Radiator clearance help

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Tims 66 Cuda

Tims 66 Cuda

Mopar mid life crisis
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Im restoring a 66 Barracuda and put a ,73 360 in it. The car had no rad when I bought it. I purchased a Champion rad CC526 to install. I had seen another member use the same one. When I put the rad in, I only have 2.5-3 inches clearance. Im looking at running a solid fan with small spacer. Im kinda at a loss. Any suggestions appreciated.

Thanks, Tim
 
73 360 - you undoubtedly have the long (aluminum) water pump. The short cast iron pump will give you enough room for a clutch fan.

20180521_200807.jpg
 
Thanks for the response, my radiator inlet connection is on the pass side. I bought a champion rad to fit an early Duster. I can run a solid fan with approx a 1/2 " adapter and have 1" clearance .P/S wont allow that style pump

Tim
 
Tims 66 Cuda said:
Thanks for the response, my radiator inlet connection is on the pass side. I bought a champion rad to fit an early Duster. I can run a solid fan with approx a 1/2 " adapter and have 1" clearance .P/S wont allow that style pump

Tim
Click to expand...

That will work. And yeah, the lower radiator hose fitting would need to be moved to run the early pump. Depends on how badly you want to run a clutch fan. I ran my 65 for several years with a Duster radiator and the long aluminum water pump with a solid fan.

Just a note, power steering was an available option in early A bodies with the cast iron pump. Just need the right brackets/pulleys.
 
Nothing wrong with running a solid fan.
But if you REALLY want a clutch fan, there is one often overlooked option:
The '90-'91 Dakota 318 water pump. Similar depth to the early iron pump, but passenger side inlet. It's basically a Magnum pump, except with a forward rotation impeller and drive flange for bolt on pulleys, as opposed to the Magnum's pressed on reverse-rotation pulley. It's shorter length will gain you some room.
There's three drawbacks to this pump:
The inlet is more horizontal, limiting access/clearance for a mechanical fuel pump. (Tough, but still doable. Non-issue if you're running an electric pump).
The bypass hose port is angled like the Magnum, not the LA- meaning you need to get creative with the hose or an angled fitting or both.
Being shorter overall, you'll need to play with pulley depths to retain alignment with your crank pulley and accessory drives.
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Solid fan will just soak up horsepower after 45 mph. Clutch fan doesn't . One of the reasons the factory always used a clutch fan. More efficient.
Clearance ? 1" is plenty if everything is tight and you have good mounts. Make sure to run a shroud.
Did the Barracuda have a v-8 to begin with or is this a complete engine change ? You said you were restoring it but you have changed everything from stock.
Factory stuff fits, different year/aftermarket parts seldom do.
 
MoparLeo said:
Solid fan will just soak up horsepower after 45 mph. Clutch fan doesn't . One of the reasons the factory always used a clutch fan. More efficient.
Clearance ? 1" is plenty if everything is tight and you have good mounts. Make sure to run a shroud.
Did the Barracuda have a v-8 to begin with or is this a complete engine change ? You said you were restoring it but you have changed everything from stock.
Factory stuff fits, different year/aftermarket parts seldom do.
Click to expand...
No, factory didn't always use a clutch fan. Most times they didn't. Never saw a factory one until the '70s, but not saying they weren't out there. NONE of my '68 GTSs had them- 3 340s, 1 383; a '66 AC wagon, a '66 Valiant 270, a '69 Swinger, and others... all factory.
That said, there's no reason not to run fan clutches if you can fit one in. Fact is, you can't always. No crime if you can't.
 
Professor Fate said:
No, factory didn't always use a clutch fan. Most times they didn't. Never saw a factory one until the '70s, but not saying they weren't out there. NONE of my '68 GTSs had them- 3 340s, 1 383; a '66 AC wagon, a '66 Valiant 270, a '69 Swinger, and others... all factory.
That said, there's no reason not to run fan clutches if you can fit one in. Fact is, you can't always. No crime if you can't.
Click to expand...

Yeah, my 67 Hemi originally had a solid fan. So did my 69 Cuda 383 4-speed. But my parents' 71 Duster 340 3-speed manual had a clutch fan, as did my 73 Duster 340 automatic. I'm not gonna try to look up all the possibilities, but I think early to mid sixties clutch fans were rare in non-A/C cars, but became much more common as the sixties progressed, including (I think) all Hemi cars from 68 on.

BTW, my 65 Barracuda, above, post #2 (originally Commando 273 4-speed), didn't come with a clutch fan; that was a later addition.
 
Yes my 66 came with a 273/904. Im, going to go with the fixed fan with spacer. If it doesnt do the job I,ll have to come up with a plan B. Thanks for all the responses.

Tim
 
If I understand this at all (which some may think is questionable), the move to clutch fans in performance cars wasn't because they cool better, but because they don't soak up as much horsepower. Of course, because they don't, you can run more blades, which I suppose would cool better, without a large horsepower penalty. Anyway, here's a chart I pulled off the internet a while back, showing how much less power a clutch fan soaks up at higher rpm.

direct drive vs. viscous fan drive.jpg
 
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