I'm second guessing my decision to run the small stock fan on my earlier style water pump. I searched for aftermarket options and only found stock reproductions. Is there anything else out there that uses 1/4" bolts? If not, are you guys drilling and tapping the pump pulley to 5/16"?
Unless you're running in the arid southwest in the middle of the summer, what's wrong with the original fan? It was good enough to work for a couple of decades on cooling systems with zero pressure, on engines that actually worked for a living, not a Cowboy Cadillac that never hauls anything heavier than an iced-down Yeti cooler to a car show! Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt! There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
But on a more serious note, if I stick with the small original fan, and it turns out it's not enough in mid ninety weather in stop and go traffic, then I have to pull radiator off to drill and tap the pulley if there are no direct swap replacements. So I'm looking into it now instead of after the fact. Part of my overthinking everything, I suppose...
RB, I drive a stock, unrestored 216 with the original fan on the downtown Atlanta connector in the middle of 90-100 summer weather in rush hour traffic and that needle sits on 180 like it's glued in place.
If your truck overheats, look somewhere other than the fan because that isn't the problem.
1950 Chevrolet 3100 (Ol' Roy)
1939 Packard Standard Eight Coupe (The Phantom) | 1956 Cadillac Coupe de Ville (The Bismarck) | 1964 Ford Galaxie 500 coupe |1966 Ford Mustang (Little Red) | 1969 Pontiac GTO (The Dishpit) I 1979 Ford F-100 | 1976 Ford F-150 (Big Red) | 1995 Ford F-150 (Newt)
While we're discussing this, you might consider using Redline Water Wetter. It is a surfactant that cuts the surface tension of the coolant between the engine block and between the coolant and the radiator tubes.
This allows the coolant to transfer heat much more efficiently from the engine to the radiator. With pure water and no antifreeze , it will lower your operating temps by 15-20 degrees. With antifreeze its much less effective but can still lower temps by 5-10 degrees.
This might sound like snake oil but racers use it on the track. It was recommended to me by a friend who builds race engines and dragsters and races them himself. I'm going to use it in Ol' Roy and The Bismarck this summer.
1950 Chevrolet 3100 (Ol' Roy)
1939 Packard Standard Eight Coupe (The Phantom) | 1956 Cadillac Coupe de Ville (The Bismarck) | 1964 Ford Galaxie 500 coupe |1966 Ford Mustang (Little Red) | 1969 Pontiac GTO (The Dishpit) I 1979 Ford F-100 | 1976 Ford F-150 (Big Red) | 1995 Ford F-150 (Newt)
It isn't the pulley that's tapped, but the flange on the water pump. You could pull the water pump to drill and retap the flange without pulling the radiator.
Kevin 1951 Chevy 3100 work truck Follow this saga in Project Journal Photos 1929 Ford pickup restored from the ground up. | 1929 Ford Special Coupe (First car) Busting rust since the mid-60's If you're smart enough to take it apart, you darn well better be smart enough to put it back together.
Kevin, I suppose pulling the pump may be easier, although the radiator comes off fairly easily with the shell and grille as well. Either way, just looking to eliminate any possible problems ahead of time.
Just thinking it wouldn't hurt to move more air across my radiator, which was for a 207, not a 216. The factory did put bigger fans on the later motors, and I figure there was a reason for that. I see some people saying their small stock fans are fine, while I see others saying putting on a bigger fan made a big difference.
