mikeynags
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What do you guys think of them? Are they good or should I stay away?
Flex Fans
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69HEMICORONETR/TCONV
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I ran them for years on Race engines, and ran them on a few street cars too, with no problems.
69 Runner
ADMIN wif a corner office (Deceased - RIP)
They're crap and should be avoided at all costs
ok.... a little harsh. Generally speaking they aren't much use for keeping your car cool. Generally speaking, they have blade smaller than a stock fan, so they don't move as much air. Generally speaking (tired of that yet?) the reason behind using them is to use less horsepower at high RPMs. They "flatten out" at speed, therefore they have less drag. But by flattening out, they also don't move much air.
I don't use them, and don't recommend anyone else use them for a street driven car
ok.... a little harsh. Generally speaking they aren't much use for keeping your car cool. Generally speaking, they have blade smaller than a stock fan, so they don't move as much air. Generally speaking (tired of that yet?) the reason behind using them is to use less horsepower at high RPMs. They "flatten out" at speed, therefore they have less drag. But by flattening out, they also don't move much air.
I don't use them, and don't recommend anyone else use them for a street driven car
D
Deleted member 214
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For a mechanical fan, the factory fan and viscous coupler is the best fall around. Cools good when needed, doesn't suck up horsepower when not.
rp23g7
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I have one on the Coronet. Doesnt seem to have any issues, the car never gets hot enough to spew after a freeway run or in traffic, yet
696pack
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I have seen many of them over the years come apart and do a lot of damage to radiators and shrouds. You will never find one on one of my cars.
63RedFury
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Junk....The one in my Fathers Hemi Bee came apart and when through the fan shroud and battery...
dantrap
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Skip the Flex Fan. Go with a viscous type or quality electric unit. I had a bad experience with a flex fan that ended costing me a lot of money, it broke apart at high RPM.
scotts74birds
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I stand by the factory unit for cost and reliability.
wannadrag
Well-Known Member
They have there place,mostly streetrod applications through.If possible avoid them and use the factory stuff.
roadrunnerman
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Had one on a car yrs ago(overheated),replaced with a stock one and had no problems cooling after that.they might look cool but don't do a whole lot for cooling.
696pack
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Don't try to re-invent the wheel. The auto manufacturers hired engines to build their cars and sub assemblies and the cooling system was one of them. All of them had test tracks in the Arizona desert to test them in extreme conditions.
The best thing you can do is keep things original. Over the years people remove/replace these things with no shrouds, flex fans, electric fans, and aftermarket radiators.
The factory type radiator with original thickness and fin count is the best system you can have. The fan shroud should be sealed so that all of the air behind the rad. is forced to be sucked THROUGH the rad. rather than around it. You are creating a vortex behind the rad. The placement of the fan is also important. It should be 1/2 in and 1/2 out of the rear edge opening of the shroud. Viscous clutch fans are good for engine power saving since they cut out at higher RPMs when the speed of the car helps with the air flow through the rad. but a standard fan is fine too.
Electric fans block the rad. simple by their presences weather they are front or rear mounted. People think that because they are mounted closely that they do a better job and think that a center mounted one is good. In order to duplicate the shrouded rear set engine fan that pulls air from the entire surface area of the rad. the electric fan(s) would have to be mounted over the entire surface area of the rad. and it is still a blocking problem.
Aftermarket rads. are very often built WRONG. Thinking that the larger thikness and higher fin count is better it is actually worse as in 10 pounds of crap in a 5 pound bag. It "crowds" the fin count and limits the heat dispersing characteristics it is suppose to be creating. It needs room to get rid of the heat.
The best thing you can do is keep things original. Over the years people remove/replace these things with no shrouds, flex fans, electric fans, and aftermarket radiators.
The factory type radiator with original thickness and fin count is the best system you can have. The fan shroud should be sealed so that all of the air behind the rad. is forced to be sucked THROUGH the rad. rather than around it. You are creating a vortex behind the rad. The placement of the fan is also important. It should be 1/2 in and 1/2 out of the rear edge opening of the shroud. Viscous clutch fans are good for engine power saving since they cut out at higher RPMs when the speed of the car helps with the air flow through the rad. but a standard fan is fine too.
Electric fans block the rad. simple by their presences weather they are front or rear mounted. People think that because they are mounted closely that they do a better job and think that a center mounted one is good. In order to duplicate the shrouded rear set engine fan that pulls air from the entire surface area of the rad. the electric fan(s) would have to be mounted over the entire surface area of the rad. and it is still a blocking problem.
Aftermarket rads. are very often built WRONG. Thinking that the larger thikness and higher fin count is better it is actually worse as in 10 pounds of crap in a 5 pound bag. It "crowds" the fin count and limits the heat dispersing characteristics it is suppose to be creating. It needs room to get rid of the heat.
TIGwelder
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Back in the day, I could never get the viscous kit Mopar sold to fit on my 66 Coronet with a 383. I have an old style radiator I special ordered through Year One (4 core/ hemi / air) that's actually a bit wider than the opening. I think it was for a later year car, but biggest I could get at the time.
I ended up using a fan off a 69 Road Runner I had. It's the 7 bladed fan with the 2 offset blades. After trying all sorts of stuff it's the best thing I found. It's strong and cooled well along with a Mopar perf water pump, factory shroud and 180 tstat. Worked well for me and when I ran the car at the track I could round-robin and be at 180F or so coming back around to the start.
It's screams the belt when you let off the gas on a dry hop with it
Never threw the belt or broke it though.
Just don't get in a "lower t-stat means cooler temps" thinking mode. I learned my lesson about water circulation speed and overheating temps. Lower opening temp does not equal lower running temp in traffic conditions.
I ended up using a fan off a 69 Road Runner I had. It's the 7 bladed fan with the 2 offset blades. After trying all sorts of stuff it's the best thing I found. It's strong and cooled well along with a Mopar perf water pump, factory shroud and 180 tstat. Worked well for me and when I ran the car at the track I could round-robin and be at 180F or so coming back around to the start.
It's screams the belt when you let off the gas on a dry hop with it
Never threw the belt or broke it though.
Just don't get in a "lower t-stat means cooler temps" thinking mode. I learned my lesson about water circulation speed and overheating temps. Lower opening temp does not equal lower running temp in traffic conditions.
Revhendo
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Um, almost all auto manufacturers use electric fans now?
TIGwelder
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Back when the electric fans were first coming out, I think people had bad experiences with them. I know I tried in the early 90's a didn't have any success.
Times change and products get better. I would give it another try nowadays.
A fan something like the one in my 08 Charger SRT would probably work great in one of these cars. It's a power hog on high though.
Revhendo
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Aftermarket electric fan manufacturers have come a long way in the past few years. You can get dual fans in a common housing that acts as a shround and they have holes in the shroud that are covered with flaps that open at speed. You'll see similar setups in O.E. cooling systems. They do draw a bit of power. You have to make sure that your electrical system is up to the task, for sure. Always make sure that if you use an electric fan that it is run through a relay and properly fused.
In this day and age, there isn't really much use or reason to use a flex fan.
In this day and age, there isn't really much use or reason to use a flex fan.
69 Runner
ADMIN wif a corner office (Deceased - RIP)
Also, todays cars are designed to run at a higher temp than our vintage stuff. They don't run at 180 or even 190, and that may make it easier for the electrics to do their job.
TIGwelder
Well-Known Member
The newer stuff does run at crazy temps.
Ive got my 08 Charger running at 188-192 now in the Florida heat. I was seeing up to 217 with the stock 203 tstat. Running a 185 tstat now and modified "fan on" temps with a tuner. The fan really isnt running crazy amounts. Fan drops the temp quickly when it kicks on in low speed at 194
so in this case the fan works well
Ive got my 08 Charger running at 188-192 now in the Florida heat. I was seeing up to 217 with the stock 203 tstat. Running a 185 tstat now and modified "fan on" temps with a tuner. The fan really isnt running crazy amounts. Fan drops the temp quickly when it kicks on in low speed at 194
so in this case the fan works well
696pack
Well-Known Member
Yes, but again it is an ENGINEERED system by the factory. If you notice they have nearly COMPLETE rad. coverage. The typical job that individuals does is stick one fan directly on the rad. in the middle, rather than spend the time to build a frame work to supprt two fans mounted one top right and one bottom left for complete rad. tube coverage.
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