Last time I used a (stainless) flex fan on a big-block A-body, nearly 40 years ago, it was close to the radiator (an inch or less) but hadn't contacted it. I took my car for a front end alignment and the mechanic had obviously wound it way up because there was a perfect fan-sized circle cut into my original 22" 3-core radiator :(
I have a driveshaft loop and a Lakewood, because I worry about those things too :rolleyes:
Now I use Contour fans because there simply isn't room for an OEM fan (even with shorty clutch) and I'm not taking a modern cost-cutting flex fan to high rpm.
