Electric fans

[Radders]

I'm looking to fit an electric fan on my Mk1 Pi. It needs to go nose cone side rather than crank pulley side.

I will also be looking to remove the manual fan altogether, so the electric fan will be a replacement rather than an additional one.

Has anybody done this? Any recommendations of particular makes?

[Rod 2500S]

Gday Radders
I bought a cheap ($40 delivered  would you believe)  14" fan here in OZ. its rated at 80 watts and the fan blades are easily reversible. It works really well and can be mounted using cable ties thru the rad. If you trust this method it sits the fan against the rad core with some rubber spacers to prevent chafing. Mine is mounted in FRONT of the rad with brackets, because I found that there was very little clearance even after machining down the old fan mount a bit to make more room (See pic). To do this you need to remove the rad. You may find a handy place to fit the sensor around the thermostat housing, otherwise solder a brass threaded boss to the radiator (see pic) . If you wire this in to a permanent i.e. not via the ignition switch supply, the fan will run on after the engine is switched off, sometimes not a bad thing to deal with heat soak, especially here in OZ. You must use a relay of course, the ones with the built in fuse are good. Any oriental website will have one listed and sensors. If you buy it from your local supplier it will be 3 times the price, probably of better quality and comes with a guarantee, however my cheap one works well. I run an 85 degree sensor.
Cheers
Rod

[nang]

Your'e in the wrong country.  >  Aus and NZ 2500 S's had them fitted as standard along with a viscous one. Came complete with a mounting frame. I've got a couple but freight cost would make it horribly expensive.
Don't Rimmers sell them?
Tony.

[dazzer]

Hi Steve

I fitted a kenlowe pusher fan when I first started rallying and removed the manual fan at the same time. I attached it to the rad with the plastic ties that go through the core and never had a problem and that includes removing it once when we hit a wall and re attaching it using the same method.

I also had my rad upgraded which may have been a mistake as the car over cools. This time round I'm going to go for a standard spec rad. I only have mine on manual and its only ever on stationary in traffic for prolonged periods or on tests. Not required when moving as always runs cool.

I also fitted one of those fandango water pumps from Racestorations. Makes a huge difference from the standard, but once again this may contribute to my overcooling problem.

Darren

[Jonny-Jimbo]

I fitted one to my mk1 Radders - I used aluminium strip to mount the fan. If you try to mount the fan to the radiator with zip ties you won't git it in or out of the car without cutting the zip ties. I couldn't be bothered with this palarva, so I made a separate mount that sandwiches between the radiator body and the vehicle body.

I got the biggest fan I could and a thermostatic switch off ebay, I think it was about £50 in total.

[glang]

Hi Radders, we've talked a lot about fans over on the Vitesse forum and it seems struggled to find a set up thats adequate. I know your car is quite different  but I think you should bear in mind that the power of any fan (amps drawn/wattage) is directly related to its airflow and also price. To move the same amount of air as the mechanical fan you will need a powerful electric one however maybe you guys are lucky and the original fan was highly oversized so you can get away with a relatively small replacement.......

[south sea pommie in aussie]

I have found that taking away and using only electric is a waste of time .The engine need a constant flow of air over it as well .I use a good viscous fan and a complimentary electric that comes on with the a/c  and when necessary in traffic on a hot day ,usually above 35 C will bring it on,but no overheating problems though.The big electric fans just draw too much power which means the alternator has to work too hard in the hot conditions.I also tried two 16 inch thermo fans on my 67 mustang with a warmed up 289 .Absolute pain in the arse not keeping it cool enough ended up going back to a solid fan but a high rev one that the blades flatten out a bit  too decrease noise all good.Keep in mind that we use our cars in temps up to and around 42 C .If you want to run electric only the cooling system needs improving,Eg a custom made x flow desert cooler radiator made from aluminium ,then the fans are hardly necessary.
As well as having a helper fan on our later 2500"s they also had more and bigger blades on the mechanical fans .I have a couple here with 13 blades on them.i think need to check.

[Radders]

Thanks guys for some interesting and informative answers and suggestions. I clearly have more thinking to do 🙂

[Howard]

I fitted a Kenlow after the viscous coupled fan on my 7 gave up the ghost. In the last six years its been round the mountain passes on the 10CR without any overheating issues - it usually runs cool and only cuts in in slow moving traffic or on serious mountain passes.

However I do run it cooler than recommended by Kenlow (1/2 versus 3/4)c as the slant four is not the best engine when it comes to overheating.

IMHO a good choice

H

[RobPearce]

When I had a 2500S with a knackered viscous coupling, I took off the mechanical fan and fitted a fan from a Maestro on the nose-cone side of the rad. I made up a mounting bracket from thin-wall box section (10mm, I think, from B&Q) and some scraps. Worked really well and cost next-to-nowt.

[piman]

Hello Radders,

I have done the same as Jonny, made up a set of brackets to mount a Kenlowe fan so that radiator changes are easy as the fan remains in place, no mechanical fan. This set up I've run for years and the fan rarely ever actually runs.
I've attached a picture and the oil cooler I fitted will not be replaced when I finish my rebuild, it has not beenn necessary for a road car driven hard.

Alec

[Radders]

Thanks Guys,

Alec, what size is that fan please?

[piman]

Hello Radders,

I'll have to check but I think it's a 14" (Kenlowe).

Alec

[Matt George]

Steve,

I also have a 14 inch fan fitted on the engine side of the rad, with mechanical fan removed. Is it purely for space reasons/PAS that you need to go for a fan in front of the rad?]

M

[piman]

Hello Matt,

my reaons are that it is easier to remove the radiator and it also looks neater, being out of the way. In my view there is no negative to fitting it in front of the radiator.

Alec

[piman]

Hello Radders,

an update, the actual measurement of the fan is 12" diameter.

Alec

[Radders]

Great, thanks Alec.