64 Dart GT Slant 6 Electric Fan Conversion

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cchrishefish

cchrishefish

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I recently purchased a Champion 3 core aluminum radiator for my 225 slant 6. I am looking for suggestions for converting to an electric fan. Which fan size would work best, and should the fan be mounted toward the front of the radiator or back? Do I need to tap into any sensors? And, what type of harness should I use? Should I wire the fan to engage when the key is turned on? And, if so, where should I tap into the voltage source? I was thinking that the ballast resistor would be ok, but maybe I am wrong. Perhaps I should mount an underhood fuse panel which taps into key only voltage?
 
Have you upgraded the alternator and charging system first? I have a 13 inch ancillary pusher fan with the probe type thermostat that you can push through the fins, but I put mine in a 1/2 round opening in the core support on the side. I ran constant hot off the positive battery terminal with a spade fuse connector at the terminal inside of wire loom to the fan and have the switched ground lead returning to the thermostat controller mounted were the washer fluid tank used to be. I added in a 65 amp alternator with a 10 gauge wire and 14 gauge fusible link back to the battery connection on the starter relay. As I have done more electrical on the car (relay for power to aftermarket gauges and electric fuel pump), though, I would have installed one of the fuse blocks with the large fuse to go back to the battery terminal on the relay and had extra fuses for other items, but I won't be adding anything else so am okay, for now. As far as fan size, I would go with at least a 17".
 
I did install a remanufactured 65 amp alternator, 2 years ago. However, I have not ran a 10 gauge wire with a fusible link to the starter relay. I do want to complete this conversion when the weather improves. I also need to replace my 10 year old Die Hard gold battery since the charge no longer stays during Winter storage.
 
If doing it again I would use one of the battery fuse blocks with 5 fuse openings and taps with one of the large 65 amp fuses to the battery. I would have ran 6 gauge wire in case of needing to upgrade the alternator for more accessories, too.
 
I've done a bunch of stuff with electric fans trying to keep my Jeeps cool bumbling around all day at 1mph in the NM desert. Do it right and get an FK-45 controller from dccontrol.com, you make an order and he builds it for you. Takes a little while but worth it.

You don't want the fan to ever turn off completely. That makes the engine bay an oven and bakes everything in there. But you don't want the fan running 100% all the time or you will kill batteries and wear out the fan. The FK-45 can be programmed to run at 10% no matter what, problem solved. And you only need a single speed fan as the controller can vary the speed according to temp. Also, the controller ramps the fan RPM up and down, pretty much eliminating system voltage spikes and sags. This is a must for EFI and good stuff generally.

If you not using a full radiator shroud, get the biggest fan you can find that will fit the radiator. But a shroud is the way to go. I'd recommend a SPAL fan, pure quality. Don't use a cheap fan because if it fails a tow is in your future. A puller will move way more air than a pusher. Wire the circuit directly to the battery, using 10ga and keep the runs short as possible.
 
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DodgeLad said:
I've done a bunch of stuff with electric fans trying to keep my Jeeps cool bumbling around all day at 1mph in the NM desert. Do it right and get an FK-45 controller from dccontrol.com, you make an order and he builds it for you. Takes a little while but worth it.

You don't want the fan to ever turn off completely. That makes the engine bay an oven and bakes everything in there. But you don't want the fan running 100% all the time or you will kill batteries and wear out the fan. The FK-45 can be programmed to run at 10% no matter what, problem solved. And you only need a single speed fan as the controller can vary the speed according to temp. Also, the controller ramps the fan RPM up and down, pretty much eliminating system voltage spikes and sags. This is a must for EFI and good stuff generally.

If you not using a full radiator shroud, get the biggest fan you can find that will fit the radiator. But a shroud is the way to go. I'd recommend a SPAL fan, pure quality. Don't use a cheap fan because if it fails a tow is in your future. A puller will move way more air than a pusher. Wire the circuit directly to the battery, using 10ga and keep the runs short as possible.
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Thank you, that sounds like my best option. I am performing certain upgrades to my car which would allow an easy transition to the Torqstorm Supercharger. I have been informed that there are fan clearance issues with the early A body cars when installing the supercharger. So if someone has installed a Torqstorm and did not have any issues, please chime in. Champion Radiator does have a fan shroud, but again this may or may not cause clearance issues. I have to admit, that fan controller has got to be the best.
 
On my '64 Valiant, I use a single 10" pusher fan in front of the condenser - there is very little room between the water pump pulley and the aluminum radiator (and not all that much between the condenser and the grill!). Any fan on the engine side of the radiator will have to be offset, or really, really skinny.

I used this schematic as a base: Ted's Simplified Electric Fan wiring schematic text - Slant Six Forum, and added in parallel to the thermostatic switch a trinary switch to run the fan when the AC is running, and an overriding "drive-through" switch to make it run when I want it to. It works well.
 
Does anyone have pictures showing an electric fan mounted on a 64 Dart with a slant 6?
 
My slant does not have any air conditioning to worry about. I even have manual steering.
 
cchrishefish said:
I have to admit, that fan controller has got to be the best.
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It's the easiest one to install with that kind of functionality. And it's made in the USA. But it's not perfect, none are in my experience.

There are some caveats. That controller doesn't like to get too hot (most don't). So you got to mount it where there is airflow. And mine took a long time to arrive. I would talk to the guy and get an ETA before ordering.

There is Dakota Digital which can use your stock temp sensor. But it's a complicated install and I can't remember if it ramps or not. No EFI and having a smaller fan with a short run to the battery, ramping may not be required.

The FK-45 uses a plug-in sensor to the radiator fins. I don't care for those, but this sensor is the best of it's ilk.

There are other newer efan controller offerings out there from the usual vendors that you should look at too. I can't use any of them though because the fans I use draw too much current. Big electric fans draw an obnoxious amount of current at startup.
 
I installed the radiator on Thursday and it was a perfect fit, plenty of fan clearance. One problem I do want to mention, I drove my car with the old radiator to my local Napa store with hose part numbers in hand. The lower radiator hose was a perfect match. However, the upper radiator hose, non flex type, did not match up. So I returned home and removed the old radiator and installed the 3 core. I was planning on using the old upper flex hose until I could find a match. After I removed the old radiator, I realized that it was not the right radiator for my car, and it was installed with self tapping screws, by a previous owner. So, I returned to Napa a second time to retrieve the upper hose and it was a perfect match after a 1 inch cut. I am very happy with the install.
 
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