1955 ford Ranch Wagon Radiator Question

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poolplayer1

Senior Member
A few months back I had tried to replace the old one groove crank pulley with a 3 groove pulley to accommodate my new AC unit that I will be installing but when I did that,the pulley was hitting the top of the sway bar. Found out the engine was sitting to low.
Yesterday,I went ahead and made some changes to the motor mounts and that raised the engine high enough for the pulley to fit properly. Now, the engine is further back from the radiator so I need to bring it closer to the rad.for proper cooling. I can get a 2" fan adapter and that should bring it in within a 1 inch from the rad,which is where it was before.My question is this? Since I have the fan and rad.both out of the car right now and since I am going to put in the ac unit,would it be better to go ahead and put in a maybe 16" electric fan instead of the old mechanical fan for better cooling? For you guys that have a electric fan in your car,does the electric fan cool the engine pretty good? If not,I'll just go ahead and get the spacer and put everything back together.
One more question? I have a new radiator that I bought about a year ago and its a 3 row brass/copper type. Is this big enough to cool the engine down when using the AC or would I need a 4 row rad. Just trying to make sure that I will not have any heating problems when the ac is on.
Thanks for your suggestions and or opinions.
 
I think you'll find that your mechanical fan will play well with your A/C...as long as you're moving at a fair clip. In traffic your A/C performance will fall flat on its face and engine temp will increase. If you can use a shrouded electric fan (puller type) you'll be way ahead of the game. Also be sure the air guide (skid plate) under the bumper is there, it helps prevent recirculation of hot engine compartment air through the radiator. You should also seal any holes around the condenser/radiator to force more air to pass through them instead of around them.

Just some thoughts from a 30 year automotive A/C guy...
 
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Thanks for your reply. Do you think that a 16" puller fan will be good enough to cool the engine off pretty good? The core of the radiator is 20 1/4" x 17". I think it would probably be ok.I do have a shroud that I have been using on the mechanical fan but I would think that it will fit around the electric fan too. I am going to check around and see what I can find to fit my radiator.
 
16" should be fine depending on the CFM rating, also your 3 core radiator. 4 cores would give you more coolant capacity but at the cost of reduced air flow through it.
 
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I've got a 55 Thunderbird with a/c. It has a BeCool aluminum radiator with a 16" puller fan and a full radiator shroud. IMO the shroud is the big deal. It need to be properly sealed and the fan centered on it. On my car that means the center of the fan is just at the top of the crank pulley. No way I could get an engine driven fan that low, not to mention clearance problems on the fan blades.

There's all kinds of electric fans out there and some manage to make noise without moving any air. Spal has a pretty good reputation, as I read once "there's a reason they use them on Ferrari's".

You will almost certainly need a pusher fan in front of the condensing unit in front of the radiator. The one on my Classic Air kit is not really adequate. It's not the place to scrimp.

My car, in traffic on the rare Seattle day when it's over 90 cools fine. The fan is controlled by engine temperature, comes on at 200, runs 90-120 seconds and shuts off at 190. 2 minutes later it cycles again. At 30 mph It stays off. The a/c is marginal at 90, which I think is the fan out on the condenser. It's noticeably better when moving 30mph.

I've got an OT car with Vintage Air and half a dozen friends with VA in hot rods. They'd be the only place I'd go if I were doing it over. Make sure you're clear it's a wagon, that's a lot of volume.

If you have further questions just ask or send a PM.
 
I have a 16" pusher and 2 8" pullers on an aluminum 3 core radiator in my 55. Went riding today and temp got a little above 190 the outside temp. was 96 works ok for me.
 
Have you upgraded the charging system? Might be a lot of draw with all the fans on high with headlamps etc.
 
Great suggestions. Will keep all this in mind. One more thing. The radiator cooler lines were facing the sway bar and I really had trouble connecting the ****** lines to it because of the bar so I went ahead and raised the radiator so that the rad.cooler lines were above the sway bar.I have plenty of clearance now for the cooler lines. The radiator mounts from the sides so I had to drill new holes to mount the rad. However,now the rad.does not sit on its bottom mounting pad since I lifted the rad,there is like a 1.5" space at the bottom.
Do you think there would be a problem being that the rad.is not resting on its bottom pad? If I have to,I can put some kind of padding in between the bottom of the rad.and the frame but don't know if need to. I was looking at a 16" electric fan with 2500 CFM. at summit racing.I think that it would provide enough cooling for the rad.I do have the shroud that I was using on the mechanical fan so I'm pretty sure it will fit ok with the new electric fan.The reason I want to put in a electric fan is because here in town anyone that has a classic can join the friday and saturday night cruise. We go at pretty slow speeds and the engine fan does not do good at slow speeds. Thanks to all.
 
poolplayer1 said:
. . . However,now the rad.does not sit on its bottom mounting pad since I lifted the rad,there is like a 1.5" space at the bottom.
Do you think there would be a problem being that the rad.is not resting on its bottom pad? If I have to,I can put some kind of padding in between the bottom of the rad.and the frame but don't know if need to. . . .
Click to expand...

Dobie Gillis said:
. . I would put padding under it to keep air from bypassing under it.
Click to expand...
An appropriate length of the round black foam water pipe insulation from the hardware store might be just the ticket.
.
 
Thanks Guys. That is a good idea dmsfrr.I have to go to home depot later this morning.I will get some of that foam pipe wrapping material to put under the rad.
Before I order the fan,what else do I need to install it? A relay,a sensor of some kind?
That way I can order all at once.
 
Well, Looks like Houston has a problem.After checking into all the available electric fans at different vendors,they all have a depth of between 3.5 and 5 inches. I checked the distance between the water pump shaft and the radiator core and there is only 2.5 inches.
So, I don't have have enough space to put the puller fan in. I guess I could get a pusher fan but I don't think that it does a good job like the puller..I was reading some comments online about the 2 and they say the puller works the best cause it cools the rad.better.
Unless I can come up with some modification that I can make to the body where the rad sides mount to,it won't work. I need to move the rad.forward at least 2 inches for better clearance. If nothing else,I will just get a spacer for the mechanical fan to bring it closer to the radiator and leave it at that.The Mechanical Fan has 6 blades and I think I bought this about 15 year ago or got it from a junker at the salvage yard,Can't remember for sure. Any suggestions before I buy the spacer to put it back origional the way it was.
With this fan,its running about 195 to 200 on hot (really hot) 116 degrees weather.
 
Ask and ye shall receive. Here's the Sidewinder fan. The motor is offset to the side and can be clocked in any position. Only 1 5/8" thick at the center. A little spendy maybe, but it would solve your problem. They also have low profile Spal fans as little as 2.05" thick and cost less than the Sidewinder, one's on sale for $79. Scroll down when you pull up the website to see the Spal fans. Good luck!

https://the-fan-man.com/product-category/sidewinder/
 
Heres the way mine is hooked up. Al
 

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