Clutch fan vs belt drive

[JackFish]

My buddy found a capri with a 200 that had a clutch fan.
We've also taken them directly off V8's and he's got one in his Fairmont right now.

 

[mysavioreigns]

Call me crazy, but couldn't Mustangs be ordered with clutch fans? I could have sworn they did, starting in like 66, or maybe 65. If so it seems you just need to get the correct one, and perhaps change out the spacer for one a tad shorter.

I know not everyone here has a Mustang, but perhaps that will help out a few people.

I'll do some more research because I was planning on doing this to my car. Might as well look now...

 

[mugsy]

I was sold on them years ago when I took off my clutch fan for a regular fan on a '70 Olds Cutlass. It was like driving with the emergency brake on!!!

Ha ha ha ha!!! Mine was a 72 and I went with one of those fancy aluminum flex fans. I think the effect was more noise than emergency brake, it "sounded" like the car was working twice as hard. It got even worse when one of the blades flew off on the highway. Man that freaked me out, I was halfway from Bragg to Massachusetts on the Weds before Thanksgiving. I found an open parts store and the guy "gave" me a new fan. Holiday spirit I guess.

If you can find a good one, I'd go electric. I hear Nissan's have a pretty decent set up.

Ron

Now you know why back in the day they called flex fans "Hose Cutters"...

 

[Frankenstang]

Now you know why back in the day they called flex fans "Hose Cutters"...

I'm sure there is a good application for flex fans...I just have no idea what it is
I've regularly see ones that over flex coming in contact with all kinds of alternator, PS pump, and other attachments .

Thanks for the tips guys! MSR, I'm not positive, but I've always heard buddy's take on it...dealer installed air at most had the six blade rigid fans, but no clutch fans. And sounds like buddy is suggesting we might find them as early as '67...maybe the first model I should check at the auto parts.

Turns out Hayden has a good application pdf for theirs (had trouble finding it before) with what appears to be at a quick glance all the necessary specs to help find one that might work ...at least it looks like they make ones under 3".
http://www.haydenauto.com/upload/Hayden ... clutch.pdf
Just hope they have one in the older 4 bolt style that short vs the modern one nut. Cross checking the Hayden apps for Capris, Fairmonts, etc. might hopefully lead to a solution....gotta do some more checking. Also just read yesterday somewhere that a 390's setup is fairly short.

Still wondering about whether or not a 17" would fit or have any adverse effects...they seem to be easier to find than a 15".

 

[CobraSix]

I'm sure there is a good application for flex fans...I just have no idea what it is

Flex Fans are good for looks. I had mine installed for 2 weeks. Sure, the thing pulled some mean air across the radiator but man was it loud. I couldn't deal with the sound.

I think I may turn mine into a test platform for a wind turbine I'm building. I was in my garage tinkering on how to get the turbine to self regulate the speed when I caught out of the corner of my eye my parts pin with the flex fan in it. Then it dawned on me, maybe that will flex enough to decrease blade load to maintain relative constant speed given a generator load. Granted it may end up being a little loud, but that'll keep the birds away.

 

[JackFish]

Rockauto has a clutch fan on a 1982 3.3l Mustang, Hayden part #2711, and 2723 is reverse direction. It's a really common part.

 

[Frankenstang]

Rockauto has a clutch fan on a 1982 3.3l Mustang, Hayden part #2711, and 2723 is reverse direction. It's a really common part.

Thanks Jackfish, yeah the 2711 is what is listed in the Hayden Applications and what's more it's referenced alot with regards to FE's needing a shorter setup than the standard ford app 2710 model provides (2711 - 2.98in vs 2710 - 3.30in).
According to Hayden most ford cars seem to call for either the 2710, 2711 or 2723.

EDIT: I remeasured, and best I can tell I've got right at 2-7/8 inches of room (less than I thought). So I'm looking at the 2765 from hayden which has a total height of 2.68in. Found it in reference to a couple FE and Mopar applications. This would leave me with a couple tenths of an inch room between the radiator and the clutch itself...so providing this does not back the blades off the radiator too much, and the clutch does not end up too close : ...this may work (IIRC w/o a shroud distance from fan blades to radiator should be about 1/2 inch).

On a side note the radiator sits on a bit of a bump out stamped into the core support....so that may allow some adjustment with a BFH as necessary as long as it does not cause issues with mounting a condenser (a/c plans in the future).

The 2765 listed as a replacement for a late 80's early 90's XJS with a straight six. So there might still be hope for a junkyard source as long as the jags didn't use a 17in or larger fan. Still scratching my head on the 17in fan doesn't look like one will fit...anyone?