Radiaror / Engine cooling, best fan set up

[Spike]

OK guys I need to draw on some experience here. Need some opinion on the best type of fan set up. Single thermo without shroud - well I know that doesn't work! What about twin thermo's from a BA or EL ford or from something else??, do I need to uprate the alternator output? or do I just buy a std belt driven fan and shroud. Looking fwd to some replies.......
Yep new V8 Ally rad for my std 308

[Valencia]

First of all Spike is your radiator up to scratch by that i mean clean
i have run a flex fan for years on 2 cars my Torana and my van never had any probs some people hate flex fans but they work for me
the twin ford fans are very good from what i have been told AU EL they would work to
if its just a fairly stock motor i standard fan and shroud should work fine

[wbute]

Never had any drama with the standard viscous fan and shroud on mine. It does have a 5 row core and is AC as well. The thermostat has a huge influence on the temp it runs though. It's only a 253 but with AC in the middle of summer never a drama.

[Frosty]

I have a Alioy radiator and twin AU thermos. Yes you do need to up grade your alternator. I found that out the hard way on a hot WA day. Also ground your radiator since its alloy.

[Taily]

Some good advice above, especially about keeping things clean and about using a standard viscous coupling for ease and simplicity and the importance of the correct thermostat is paramount. Please don't fall into the trap about cutting the guts out of a thermostat and running that as you will end up with localised hot and cold spots as the water velocity will be too quick through the block as the engine warms. This will cause premature engine wear. I am well aware how far this OWT dates back as I was done often in the Holden dealership I was working at back in the mid eighties and we all thought it was the right thing to do back then (everyone thought "cooler was better") but if the engine doesn't actually ever get to operating temp - except when idling in stationary traffic, then the engine will suffer more blow by, choke never fully opens etc etc.

If you decide to go down the Falcon thermo set up be aware that while it can be made to work well, the physical positioning of the fans in their shroud does mean that (the top hose on a Aussie V8 especially - wont have the same hose positioning issue with a Chev V8 or a Holden six) the relief you'll need to cut in for the hoses will be quite large. I've gone this way with mine and while there is quite a bit of gentle cutting and modding to fit, the fans work quite well and in all (ie; I had an alternator built to my specs and punches out over 120amps on the test bench), coupled with a recoed three core copper/brass radiator is having no problem keeping my healthy stroker cool. I'm running an 82 deg C thermostat and have set the fans to cut in one by one at 95 and 97 deg C respectively. Davies Craig do a couple of really good thermo control boxes and it also allows me to cycle one fan with the aircon compressor as well. You'll need to be able to read a basic wiring diagram and wire up three relays (not hard).

If you haven't already bought a set of fans have a quick look at VY-Z Commodore fans. They are positioned a little better but I am not exactly sure about shroud sizing/mods needed to make them work.

Hope that helps.

Dave

[Sandaro]

I have removed the standard engine driven fan on both my 308s. I run the same set up in both with no dramas. Holden 3 core radiator with single 16" thermo fan on engine side, davies craig termo control unit to turn fans on when nearing 3/4 on the gauge. Being only one fan motor, I don't have any alternator dramas. Been running this for over 20 years in one car now.

[Taily]

I forgot to mention that the main reason I went for a higher amperage alternator was I was at one stage toying with the idea of installing Holley EFI. The AUD tanked so the idea went on hold. I ended up staying with a modded quadrajet but could still easily upgrade to EFI in the future without needing to touch the charging system.

[wbute]

The fan needs to suit the driving you do to. If it's all around town or burn outs etc then you need bigger fan capacity. The fan will nearly never cut in on the highway. As Taily said, the hotter it runs the better. Make sure the water pump is working properly too.
Are the copper core radiators hard to get or why are people moving to alloy ones?

[Valencia]

The fan needs to suit the driving you do to. If it's all around town or burn outs etc then you need bigger fan capacity. The fan will nearly never cut in on the highway. As Taily said, the hotter it runs the better. Make sure the water pump is working properly too.
Are the copper core radiators hard to get or why are people moving to alloy ones?

James you can buy a cheap alloy radiator 1/3 of the price of a copper core one thats why

[ambientgoat]

Clutch fan with shroud, good radiator and correct thermostat.
It's all factory so you wont have fitment problems. It's not electrical so you wont have alternator problems.

I spent 3+ hours on the Monday after vannats crawling up the blue mountains at about 5km/h or stationary no dramas. The Mazda 323 in front of my was loosing coolant like it was going out of fashion. I had the above setup with a natrad 3 core.