Spal fans

[JohnCh]

One of my Winter upgrade projects for Westfield (yeah I know, it’s already Spring) is to replace the cooling fan with something more powerful.   Although the engine has never overheated, the temps rise very quickly at stoplights on warm days and the 12” Perma Cool fan struggles to bring them back down.   I initially chose the Perma Cool because it is rated at a pretty powerful for its size 1650 cfm. The Spal 12” fan I bought to replace it is actually rated a little lower at 1630 cfm, but the motor draws nearly twice the amps (14.4 vs. 7.7).



Today I did a comparison test to see if there was a measurable difference between the two. For the test, I took turns attaching each fan to the back of the radiator and then wiring them directly to the battery. To measure the flow (actually the suction) I used a synchrometer held to the front of the radiator.



First up was the Perma Cool. Depending on location, the synchrometer registered between 7 and 9 on its built in scale.   After swapping in the Spal and hooking up the battery, it was immediately obvious that it would better those numbers - it was pushing a lot more air out the back. With the synchrometer placed in the same location where it registered 9 with the Perma Cool, it now showed 12!   So much for manufacturer ratings ;-)



-John

[slngsht]

This is something I have to do as well. My car does not overheat, even in rush hour traffic, but last year, I was in a situation where the autox school only had a few students, and I made 12 back to back runs in 100+ degree weather. She upchucked alot of coolant. After that, I got a higher flowing thermostat, but I think the fan was part of the problem.

[locost7018]

Don't forget to seal the gap around the perimiter of the rad and nose cone. It made all the difference on mine. Russ

[JohnCh]

I built a shroud for the car prior to USA2005 since we would be going through the desert and I was worried about possible overheating. I actually found that the full shroud makes the heat soak a little worse because it elminates airflow through the engine compartment. Removing the top piece of aluminum helped a bit.



-John