Redundancy and Overkill time, (best reasonably priced thermostatic cooling fan)

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Brooks James

Brooks James

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Ive got a 360 magnum nicely warmed Over, about 390 hp.

Cooling situation:

Twin electric fans, set up with an electrical thermostat set at 180, with manual bypass switches on rheostats ( Thanks Rusty Rat Rod).

Hi vol water pump

Biggest Friggin radiator I could fit in, its touching the corner if the battery.

Custom stainless. Shroud being made by my buddy who owns a sheet metal shop.

Question
i have plenty if clearance, the electric fans are pushers. How should he design the shroud to not make it a major frig to change the fan, and at the same time not have Excessive clearance that reduces the effeciency of the fan ?
 
Brooks James said:
Ive got a 360 magnum nicely warmed Over, about 390 hp.

Cooling situation:

Twin electric fans, set up with an electrical thermostat set at 180, with manual bypass switches on rheostats ( Thanks Rusty Rat Rod).

Hi vol water pump

Biggest Friggin radiator I could fit in, its touching the corner if the battery.

Custom stainless. Shroud being made by my buddy who owns a sheet metal shop.

Question
i have plenty if clearance, the electric fans are pushers. How should he design the shroud to not make it a major frig to change the fan, and at the same time not have Excessive clearance that reduces the effeciency of the fan ?
Click to expand...
By "pusher" fans I assume that they're mounted in front of the radiator? I mounted my fans on studs so I could remove if necessary. Also the fans will lose efficiency very quickly the further they are from the radiator fins. Ideally they should be mounted dead up against the radiator, also there should be so way for air to get around the fans or shroud, this will cause cavitation.
 
Treblig said:
By "pusher" fans I assume that they're mounted in front of the radiator? I mounted my fans on studs so I could remove if necessary. Also the fans will lose efficiency very quickly the further they are from the radiator fins. Ideally they should be mounted dead up against the radiator, also there should be so way for air to get around the fans or shroud, this will cause cavitation.
Click to expand...
Yes mine are right on the fins. Im now thinking that In doing WAY over kill
 
What are we working on here? There are some options if you look through the Dorman replacement parts lists that can give you two very large puller fans. For instance, a Chevy Traverse replacement fan set works well on a ‘81-‘93 dodge pickup.
 
Brooks James said:
Yes mine are right on the fins. Im now thinking that In doing WAY over kill
Click to expand...
A shroud, properly placed engine driven fan, and a healthy cooling system will do a much better job than a couple electrics tied to the radiator. Look at all the radiator that isn't being force fed air. The shroud allows the fan to pull air through the whole core.
 
You need to better explain what's going on. You have two pusher fans, but you want your buddy to build a shroud? Where would the shroud go?? On front for the pusher fans, or on the back for an additional mechanical fan?

If the cooling system is functioning properly, all you should need is a properly sized puller fan. If you need pushers, something is wrong - especially at <400 hp.
 
Garrett Ellison said:
What are we working on here? There are some options if you look through the Dorman replacement parts lists that can give you two very large puller fans. For instance, a Chevy Traverse replacement fan set works well on a ‘81-‘93 dodge pickup.
Click to expand...
Thanks, 70 Dart. I have two 13. In pushers fans mounted on the fins on the front of the radiator. With the shroud Im having built a, thermo fan, 2 electric fans,and a high vol pump , i should be good, but I want to be damn sure as we will be doing a lot of cross country driving and I dont want to be at the mercy of someone fixing my car that I dont know.
 
mopowers said:
You need to better explain what's going on. You have two pusher fans, but you want your buddy to build a shroud? Where would the shroud go?? On front for the pusher fans, or on the back for an additional mechanical fan?

If the cooling system is functioning properly, all you should need is a properly sized puller fan. If you need pushers, something is wrong - especially at <400 hp.
Click to expand...
i Want to add a manual thermistatic fan with a shroud, to accompany the 2 electric pushers, hi vol water pump, and a/c pump pulley for more rpm's, already have the biggest rad i could fit. I have an ac condensor almost as big as the rad, because i have a loose converter which I will be driving on the street. I want to build the system ONCE, tune it and forget it !
 
Be sure any shroud you have made does not have any surface parallel the the rad core. A flat surface behind rhe core will create a static pressure zone and little to no air will flow at speed.

Realistically if you duplicate the factory shroud, fans, pulleys, radiator and waterpump you will not have any problems. If you want to keep your pusher fans for sitying in traffic go for it.

As for cooling your high stall trans, get an aux cooler with a dedicated fan
 
Dana67Dart said:
Be sure any shroud you have made does not have any surface parallel the the rad core. A flat surface behind rhe core will create a static pressure zone and little to no air will flow at speed.

Realistically if you duplicate the factory shroud, fans, pulleys, radiator and waterpump you will not have any problems. If you want to keep your pusher fans for sitying in traffic go for it.

As for cooling your high stall trans, get an aux cooler with a dedicated fan
Click to expand...
Going in a different direction now, when Im. A month away from finishing my Dart is not an option. Thanks for your response
 
I can not picture this, doesn't make sense.
Good luck with your hypothetical problem.
 
I believe your pusher fans will block airflow across the radiator when cruising,then the temp will rise and the fans will have to come on when not needed. Either use a mechanical clutch fan or dual puller fans (if space allows)
 
66jim said:
I believe your pusher fans will block airflow across the radiator when cruising
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Agreed, they will block a little flow but it should be negligable at speed at most they will block about 12 to 15 SQ in. About 3% of the rad core. If your cooling at speed is that close you have bigger issues.
 
66jim said:
I believe your pusher fans will block airflow across the radiator when cruising,then the temp will rise and the fans will have to come on when not needed. Either use a mechanical clutch fan or dual puller fans (if space allows)
Click to expand...

Ok
1) 2 pusher fans front of radiator on fins
2) pusher fans are set up with an adjustable
Electric thermostat
3)
Pushers are also wired to bypass/override the thermostat with manual toggles
4) each pusher I s wired separately to a rheostat/potentiometer to allow for variable fan speed
5) hi vol water pump , with a/c small pulley to increase rpm’s
6) custom fan shroud
7) clutch/thermostat manual fan
Purpose:
Be able to experiment (from the driver’s seat) with engine temps by controlling the temp to produce maximum power
Rapidly cool the engine between race rounds at the track
Not be caught in BFE because I didn’t have redundancy in my cooling system
 
66jim said:
I believe your pusher fans will block airflow across the radiator when cruising,then the temp will rise and the fans will have to come on when not needed. Either use a mechanical clutch fan or dual puller fans (if space allows)
Click to expand...
 
It may be helpful to post some pictures up so we can see what you've got and if there's anything obvious that may need to be addressed.
 
Brooks James said:
Ok
1) 2 pusher fans front of radiator on fins
2) pusher fans are set up with an adjustable
Electric thermostat
3)
Pushers are also wired to bypass/override the thermostat with manual toggles
4) each pusher I s wired separately to a rheostat/potentiometer to allow for variable fan speed
5) hi vol water pump , with a/c small pulley to increase rpm’s
6) custom fan shroud
7) clutch/thermostat manual fan
Purpose:
Be able to experiment (from the driver’s seat) with engine temps by controlling the temp to produce maximum power
Rapidly cool the engine between race rounds at the track
Not be caught in BFE because I didn’t have redundancy in my cooling system
Click to expand...

You're making this waaaaaay harder than it needs to be.
 
mopowers said:
You're making this waaaaaay harder than it needs to be.
Click to expand...
Like I said, redundancy and overkill is what I Want. The wiring is fat gauge wire, fuse on every electrical item, 20 gauges,4 wheel disc brakes etc etc. This will be my sons car, his sons car and so on. So im beefing everything up so it will rarely be in need
Of repair and everything will last a long time.
 
Brooks James said:
Like I said, redundancy and overkill is what I Want. The wiring is fat gauge wire, fuse on every electrical item, 20 gauges,4 wheel disc brakes etc etc. This will be my sons car, his sons car and so on. So im beefing everything up so it will rarely be in need
Of repair and everything will last a long time.
Click to expand...

Good luck.
 
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