Flex Fan or Clutch Fan
#11
If that is the picture of the motor, that is a rigid fan. Those move a lot of air. But consume a lot of HP. In my fan searching, I've read some rigid fans use up to 40 HP on a dyno test of fan comparisons.

At this point my only option for a clutch fan of the correct diameter is one for 1968 Cougar with a 302 or Shelby GT 350. Those use a 7 blade 17.5" diameter fan. There are a couple on EBay.

Mike
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#12
(07-18-2016, 07:50 AM)1969_Mach1 Wrote: If that is the picture of the motor, that is a rigid fan. Those move a lot of air. But consume a lot of HP. In my fan searching, I've read some rigid fans use up to 40 HP on a dyno test of fan comparisons.

Interesting point...I am running the after market 289 HIPO 4 blade (rigid) fan on my car. I believe the original Shelby HIPO fans came with fiberglass blades. Although I am happy with the car's performance I sure would be disappointed if my fan choice is consuming +/- 40 HP.

Any thoughts?

Mike
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#13
Yeah, I was reading tests comparing HP loss of flex fans and clutch fans. One test threw in a rigid fan and claimed as much as 40 hp loss. How true, I don't know.

However, when I was in high school and swapped out a clutch fan for a rigid fan of the same size on a 1972 Dodge Challenger. What did I know. If I recall it was an 18" diameter 6 blade fan. The power loss was very obvious, even in regular daily driving.

A four blade rigid fan like Mustangmike is using might not be too bad for HP loss.


Mike
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#14
WOW! 40 hp that's a lot. I had the 4 blade and went to flex a lite. I did not Notice any great gains other than increased air flow at lower rpm and less noise at higher rpms.

The car in the picture only is used for car shows so he doesn't care about the hp loss. Like all of us car addicts he has more than one.

Ill wait to here how you do, if you use the clutch. I know you will keep us posted.
Thanks for exterminating Cheers J.
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#15
Yeah, I thought 40hp was ridiculous too. It definitely wasn't 4 hp because in those tests I read flex fans were using about 9 hp more than a clutch fan to drive them. But like I said in a previous post I noticed a performance loss going from a clutch fan to rigid fan on a 1972 Challenger. Both fans were the same diameter and number of blades. Simply changed from a clutch type to a rigid type. I am leaning toward the 1968 Cougar 7 blade 17.5" diameter clutch fan that is on EBay. Just haven't pulled the trigger yet.

I have been working on the Borgeson power steering conversion which is why I haven't done any more with the fan situation. I have sorted through everything but the Z-bar modification for the clutch linkage. Borgeson told me what has to be done but had no detailed dimensions etc. for 1967 thru 1970 Mustangs.

Mike
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#16
Yea that Z bar has been a thorn in my side also. Would defiantly like to see a low cost solution. Someday I may have to take the time and make of my own.
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#17
I looked at Modern Driveline's hydraulic clutch conversion. It's a nice system and uses an integral throw out bearing and slave cylinder setup. I was on board with that because then I could have rerouted the exhaust on the drivers side to clear all of the original power steering components. And not done a Borgeson power steering conversion.

But, maybe I misunderstood, according to Modern Driveline, their hydraulic clutch system only works with one of their diaphragm clutch assemblies. Total cost would have been slightly under $1100 for the hydraulic clutch conversion parts. I thought, $1100 for a hydraulic clutch conversion, then some exhaust work, then if some of the original power steering parts are worn beyond rebuild and need replacing, where would it end just so the car has have power steering.

On a different not. I finally ordered that used 7 blade, 17.5" diameter fan for a fan clutch setup I saw on EBay.

Mike
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#18
Update on the fan. I finally installed a 7 blade 17.5" diameter OEM clutch fan. Purchased the fan through EBay and a new thermostatic fan clutch from my local NAPA store. Haven't run the motor yet. The Borgeson power steering upgrade is still putting up a battle (other thread). Although I'm slowly winning that war. After all these years, finally a fan the fits correctly. Hopefully it will provide more air flow through the rad than the aftermarket flex fan. I'll post a picture later.
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#19
All the best on the continued improvements.
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#20
Thanks. Still working on the Borgeson power steering upgrade. I ran into a few snags, two were completely unrelated to the power steering.

First one was I needed to replace the rim blow switch again. I ruined the first switch, $100 in the garbage. After some research I learned over time the groove in these steering wheels will shrink. So some very careful trimming the width with a razor blade then sanding the groove with wet dry sandpaper and the second switch was easy to install.

Second, after collapsing the two halves of the steering column shaft 2.5 inches to accommodate the power steering box, they no fit snuggly together. Some center punch dimples on the inner shaft seems to have fixed that issue.

Third, since I had to remove the master cylinder to work on the power steering box install, I noticed the front seal on the power brake booster was loose. Apparently shrunk over time. I had the booster rebuilt but that was about 20 years ago. I could no longer find a local rebuilder or just that seal. Plus the time to get it to a rebuilder and back if I found one. I ended up with a Scott Drake Bendix style replacement power brake booster. It says it's USA made. It looks nice, we'll see how it works. The original booster will go into a box with some other original parts I have for this car.

Finally, I just finished making a pattern from aluminum flat bar to modify the clutch linkage Z-bar. Since I can't easily bend 5/16" thick steel flat bar, my neighbor will have a steel piece formed to match it by one of the fabricators where he works.

Slowly getting there. It's all fitting and looking good. It's just been two steps forward and one step back throughout the entire process.

Regards,
Mike
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