The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The HiPo Shop Recommendations for an electric fan for my 55.2

Had my A/C filled this morning and the tech said that my mechanical fan is not pulling enough air through the condenser. Is there a good electric fan that is made for the 55.2 Chevy radiators? I refuse to have one that mounts with those "through core" mounting systems, needs to mount rigid to the sides.

So much for driving to work without sweating...

You might have to take some measurements and look online for a fan that fits. I have not seen a fan that hard mounts to the core support without making your own bracket. Do you have a fan shroud? Do you want a push or pull style fan, which will determine size too..

are you running stock? except for the A/C? HOW does the guy know what the fan is pulling?

That said, measure your radiator and find as big of fan as you can. They make some that pull/push quite a bit of air...some of the smaller fans can pull a lot of air. It will say on the box what the cfm's are that it pulls.

I went to Ace Hardware and bought me a 1/8" X 3/4" strip of aluminum. Then made me a template with a piece of coat hanger then bent the aluminum to match. Drilled a couple holes and mounted the electric fan with that. Sturdy as a rock. Here is a pic of what I did. Good luck.

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r19/LutherParris/52Panel/fanbrackets.jpg

That looks good Achipmunk! How much CFM does your fan pull? Do you have A/C?

The tech had a couple pressure gauges hooked up to the A/C and he said the pressure should be around 250 but it was hovering above 300 which meant the condenser was getting too hot. He said the mechanical fan/shroud I have is enough to keep the engine cool but once the A/C goes on it won't pull enough while at a stop light or around town. It's a reputable shop so I trust him.

I will do some measuring and see what fits. I was just wondering if there was a 55 Chevy specific one out there. Think this one might work if I mount it horizontally.
Flexlight 168

http://s783.photobucket.com/albums/.../?action=view&current=engine621A.jpg

http://s783.photobucket.com/albums/.../?action=view&current=engine623b.jpg

Here’s the way I tackled the problem. The two fans came mounted in the shroud and I added an aluminum angle to either side of the radiator support to bolt it to. GearHead sells them as a white box special. 2500 CFM keeps the 283 running nice and cool in the Florida heat. (I am also running a 3 core aluminum radiator)

That looks good johntsmith, is that aluminum radiator the same dimensions as the original? Another words would your set up work on my original replacement radiator?

I took my truck 4-wheeling out at one of the sandy areas out here today (not real four wheeling but about as close as it gets in Florida) and the temp gauge moved up to 215 in the 90 degree heat (my body temp seemed higher), so my A/C tech guy is right, I need an electric fan to cool this truck. It is fine on the street but putting around in 4 wheel drive really showed the weakness in the cooling system.

Check out the "Walker" radiator web site. I beleve you will need a shroud to make it work correctly. The "Spal" fan is considered, by most, the best as their test data used a blockage (radiator) in the flow rate data. Others use free air. If your up to it one can build a very good shroud with a piece of aluminum, a brake, and a little tig welding.

[quote=jomichael]That looks good Achipmunk! How much CFM does your fan pull? Do you have A/C?

... I don't know how much it pulls. My neighbor had it on his fully modified and blown 350 and had some heating problems and gave the fan to me. I do not have my a/c installed yet but I have ran the engine setting in my shop for extended periods in this hot weather we're having and it is just fine. I might add that I have a new 4 row Desert Cooler Radiator which by the way is made by U.S. Radiator here in the USA out in Ca. They also make a lot of other radiators. It'd be worth your time to go to their web site and read some very interesting stuff.

Let us know how you come out on this. I would suspect a fan pulling from 2500 cfm's up would be fine for your truck and the highest price is not necessarily the best. Shop around.

Sounds like you might just need to fabricate a mount for an additionasl fan.Which will do very little good if any good at all. Try installing a fan schroud,and chances are your troubles will be over.

I have the factory shroud on with the mechanical fan. See photo below:
fan shroud

The truck has never overheated even when idling. It did start getting hot after crawling around in 4 wheel drive yesterday in 90 degree heat.

I will let you all know what fan I end up with. I just wanted to keep that factory look. I might be able to modify the current shroud to cover up the electric fan... we'll see.

Thanks for all the advice.

the only two manufacturers of electric fans that I recommend are Spal and Tri-Pac. they actually flow their advertized air.

I used the Lincoln Mark VIII fan. The 93-98 models have a great reputation in the street rod world for their ability to pull air.

Agreed on the Spal fan, I have one on mine. I don't recall the specs or model number, though.
Another tip you might try in additon to the shroud; swap the fan to a 5 blade fan from a School Bus. I installed one from a '58 School Bus after the original got bent (that's a hole 'nuther story), I haven't had to use the electric fan since.

I ended up using a Flex-Light Black Magic 180. It just happens to be the exact width of a 55 radiator and covers 90% of the height. It has a nice solid shroud and has the temp controls and A/C relay. I installed it last night and have a couple more wires to connect before hitting the road. Specs say it pulls 3,000 cfm so that better do the job! It doesn't look as bad as I thought it would.

I'll post some pictures when done.

Spal fans are highly regarded. I have three, one puller and two pushers.