Your are right, It does have nearly 1.25 inches it could move forward if the brackets were posistioned better(which in these cars is a mile!), but it fits fine with a v8 and leaves about 1.5 inches between the fan and the radiator core. I had planned on using a clutch fan but, no way was that gonna work. For a radiator that cost me 225 bucks it works great. and it doesnt look like someone stole one out of a toyota and stuck it inther with the crazy welded tanks and tiny *** radiator cap. I may end up taking it out and modifying the brackets to move it forward, but for right now its working just fine.