The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop 46 / 55 cooling system

Installing '55 235 engine in place of '46 216, keeping the 216 radiator and fan blade, using the 235 water pump. I know that there will be some issues with radiator hose diameters. I did have to flip the fan blade front to back for clearance. Will I have any issues with this approach?

Bob

Most likely overheating issues.
Besides that, I am not sure there is not a risk of breaking the fan. It is not designed to run backwards.

I have considered overheating, and figured that I might have an indictaion of this possibility during initial testing. Had not thought about the breaking. The only alternative would be to buy a '55 235 radiator as the '55 fan blade does not clear the lower neck of the '46 radiator.

The 55 radiator will not be an easy install.
Do you have something against the water pump relocation plate?

Water pump relocation plate? I don't understand.

Look at page 3 and 4 in this link. Water pump adapter

Dave - thanks. I would like to get back to you on this tomorrow - I have some things to look at.

I am with Dave on this fans and blowers are designed to go a certain rotation. The blades are cut to move air at the rotation they are designed for. If it is reversed you will probably not get the reqiured cfm and overheat. If you live in a hot weather climate may worth the risk.

run the fan the right direction by all means.

I went with the short shaft water pump with a 7 inch pulley. While the motor is out, pull the radiator out, have it checked out and repaired if need be and convert it to a pressure system and use a 4 lb. cap. While they have it out, change the tank outlet to the same diameter of the thermostat housing. You may need to bend the fan slightly to clear the crank pulley.

I hope you are still tuned into this thread. I did a little digging into my history and confirmed a few things. First, instead of the adapter plate for the water pump (which I now understand), I went with the Jim Carter short shaft water pump in order to avoid moving the radiator forward, as reccomended by others. The problem with the fan blade, when correctly oriented, is that I have approximately 0.25 inch interferance with the harmonic balancer (using the '46 blade to avoid installing a '55 radiator). I will admit that I had some concerns about flipping the fan blade but saw no good alternatine. Surely, I am not the first to put a '55 engine into a '46 truck.

BUT WAIT - just found this in Jim Carter - p/n MEE243 fan blade, for short shaft water pump. Is that the answer?

Bending a fan blade is asking for problems. Take the time to research the issue and the fix will be obvious.

I will try this again - the first version dissappeared during an edit.

First, if I turn the '46 fan blade in the correct orientation, there is about 1/4" interferance with the harmonic balancer. the '55 will strike the lower radiator neck.

I found your adapter plate and understand what that is. Instead, I went with the Jim Carter short shaft water pump, which they say is for use when putting a '55 engine into a '46 truck. What I only just now came across in the Jim Carter catalog is a fan blade designed to operate with that water pump, which they say will give me the clearance. I hope it works.

Edit - just got a call from Jim Carters tech guy - says that their 15" fan should work, it is dimensionally the same as the 216 fan blade. But mine measures 17" - did someone put thewrong fan on in the past?

You may need to bend the fan slightly

Never, ever do that.