donsrods
Well-known member
I see lots of questions on cooling on just about every forum I am on, and with Summer approaching overheating will start becoming a hot topic again. There are a few things I have learned about cooling since I live in Florida and thought I might pass them along.
First, I really suggest everyone invest in a quality radiator. I know they aren't cheap, but nothing takes the fun out of rodding faster than a hot rod that boils over at every light, or at least gets hotter than we like. With the cost of aluminum and copper/brass these days, radiators are getting more expensive, but I still think they are one of the things we really need to spend some money on.
Some people are lucky enough to find a stock radiator like a mid-60's Mustang V8 radiator that fits their grille shell, and I have talked to some who swear they do the job. If you can go that route, fine.
I see some "traditionalists" who are dead set against anything but a mechanical fan. They say electric fans look too modern and make too much noise. Maybe that is true, but they also COOL VERY WELL.
I grew up having to use mechanical fans and have had my share of problems with them, from not cooling at low speeds to cut fingers when I got too close to a running engine. In a car with no hood I really don't want potential shrapnel flying around. A friend has a nice little '50 Ford and on the way to Pigeon Creek his fan exploded and put some unwanted louvers in his hood.
As for brands, I personally like SPAL fans. I had an Autozone special in my Jeep truck and the 5.0 in it always got warm at lights. I switched to a SPAL and the temp came down 20 degrees with no other changes. Use the very biggest fan you can fit into your radiator.
Now, for the original purpose of this thread, fan shrouds. I can say without any hesitation that a fan shroud will make about the biggest difference you can make to any cooling system, regardless of electric or mechanical fan. Without it, the air is pulled only through a very small area of the core, or the air can actually go around the radiator altogether. The shroud doesn't have to be an elaborate affair, and here is how we built one for the Walker Radiator on my Son's T bucket.
The first thing we did was take a measurement of the core area, length and width. Then we took some 18 gauge steel and bent up a square, shallow "pizza pan" to those dimensions. We welded up the corners, then cut a round hole in the middle the right size so our electric fan would fit over it. We welded 4 studs onto it to fasten the fan with (once the shroud is on the radiator there is no way to get your fingers behind it to hold a bolt).
We then used household weatherstripping around the entire perimeter of the shroud to seal it to the radiator and also to keep the edges from cutting one of the tubes and creating a leak. We found the glue on the weather stripping was too weak to hold it in place, so we first sprayed the weatherstripping with 3M contact glue. That did the trick. Then we made up some little brackets to fasten the shroud to the radiator, and after mounting the fan we were done.
Now when the fan comes on you can feel it pulling a lot of air across the entire face of the radiator. Here are some pictures of how we did the entire process. BTW, that isn't a bad job of putting the weatherstripping on, it is just masking tape to temporarily protect the core. lol
Don
First, I really suggest everyone invest in a quality radiator. I know they aren't cheap, but nothing takes the fun out of rodding faster than a hot rod that boils over at every light, or at least gets hotter than we like. With the cost of aluminum and copper/brass these days, radiators are getting more expensive, but I still think they are one of the things we really need to spend some money on.
Some people are lucky enough to find a stock radiator like a mid-60's Mustang V8 radiator that fits their grille shell, and I have talked to some who swear they do the job. If you can go that route, fine.
I see some "traditionalists" who are dead set against anything but a mechanical fan. They say electric fans look too modern and make too much noise. Maybe that is true, but they also COOL VERY WELL.
I grew up having to use mechanical fans and have had my share of problems with them, from not cooling at low speeds to cut fingers when I got too close to a running engine. In a car with no hood I really don't want potential shrapnel flying around. A friend has a nice little '50 Ford and on the way to Pigeon Creek his fan exploded and put some unwanted louvers in his hood.As for brands, I personally like SPAL fans. I had an Autozone special in my Jeep truck and the 5.0 in it always got warm at lights. I switched to a SPAL and the temp came down 20 degrees with no other changes. Use the very biggest fan you can fit into your radiator.
Now, for the original purpose of this thread, fan shrouds. I can say without any hesitation that a fan shroud will make about the biggest difference you can make to any cooling system, regardless of electric or mechanical fan. Without it, the air is pulled only through a very small area of the core, or the air can actually go around the radiator altogether. The shroud doesn't have to be an elaborate affair, and here is how we built one for the Walker Radiator on my Son's T bucket.
The first thing we did was take a measurement of the core area, length and width. Then we took some 18 gauge steel and bent up a square, shallow "pizza pan" to those dimensions. We welded up the corners, then cut a round hole in the middle the right size so our electric fan would fit over it. We welded 4 studs onto it to fasten the fan with (once the shroud is on the radiator there is no way to get your fingers behind it to hold a bolt).
We then used household weatherstripping around the entire perimeter of the shroud to seal it to the radiator and also to keep the edges from cutting one of the tubes and creating a leak. We found the glue on the weather stripping was too weak to hold it in place, so we first sprayed the weatherstripping with 3M contact glue. That did the trick. Then we made up some little brackets to fasten the shroud to the radiator, and after mounting the fan we were done.
Now when the fan comes on you can feel it pulling a lot of air across the entire face of the radiator. Here are some pictures of how we did the entire process. BTW, that isn't a bad job of putting the weatherstripping on, it is just masking tape to temporarily protect the core. lol
Don
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