[DeTomaso] Stock fan output vs. Flex-a-lite

[adin at frontier.net]

Good point Mike, though some folks seem to buy radiators more often  
than I change (nevermind) . . . .

Some folks also don't mind supporting the recreational pharmeceutical  
habits of the radiator shop personnel [1] and their friends.

Mount those radiators correctly (take Cleveland Larry) and avoid all  
this foolishness.

David, stil zip code EIEIO, in Durango


[1] The one rad shop guy in durango prices repairs based on the  
replacement price of the item being repaired.


Quoting mikeldrew at aol.com:

>
> Jack wrote:
>
> We've also found sucker-fans (behind the rad rather than pushers from
> the front) to be much more efficient than
> pushers, and another efficiency increase comes when suckers are
> combined with a
> full shroud that forces air flow through the entire rad core, not just
> two spots
> directly in front of or behind the fans.
>
>>>> It's worth mentioning that this shroud has both advantages and
> disadvantages.  It improves the efficiency of the fans at lower speeds,
> but can radically decrease the effectiveness of the radiator at higher
> speeds, because it causes a restriction--the relatively small openings
> prevent air from flowing through and out of the radiator at elevated
> speeds.
>
> Johnny Woods found this out when he installed the Flex-A-Lite unit on
> his Pantera.  He routinely drives around France at 150 mph, and he
> found that at triple-digit speeds, his car would start to overheat, but
> it ran fine below 100 mph, which is a classic symptom of an airflow
> problem.  He wound up cutting the shroud apart and making an elaborate
> series of trap doors/flaps, which blow open when the pressure inside
> the shroud is greater than that on the outside.  At lower speeds, when
> the fan is spinning, it is creating vacuum which sucks the trap doors
> closed.  In fact, he may have gotten the idea from me, as this is an
> OEM arrangement used by VW on all their water-cooled cars, and I
> described the mechanism in use on my Sciroccos to him when he asked me
> about his problem.
>
> If you aren't in the habit of cruising at 100+, then it's probably
> never going to be an issue for you, and you can probably get away with,
> and in fact be quite happy with the Flex-A-Lite suckers.  Having said
> that, the non-shrouded Spal fans that Wilkinson sells work extremely
> well too, and flow enough air to render a shroud unnecessary.  Take
> your pick.
>
> Installing a fan setup with the shroud in front of the radiator is the
> stupidest thing I've ever heard of--yet Flex-A-Lite markets some of
> their fans thusly.
>
> Another point Jack made bears repeating--many fan manufacturers sell
> their fans with a cheesy mounting kit that relies on custom zip-ties
> that pass through the radiator core, to secure it to the radiator.
> This is NOT a good idea, and more than one Pantera owner has found out
> the hard way that road vibration etc. will cause the fans to move
> around on the radiator, and the zip ties act like little saws, slowly
> cutting the radiator apart until it leaks.  IF you can find no better
> way to secure it, get a small-diameter aluminum or brass tube,
> carefully feed it through the fins, and then pass the zip ties through
> the tube.  That MIGHT prevent a leak--but in my view it's no substitute
> for a proper mounting system, which utilizes brackets which are
> brazed/welded/whatevered to the radiator frame itself, without actually
> touching the fragile core.  To me, that alone justifies the added
> expense of buying a package from a Pantera vendor, rather than saving a
> few bucks and ordering the ingredients from Summit etc.
>
> Cheers!
>
> Mike
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