Electric Fans - Who Needs 'Em>

4. Almost all C3 owners are lying bastards and say their cars don't overheat. A blast up the mountain from Denver to Frisco and a guys perfectly restored 72 LT1 was puking antifreeze all over the hotel parking lot. Right before we left Denver he said his car NEVER overheated. It may be the case that 99% of c3 owners do not push their car hard enough to see cooling problems. Running through the gears once is not enough to do it.

5. I did think about the possibility that at idle electric fans will move more air than a mechanical fan. That may be one advantage. But why switch them off and let the system heat up. That's stupid. The problem is that the electric motors are only rated for a limited number of hours before they quit. The brushes go.

Hey! Don't count me in with the lyin' sack crowd...I drove the Denver / Frisco / Breckenridge route on a regular basis for 30 years before I got my new setup. I never had problems overheating on my stock system - ever! (although it was only a small block). In fact, on a cross country trip, my stock fan shed a blade and destroyed the clutch. I chucked it at a rest stop and didn't get a new fan for about a year. I never had problems with overheating as long as I never got stuck in traffic (pretty easy in the '80s but not so much anymore :( ).

Also, with a good setup, the electric fans are off more than they are on. They only come on when you are stuck in traffic or are idling for some reason. Typical fan life will probably be about 15 years or so...


The article in CE was by John Hinckley who I call a friend of mine. I agree with John 99% of the time, except when it comes to electric fans. John and I both feel the cooling system was engineered to work as a package and when we tinker with that design problems can occur but the fact is, the more air through the radiator, the higher the heat rejection.

...

At least 70% core coverage and 2000 cfm or higher.

Wait...John Hinckley? Didn't he shoot the president or someone?

Anyway, I agree. The shroud doesn't have to cover 100% of the radiator fins. Even with no air flowing through the radiator, the fins themselves are designed to remove heat from the coolant. Even though the fan draws air through 70% of the fins, the other 30% still cool the fluid as it passes through them.
 
4. Almost all C3 owners are lying bastards and say their cars don't overheat. A blast up the mountain from Denver to Frisco and a guys perfectly restored 72 LT1 was puking antifreeze all over the hotel parking lot. Right before we left Denver he said his car NEVER overheated. It may be the case that 99% of c3 owners do not push their car hard enough to see cooling problems. Running through the gears once is not enough to do it.

5. I did think about the possibility that at idle electric fans will move more air than a mechanical fan. That may be one advantage. But why switch them off and let the system heat up. That's stupid. The problem is that the electric motors are only rated for a limited number of hours before they quit. The brushes go.

Hey! Don't count me in with the lyin' sack crowd...I drove the Denver / Frisco / Breckenridge route on a regular basis for 30 years before I got my new setup. I never had problems overheating on my stock system - ever! (although it was only a small block). In fact, on a cross country trip, my stock fan shed a blade and destroyed the clutch. I chucked it at a rest stop and didn't get a new fan for about a year. I never had problems with overheating as long as I never got stuck in traffic (pretty easy in the '80s but not so much anymore :( ).

Also, with a good setup, the electric fans are off more than they are on. They only come on when you are stuck in traffic or are idling for some reason. Typical fan life will probably be about 15 years or so...


The article in CE was by John Hinckley who I call a friend of mine. I agree with John 99% of the time, except when it comes to electric fans. John and I both feel the cooling system was engineered to work as a package and when we tinker with that design problems can occur but the fact is, the more air through the radiator, the higher the heat rejection.

...

At least 70% core coverage and 2000 cfm or higher.

Wait...John Hinckley? Didn't he shoot the president or someone?

Anyway, I agree. The shroud doesn't have to cover 100% of the radiator fins. Even with no air flowing through the radiator, the fins themselves are designed to remove heat from the coolant. Even though the fan draws air through 70% of the fins, the other 30% still cool the fluid as it passes through them.

As far as the engine is concerned, Tom Dewitt is probably correct about that fan coverage, but far as the FAN is concerned, having more core area exposed to the fan airflow, means less suck and work by the fan itself, as airflow charactoristics /load is improved....

:stirpot:
 
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