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Yikes! More Fan Issues!!

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I slickly installed my Permacool 16" puller fan and trial-fitted the whole unit in the vehicle and ---- it don't fit.
The Permacool dimensions only allow the shroud to fit atop the radiator frame, period. And the darn electric motor housing hits squarely on the suspension crossbrace, no if, ands or buts. The options are to go with a 14" fan or go with a Spal fan. Their fans are used by the pros in the aluminum radiator business (Davis). Their website offers a ton of options with complete specs. And the equivalent 16" fan in a Spal is dimensionally smaller than the Permacool. It's a no brainer. I am calling Spal in the morning. Anyone want a FREE Permacool 16" fan. (you pay shipping, handling is free).

Bill
 
I have a perma cool fan. I had a rad. shop attach brackets to the rad to mount the fan. I also had them install a bung in the bottom of the rad to install the sensor. The cross member problem I fixed by slanting the top forward to keep the brace from hitting the fan motor. I plan on having a aluminum rad built to fix this problem. I have seen other examples tat just let the brace rest against the fan motor
 
Just wondering--

Are you keeping the stock fan?

Is a puller fan better that a pusher?
 
I have removed the stock fan and replaced the hub with an aluminum donut that holds the timing hub. I will be using a puller fan (the consensus is this gives the best results) as well as a rather large oil radiator in front of the coolant radiator. The drawings from the Spal fan show it to fit exactly within the confines of the radiator frame. That alone will give me 1/2 to 3/4" extra play room. Spal also offers a gasket to rest against the radiator fins. I thought that was cool.

Bill
 
Bill:
Have you looked at the Zirgo's? They have the s blade or not, and some options like ranges of RPM's up to 3300 RPM (not that I recommend that power hog; just that they have many options other than fan blade diameter).
 
Yep, I did. They seemed ok but not a ton of info out there on them. Ebay listings abound on Zirgos. Check out the Spal website, spalusa.com, (may have a hyphen), and you will see that their tech drawings of each and every fan was extremely detailed. Plus, I like their accessories they offer. I hope I don't get my hopes dashed when I call them tomorrow. Too, they are the only fan company that offers a full perimeter bracket to snug the fan against the cooling fins on your radiator. Everyone else gives you a pack of u-stick-em sponge squares. The Spal seems to be truly professional in their approach. I'll post what I find out.

Bill
 
Hi Bill,

I ended up using a 14" Mr Gasket brand fan. Although I shopped carefully for the thinnest fan setup I could find, in the largest diameter possible, this particular fan just barely fits in the TR4, particularly near the cross brace. I elongated the mounting holes in the radiator mounting brackets to slide the base of the radiator forward slightly (I couldn't tilt the top forward, it's an early long-neck radiator and doing that would tip the radiator cap up into the hood). It ended up with only about 1/4" clearance, but that should do, since none of these parts move.

Truthfully, a 12" fan would probably draw enough air to keep a 2000-2500cc engine cool. 14" adds a lot of extra cooling, can probably accomodate up to 3000-3500cc. 16" and larger fans are usually on bigger V6s or V8s.

One reason I bought from www.summitracing.com was because they provide a lot of detailed specifications on all the fans they offer - dimensions, amperage, cfm, etc. - make it easy to compare and their prices are very competitive.

To mount the fan to the radiator, I fabricated a pair of brackets and bolted those to the sides of the radiator. In retrospect, I might just as well have used j-bolts. Seems about as secure as my setup, and a lot less work.

The only advantage of my fabricated brackets is that they also close up the 1/2" overlap of the fan at the sides, so that the puller is fully focused on drawing through the radiator.

Hope you get it sorted out. Let us know.

Cheers!
 
My 16-inch Permacool clears the crossbrace with less than a quarter-inch clearance. And that's after I put closed-cell foam along the fans' shroud as a cushion against the radiator core. Guess tolerances are variable car-to-car.

How much slop is in the lower rad mounts; enough to slide a skoch forward perhaps?
 
Before I slanted the rad forward I did alongate (sp?) the holes in the mount. Thanks for the reminder Rick.
 
If you are having cooling problems, I suggest one of the varied coolant additives which reduce the coolant temp as much as 25 degrees. I have been using in my TR8 with no problems and tremendous results. Since I live in Florida, this is always a concern. Redline makes "WaterWetter", but there are other brands out there. Just a thought.
 
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