Radiator Fan Location

[BigMacDave]

Hello friends,

Im putting all the new bits and pieces back in today after changing the timing belt, water pump, alternator, tension bearing, starter, hoses, thermostat, and lots of little other things. I noticed this that i did not notice when i took it apart. I suspect it is correct since that is the only way the mounting bracket will fit, but does anyone know what logic it was to put the fan so high? a good half of the blade goes above the fins. I almost want to modify the bracket to make it fit in the center, but there must be a reason why they did it like this. Also, i noticed the fan can be made to blow air across the radiator and out the front OR suck air in thru the radiator and into the engine bay. Which way is more desirable/stock?



Thank you as always

David

[ORFORD2004]

Wrong side. You just use 2 attachement and it suck air from the front to the engine bay.

[BigMacDave]

Wrong side. You just use 2 attachement and it suck air from the front to the engine bay.

well i took this time to look at others posted in the engine repair area of the forums and they are all like that. it just seems like an odd spot. tomorrow I'm going to see about fabricating a bracket to lower the whole assembly by a few inches, at least so the whole fan is behind the fins.

[gschwab]

As far as I know, there were different versions of the radiator. When I got a new radiator, the mounting brackets were higher up, and I had to make a little bracket to drop it back down.

[wetminkey]

My '79 is stock and the fan is mounted at that level,...top of the fan steel-surround is ~ level with the top of the radiator upper tank.
It draws air through the radiator and onto the engine when prompted by the temp sensor.
Best of luck with your Spider!
Todd.

[MattVAS]

That is pretty normal.
A bunch of years came with the fan mounted WAY high like that. This was the Italian for thermal efficiency ........ Really it was just them over compensating to clear the water pump.

But mounting the fan so that all of the blades are over fins is certainly the best way to go. This gives you much better cooling efficiency. This is why when we made our aftermarket fan bracket we built it so that the ENTIRE fan is over the fins and none is on the tanks.

[RRoller123]

Good idea and looks like a flexible design.

[BigMacDave]

This is why when we made our aftermarket fan bracket we built it so that the ENTIRE fan is over the fins and none is on the tanks.

Yeah i saw your bracket, it looks sweet my fan is working super strong now, but if/when it craps out, I'm for sure going to step up to that set up.

I was able to lower it by about 3 inches so at least the majority of the fan is in the fin area. all be it not centered

[kmead]

Try turning it 180°, it should be in a much better location that way. It’s doing no good in that position.

[RRoller123]

I suspect that the original FIAT factory design biased/offset the fan a little over towards the passenger side, to aid the cooling of the exhaust headers and increase overall air passage past the engine. Centering it front just directs all the pulled air towards the center of the block. It would be interesting to do some comparative thermocouple tests.

[gtmedley]

One of my best friends is the owner of Vintage Air, maker of aftermarket a/c systems for hot rods, muscle cars, etc. They also do OE work for McLaren and the Ford GT.

Since a/c puts extra strain on the engine cooling system, he is a stickler for one thing: fan SHROUDS!! Shrouds dramatically increase the efficiency of any cooling fan, electric or engine-driven. Think about it: a shroud ensures that the fan pulls cool air through the ENTIRE radiator, not just the area in front of the fan.

When I swapped in a 1592 twin cam into my 1974 124 Sedan, I retained the stock radiator fan shroud and engine-drive fan from the 1438 OHV motor. Runs cool, even in 100 temps.

So no matter where you located the fan on the radiator, adapt a fan shroud!

To see the engine compartment on my sedan check out the feature on the car on Petrolicious. I was fortunate enough to have a story on the car on the site. [/url]https://petrolicious.com/articles/an-it ... -trail/url]

[SuperCoupe]

I'm more familiar with the older cars, but it looks like you need to turn the fan assembly 180° as was mentioned. The cars I've worked on have the fan on the drivers side. Like the one below:



Looking further into it, it looks like the late model cars switched the fan location. Maybe something to do with the alternator being on the driver's side? Anyway, from what I've seen looking at late model cars that's the location. Despite the weird placement, the cooling systems work so they must have figured it out.