The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Electric Fans Mounted Strangely

i was at the street rod nats and i noticed many ppl are now mounting electric fans infront of the radiator between the grill and radiator to do that wouldn't you have to have a fan running in reverse? and if so how would you do that? and last but not least most of the ones i saw running this set up were on stock radiators with V-8s is the cooling that much better with the electric over the clutch or flex engine mounted fans?

Depends on the electric fan, some are made to run one way or the other or either way. A lot also has to do w/the amount of room in the engine bay you have and choice. I have ran an electric fan in front of the radiator w/a fan on the motor before & the electric fan was used only during the time where I was in traffic to control the temp & I have ran just either the stock style or electric fan on front or behind the radiator by themselves...Joe

Daniel, the "general believe" is that the electric fans that are pullers (go between engine and radiator)are the best and that a good electric fan should pull between 3000 and 4000 cfm...or ever how you measure the air!!

I had a pusher on my 37 that I has a flip switch inside and would run the electric fan when in parades or heavy traffic to help keep it cool. It still over heated sometime. My fan wasn't pulling enough cfm's....and I had a tranny cooler stuck down at the bottom of the radiator to.
So, I am going to put an aluminum in mine next week with the tranny cooler in the bottom. I may go to a 6 blade fan and see what happens and if it doesn't run cool enough I will but me a big puller fan between engine/radiator.

The good thing about running an electric fan all the time is that it is always pulling in the air while your sitting in traffic and at red lights!

Just for thought I have a friend that runs two rail dragsters and thats what he uses........
Hope you got my PM about your guages?

this mounted on my 51 - 3104

http://s67.photobucket.com/albums/h298/1951otter/?action=view&current=0732700-R1-006-1A.jpg
http://s67.photobucket.com/albums/h298/1951otter/?action=view&current=4495365-R1-012-4A_1.jpg
http://s67.photobucket.com/albums/h298/1951otter/?action=view&current=2650080-R2-026-11A.jpg
http://s67.photobucket.com/albums/h298/1951otter/?action=view&current=0732700-R1-034-15A.jpg
http://s67.photobucket.com/albums/h298/1951otter/?action=view&current=2650080-R2-014-5A.jpg

pullers need a fan shroud.
pushers do NOT need a shroud but any fan should be mounted about 1/2'' away from the radiator. mine has a full fan support under it and two 3/4 flat stocks at the top. all attached to the main frame mount w/ welded studs.
I run TWO relays for the one fan !!

I have a pusher fan mounted behind the grille on my truck, cooling my 261. I have it stood off from the radiator about 1/2 inch mounted by parallel bars bolted to the frame that holds the radiator. It works great, and its not visible from outside or under the hood unless you really look up under the grill bars. It keeps the truck cool just fine in 100+ degree temperatures. Mine draws about 20 amps though. I use a thermostat so it doesn't run all the time.

most dc fans will run both ways, just reverse the post and it will change direction.

Blue 62 finally answered your question, reverse the leads. I picked mine up at a recycler yard. Twin fans and they hold me a 190, exactly the same as the thermostat. No shroud for the pusher and it makes the engine compartment look a lot cleaner. I did put a on/off switch in the line. Also a thermostatically controller so they don't run constantly.

but blue simply reversing the lead, i would assume it would be like mounting a boat or airplane propeller on backwards the fan blades are ment to go a specified direction arn't they?

if you reverse the direction the blades will turn the way it needs to. if you have the fan off just hook up the wires. one negative and one pos. see which way it turns and if it is the wrong way switch the posts and it will reverse. think of it more as a ceiling fan. if you switch the little button it reverses direction. even the props on a boat and or plane if they will bolt on backwards it would just have the reverse effect. forward gears would move in reverse and vise versa.

I am in the process of adding an electric fan to mine right now. it came as a fan that goes between rad and engine but is going between grill and rad. it pushes just as much air as it pulled.

I think you can wire the straight blade fans to blow either way, but the curved blade fans, which are designed to cut the noise factor, will not work correctly when wired backwards. They will work, but they are very noisey.

Just bought a Hayden fan. It can be mounted as a puller or pusher, but is shipped as a pusher. To reverse direction, you swap polarity and invert the fan blade.

Ran it today, not happy, it ran much hotter than the stock {noisy, no thermo-clutch}fan. I guess 1250cfm wont cut it, and the next step up {1500cfm} costs twice as much.

Gonna look into "modern" fan blades and whether they will allow a thermo-clutch to be installed.

ob1quixote:
I ran a flex fan with a pusher for years on my 37 and just today have almost completed putting in my new Griffin Aluminum. I hate to hear your problems as I was hoping to use ONLY and electric fan this time around.
If my memory is correct I think Griffin recommended a PULLER fan for my appication (V8 with under 400HP) and I think they suggested a fan that would pull 3000-4000 CFM's. I plan to recheck their site to make sure I read/remember correctly.
I only have 3 inches between radiator and the neck on my water pump. I hope I don't have to re-modify anything.

Now I think I'll just run the 6 blade flex fan up town and around the block just to see what it will do.
How much did you pay for the Hayden?? I can only imagine what a fan pulling 3-4000 cfm's would cost...if it will fit between my engine and radiator.

** Southern Stovebolt Reunion May 30th.

Edit: my fan moves 1400 CFM, not 1250 as stated.