The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Wrong Radiator Fan

Apparently I have a 216 radiator fan on my 261. I have been told this is not good. Not to mention I am going with the short shaft water pump and it doesn't clear my harmonic balancer.

Does anyone know where to find a fan blade for either the 235 or 261?

I have looked at the almost all of the dealers and they sell the 216 but not the 235/261 radiator fan.

What year truck do you have. If its a 54 or earlier I would use one of the water pump adapters and the old style 216 pump. Doing this will solve the fan hitting the balancer and puts the fan center in the rad, I've ran short shaft pumps before and used a pulley and fan blade from a mid to late 60's ford six.

My truck is a '52. I have a '59 261 with the short water pump already installed. Because it is already bought and paid for I would like to stay with what I have.

chev235:
I just got a short shaft pump from Patricks and he included a 1/4" spacer to put on the end of the shaft (after I put on the pulley)which brings the fan closer to the radiator and clears the balancer. I haven't done it yet...I just opened the box!

I was/am going to use the 216 fan on my 261 as well. What did you hear about the 216 fan?
Tom

My truck is a '51 with a 261 (1962 version) I used Patrick's short shaft pump and his fan with no clearance problem. With the spacer on the fan pulley the blades cleared the crank pulley/harmonic balancer. I threaded the crank to use a small block chevy crank bolt to press the pulley back on and the fan didn't clear the bolt head so I got rid of it- I don't think it needed to stay in place once the pulley was in place. Patrick's instructions say to 'tweak' the fan blades so that it'll clear the crank pulley.

Have you test fitted the fan/pulley and pump?

There are a couple of guys i know of that may have the fan.
chevyb and pre68dave, they are regulars here.I bought a nos fan from chevyb for my 1954 261 and he had four a few months ago.Post in the parts wanted section of the swap.

I have the fan mounted on the water pump now. I have to tweak it more than 1/4" to make it clear the harmonic balancer. I spoke to Patrick today and he said that it sounds like I have the right fan just go ahead and tweak it to just pass the harmonic balancer. I am going to try but something just doesn't seem right.

NM51 you mention that you used Patrick's fan. Did you order the fan from him? Sounds like we have about the same setup. Mine is a '59 261 and my truck is a '52. hmmmm any chance you have pictures of your fan?

Here's a couple of considerations: I have a 62' 235.
1st, I also purchased the short pump from Patrick's and received what you did and had the same clearence problems with the harmonic.
Did you also get the short pulley as well?
The 1/4 inch spacer was not enough.
2nd, went to a hot rod store and got a 1/2 spacer(you might need a thicker on). That got the fan away from the balancer but it then came in contact with the radiator. This is where it got interesting.
Ended up removing mounting straps from radiator(they are just soldered on), drilling out spot welded radiator mounting flange straps from mounts, removing and locating 3/4 inch farther back towards engine, rewelded to straps, remounted
straps on radiator, repainted and installed.
Also cut @ 1 1/2 inches off bottom of strap prior to resoldering straps to radiator in order to redrill mounting holes to drop radiator down @ 1 1/4 inches into core support to better center fan on radiator.
Though this seemed like much work, it was just a series of steps with the intended result.
If you email me, I have some pics of the finished install.

I have exactly the same setup as Rattletrap 52 and did the same modifications to the radiator except that I did not lower the radiator. I soldered the flanges back on at an angle and used the same holes in the surround. I'll admit it is pretty close at the bottom of the fan radius but it works just fine. I tweaked (bent)my fan which I used from a 56' Chev car just enough to clear the balancer and all is cool...no pun intended. So obviously there are seberal approaches to this problem.

The fan I got from Patrick looks just like the stock fan on my 216 but has the center hole a little bigger to accomodate the larger shaft on the pump.

I suggest trying everything first. If it won't clear the balancer, try a spacer as reccomended above. If that puts you into the radiator either move the radiator or think about a different fan, or eliminate the fan and put an electric pusher fan on front of the radiator.