Al Graaf

Considering, while I'm putting my car back together, of installing an electric fan as well. The 71 442 (AT)always had an overheat problem. Changing to 4 core radiator, correct clutch, but adding A/C. Will have all fan shroud pieces as well. Figure nows the time to install. Also heard I need a larger alternator than the 63 as the fan will draw quite a bit.
Recommendations and advise please guys
By the way, anyone got a discharge muffler support bracket.
Thanks again!

bigoldscruiser

Are you saying that you intend to use a clutch fan and want to add an electric fan also?

70olds455

If you add an electric fan you will need a higher amp alternator. I am not sure if you are going to be able to keep the fan shroud pieces when you add an electric fan. What temperature thermostat do you have.

Al Graaf

Was going to add an electric fan in addition to the clutch fan. I hear so much about this over heating. But I see alot of cars at some shows and l look down and there is no fan shroud or lower/side baffels there. Putting in a RobertShaw 160 high flow balanced stat. 50/50 coolant but use distilled water. I figured a higher amp as well. Wonder if I just run it when we're together and see what happens. It's not like I have to take it all the way back down to the frame again I do wind up with one. Yeah, I don't want to loose the fan shroud and ruin the original look when I'm trying to keep it that way.

Aceshigh

Follow my write up.
This is using a Ford Taurus fan from the 90's. 4000 CFM, abundant in junkyards for <$50

http://www.nastyz28.com/forum/showthread.php?t=200028

I'd recommend a 140amp alternator, CS130 or CS144 to juice it with alot to spare.
There's a guy I use on Ebay and I get them for ~$140 in chrome.

garys 68

I used a dual Ford Windstar fan, no mechanical, on my 72 442 build. They pull A LOT of current but fit perfectly and are cheap. 100 degrees, AC on, city driving....no problems.
If you go with a mechanical fan, bigger radiator, and a shroud a generic electric fan might do the job. I did that on my 68 corvette that had a lot of overheating problem. You might consider activating the electric with the AC system trinary switch as well as a temp sensor.

Al Graaf

Was going to go with a 160.

70olds455

A 160 degree thermostat will help it run cooler.

Al Graaf

Patton advised me to use the RobertShaw 160 high flow balance thermostat. Problem, finding one around here or on site. He also suggests to use 50/50 mixture with DISTILLED WATER. Guess it won't be long and we'll see. Of course right now all it will be doing is running in the shop until I finish the car. If all goes well Wednesday that's when we'll drop it in. Giving birth to it first on a stand Monday or Tuesday. What me worry?

sammy

Something I am going to try on my455 is removing the cowel weatherstripping. theory is to get rid of the heat ALREADY in the engine compartment and allow it to escape thru the cowl hood vents.
Seems to me it would help maintain a cooler engine compartment and hence a cooler motor.
This may have nothing to do with your car Shimmer, but its something I am going to try.I am going to take temp readings with and without weatherstripping and see what I find on both my 350 and 455.

Ted

Al Graaf

Hi Ted- I like your idea. Makes very much sense. Why seal it in? Let me know.
Thanks for the input!
AL

Allan R

Ted, the purpose of the cowl seal has NOTHING to do with engine temp. It's about controlling where the engine off gases escape to. If you remove the cowl lacing that allows the engine off gasses to be sucked directly into your ventilation system. I would strongly recommend you leave it intact.Iit seems the most 455's will run somewhat hot, but the fan shroud, fan clutch and tcs solenoid should really keep the engine within its design limits for temp.

charlierogers

good info on electric fan setups on the links!!!

Al Graaf

Ah-So O great one of the north. Agreed!

sammy

Beautiful summers day, windows down, vents shut, I think the amounts would be small- just an experiment, Allan but thanks for your input.
I was simply looking for ways to vent the ENGINE COMPARTMENT,

sammy

Guess i will not let you know the results of my silly experiment

Allan R

Ted, in all honesty, if you have the engine set up with fan shroud, fan clutch, hd cooling etc, your engine should be quite happy with the operating temp. What Tstat are you planning to run? I run 195° and that's spec. No problems either. I get that if you're just letting it sit while idling it will get hot. Most cars do. That's why new ones have Thermo controlled electric fans. The front air dam on the car should create enough negative pressure under the engine to vent it down and out. Even if the car wasn't moving, the open amount of space under your hood should allow enough air circulation just from the fan alone. Proper timing and mtce is everything. Even your 70 should have a tcs solenoid to help with that.

FWIW, on a hot day my 350 will get hot, but the proper coolant and fan seems to keep it from boiling over. If you're worried about it puking coolant, I'd strongly recommend getting an aftermarket coolant reservoir and hook it up. I always run a 50/50 mix on coolant, probably like you.

All that aside, you can certainly try that experiment to see how it turns out. Just be careful taking the cowl lacing off (unless it needs replacing anyway) it has little T clips that hold it in place. Try not to break them. I would be curious to hear your results; frankly I don't think you're going to see a lot of change. However, we will see.....

I'm not against your idea. When I've got my car out? Yup I have all the windows down too. But I do keep my upper and lower vents open to for max cooling. I love driving it with the windows down..lets bugs fly into in my teeth; never can tell when you get hungry on a road trip

70olds455

My 1970 cutlass supreme has high performance 455 in it and seems to run kind of hot. I am running a high flow 160 thermostat in it and it seems to work pretty good. I don't remember what brand thermostat it is. I bought it from jegs or summit racing.

70Post

Al - Here's a link to a source for the RShaw stats:

http://stewartcomponents.com/

Whatever you do, put a good set of real guages in the car.....oil, water temp and amps. That way you can see what is going on with the motor with REAL numbers (ie the numbers on the guage faces) instead of the "bars" on the factory guages. You can fab or buy a nice gauge bezel to hang below the dash, etc.

AND....do this when you break in the motor/cam (oil pressure and water temp). Not having any way to monitor those levels is asking for trouble.

You can run both sets at the same time so you don't have to eliminate the Rally Pac gauges if you have those.

380 Racer

OK, this is on my drag car but........... With a fiberglass hood I didn't bother sealing it on the cowl. I also don't have inner fenderwells or much sheet metal around the smaller aluminum radiator. What I do have is an electric water pump and an electric fan that is in a shroud sealed to the radiator and sucks cubic yards of air (Or so it seems). Feels like a hurricane coming out the cowl when cooling down.

In case anybody is interested, the fan is the bigger fan off a Windstar/Areostar minivan about 1998 with AC. Big fan is 2 speed. If using a regular size radiator both will fit & seal. Not sure where all that air will go with every thing almost sealed.

cwracer

I added a flex a lite fan kit to replace my factory fan in a restored 1970 442 conv. I am now able to sit in traffic in the florida summers with the A/C. Under the hood it looks stock unless you twist around to see under the upper fan shield. I also upgraded the alternator. The secret to great cooling with electric is only use puller fans and a good shroud. I could give you a lengthy explanation if you would like or you can just take my word. Pushers or shroudless electrics just won't work well. I have a similiar set up in the 427 corvette, also notorious for running hot. It too sits in traffic with no problem (no A/C, so you still cook). The olds uses the factory radiator and the vette has an aluminum one. I don't notice enough improvement with the vette, so I would stick with a good, correct, 4 core.

charlierogers

is the mark 8 2 speed designed as a pusher or puller? and does it matter which way you use it?

cwracer

Use a puller in place of the factory fan for best cooling performance

frankr442

Al, if you want to keep it as original looking as possible, as I did, and want to add a recovery tank, try this: I mounted a w/washer tank on the RH fender liner and used a cap from a junkyard overflow. The washer tank is designed to mount on either fender so it looks right and I think the 3 holes are either there or marked. It's the perfect height and the hose runs straight from the rad to the tank.

charlierogers

this fan is not going on my olds. it is for my 57 chebby 600hp small block.

Al Graaf

Good idea, yep want it as original as possible, thanks for the input! Al

cwracer

Since I put the pictures up on another thread, here you go.

Al Graaf

So honorable son-how did experiment perform?

Al Graaf

So did you put the electric fan between the radiator and the mechanical fan? Is there space? Knew I would need a heaver alternator-so with using the flex lite how many more amps are needed. Putting the front end on this week and need to decide on what I'm going to do. I want all original shrounds on. Living in Central KY it gets pretty dam hot in the summer.

cwracer

You can't see the photos above? I removed the factory fan. The alternator was rebuilt to over 100amps, but that is more then is needed. You would have to look up the amp specs at the manufacturer, I wouldn't want to misquote it.

Here is the link to the photos, 14th reply
https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...need-help.html

Allan R

Al, I see you got your name changed over and the history file with it. Nice

Redog

Hmmmm, could I do this set-up on my Delta as well?

What amp fuse do you recommoned for this set-up?

Should I install a switch to turn off the fan for drag racing? Does it draw that much power?

spyke

Well i have a 70 cutlass and it runs beautiful when i bought it i noticed the top radiator hose was extremely hard so i checked the thermostat it was good so i thought maybe the hose maybe worn so i replaced it, after replacing that i removed the thermostat and now im running without one and on a good day i can drive all day in stop and go traffic in Alabama weather and the car runs 180 degrees no higher,no lower but then on a day when the temp. outside is 90 or above my temp in the car may run 190-almost 200degrees. i admit i may be running a lil more water than anti-freeze but i dont think it should be running that high does anybody have an idea what might be the problem?

slantflat

As it's been explained to me in the past, if you don't have a thermostat the water isn't held in the radiator long enough to be cooled sufficiently. So you're just cycling hot water through the radiator and engine not cooled water from the radiator.


Mike

spyke

But when i have a thermostat my top hose gets extremely hard and feels like its gonna bust but the car never boils over i have never seen or hard it boiling over its just that im watching my temp gauge and like i said sometimes it never runs over 180 degrees, i was under the impression that when you a car that old without a thermostat it stays cooler because its not biulding up pressure could it be that i have more water than anti-freeze in my radiator?

455man

I'd taken the seal off from the cowl before. Not sure if it cooled the car any but I could feel the hot air blowing on the windshield while idling. The vents did put out a little more heat(no A/C) but no gas smell.

spyke

a friend of mine also has a cutlass it an 86 model and he said he added elctric fans to his car from a chevy van silhoette they fit perfectly and all he did was added a relay so that when he cranks the car the fans come on and turn off with the car and he didnt change his alternator he still has the factory alternator, all i want to know is how he hooked up the relay switch?