted sideways, to clear the steering tie rod (by less than a half inch).
 
Re: Electric fan vrs texas cooler

It would seem as I remember pusher fans in front of the radiator tend to degrade engine cooling at speed ??
 
Re: Electric fan vrs texas cooler

John Turney said:
The electric fan is usually in front of the radiator and the mechanical one is behind it, so yes, one can run both. There really isn't room between the radiator and water pump for an electric fan, unless one uses an electric water pump located elsewhere.
Click to expand...
Can you post some photos of your spa fan installation? Do you have it hooked up to a temperature control and trinary switch?
 
Re: Electric fan vrs texas cooler

Here's some photos:
13in Pusher-30102045.jpgFan Mount to Xbrace-Red.jpgFan Mount-Red.jpgFan to Condenser Shroud-Red.jpg

Yes, I have it hooked up to a temperature switch in the upper radiator hose and a trinary switch on the drier in parallel.
 
Re: Electric fan vrs texas cooler

John Turney said:
Here's some photos:
View attachment 65665View attachment 65666View attachment 65667View attachment 65668

Yes, I have it hooked up to a temperature switch in the upper radiator hose and a trinary switch on the drier in parallel.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the photos. I like the idea of a shroud for the electric fan.i don’t have the X brace I like the idea of eliminating the water pump fan and just going with an electric fan. It seems as though a lot of new cars use electric fans now instead of water pump fans. I’ve heard the spa fans spiral blades move more air and are not as noisy.
 
Re: Electric fan vrs texas cooler

Larry,
I have the Spal VA13-AP9. It's slim, with narrow, straight blades.

Keoke,
I have no data and limited experience, but I think whether pusher fans block the radiator is highly dependent on the fan selected.
The Spal fans have narrow blades and freewheel when not in use.

Regards.
Douglas
 
Larry
i have a 6 blade metal fan plus a pusher fan. Also changed to a modern 4 core center to fit my tanks. And added extensions on my shroud, a panel to block air from going under the radiator, a panel on the bottom of the frame up to the oil pan, and panels to keep air from being able to recirculate around the radiator. oh... and an overflow bottle with a new radiator cap. (i use a TR6 bottle that just fits in the hole on the frame support.)

the biggest help was the new radiator core by far.

the rest may help some. MY highway temps have been fine. even if the car gets warm sitting it seems to cool down pretty quick when moving. my biggest issue is the temp climbing sitting at lights. For this i do not see any advantage with the Spal electric pusher fan. temp seems to climb just as fast on or off. it seems some people have this issue more than others.

i wonder if it is my water pump maybe not pushing enough coolant at idle. if i sit at a light and speed the engine up to about 1200 RPM, it will cool back down and hold temp. electric fan on or off seems to make no difference.

Can get pretty warm here and quite humid! the combination usually keeps me from driving the car once the temps get much above 85. just too sticky. something i am sure you can understand being from Florida...
 
Best help I got for overheating sitting at lights was with a Hayden SS 7-bladed flex fan, with BCS's shroud. Unfortunately, it made too much noise, so I put in a Texas Cooler, which is quiet but not as effective. An uprated core helped some, but not as much as I'd hoped.
 
Drone Dog: Many years ago, I worked for a couple of months in the fall in the United Arab Emirates, and noticed that as 'summer' expired and 'winter' approached: that's when the motorcycles started to appear. A bit different, here in Calgary.
I've got our BJ7's windshield washer bottle and metal basket, sitting perfectly in the same spot as your TR6 bottle is. The idea was to have it an easier location for refilling. I've also found that a standard nalgene wide mouth 1 litre hiking water bottle fits perfectly into the same basket, and have been meaning measure heights etc. with the idea of putting in an overflow, and locating the overflow bottled in the parcel shelf under the dash in place of the currently relocated windshield washer bottle. Later, Doug
 
Guido36 said:
On another Healey forum in post #8 Raf S has successfully used a SPAL fan as a puller on a Healey 100 - photos included so yes it can and has been done....

https://www.ahexp.com/forum/the-100-forum.4/anyone-running-a-100-with-electric-fan.219327/
Click to expand...

That car shows extensive modification to move the radiator forward and is not a solution accessible to most of us.

Maybe Dougie will jump in with his electric puller solution.

Would it be possible to replace the water pump with a fabricated plate incorporating the radiator input and output pipes? - and the use of an inline electric water pump and inline thermostat. By deleting the pulley there might be enough clearance for a 2" thick SPAL puller fan.
 
Doug
i also had a windshield washer bottle as an overflow but once i went to the NAPA radiator cap, i found the washer bottle was not big enough. it would overflow when the engine got hot, after shutdown, and then empty was completely cooled down. Hence i went to the bigger TR6 bottle. with this bottle and the new cap, if i pull the radiator cap off when cold, the coolant is up in the neck of the radiator. Plus when the engine is shut off (hot), it will not overflow.
Just made a little bracket to support it below. the hole is the perfect size to hold it.
A53F9231-0847-4ED4-B21C-F0251BF36BF6_1_201_a.jpg
 
Drone Dog: do you recollect what the proper thermostat cap is? I expect a search will turn it up, but feeling lazy this am. and any idea of the capacity of the TR6 bottle? Thanks, Doug
 
DD,
That's a good correct-looking solution for cars with horns in that positiion. Moss makes a good repro of the MGB brass tank that can be mounted on the shroud support for earlier cars with horns up front.
 
Back
Top