Fan Shroud helpful?

That's a good question. And does having one installed make working on the engine kind of a pain?

It looks like you have to remove the radiator to be able to install or remove the shroud.

I know it only really improves cooling at idle and low speed/RPM. As soon as the ram air from the car moving forward picks up, the fan and shroud don't move as much air as you get from the ram air going through the radiator.
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JG,

I installed the thing. It improves cooling a bit, but not significantly.


I made to apply a patina to it so you don't see the horrible plastic.
 
Shrouds were on earlier cars, but not later, so I assume Ford thought that they were not needed and to save money by eliminating them. If they were necessary, they would have retained them.
 
Interestingly, fan shrouds were not installed on Model T's, even in their last 1926-27's iteration. The shroud only appeared on 1928 Model A's - and then disappeared. I don't know what Ford did in this area after the Model A era, so maybe a shroud made a comeback appearance later??? But in Model A terms, Ford must have decided a shroud didn't really help cooling significantly, or perhaps Henry discovered he could save 50 cents per car by not installing one? I have two original shrouds. Neither fits the Brassworks radiator I bought three years ago. What's up with that??? The radiator cools my engine even in our hot and humid summers, so other than sacrificing a bit on authenticity, I don't think a shroud is necessary, at least not in my case. Sure, a shroud looks snazzy and completes the otherwise barren look near the radiator, but is it an example of putting lipstick on pig??? To what end if it doesn't aid in cooling the Model A engine?
I am still a firm believer that no matter what extraneous "extras" one slaps on his Model A to aid in cooling - or runs through it - the key to consistent cooling is a good radiator core. Maybe Henry decided the same thing? The fact that he increased the size of the radiator in the '30-31 Model A's underscores FoMoCo's stance that a good radiator core with lots of coolant capacity and an efficient tube/fins design is the basis for reliable cooling.
Marshall
 
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Marshall, what do this shrouds look like? I have heard that they did not last because they were made out of some material I would liken to the board under the fabric of door panels. Once they got wet, and you touched them they basically fell apart.

I thought the AA trucks were produced with shrouds all four years.
 
The ORIGINAL shrouds were made of metal. I don't know what the repo's are made of. I will borrow my wife's cell phone camera and take a picture of one of mine and post it, unless someone here already has a photo he/she/it/they can post first.
M.
 
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Front and back views of a 1928 fan shroud. Early or late, I don't know. I suspect early because of the trough along the bottom for the wiring harness to the passenger side headlight. I think the later shroud had three clips in this area instead of the trough. Right? Wrong?
Marshall
 

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Model T sported a shroud for a short time in 1917 !
 

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'Good to know. So, was it a one-year wonder like the 1928 shroud? Was it a full year run or as you write, only for a short time in 1917? Maybe Ford forgot by 1928 that the shroud wasn't as beneficial in real life as it looked on the drawing board.
M.
 
"stevests" is correct. I looked up 1917 in Bruce McCalley's Model T "Bible" and on page 253, a short paragraph mentions that a shroud appeared in early 1917 models, but because it interfered with the swinging fan adjustment (unlike Model A's, the fan belt adjustment in Model T's was made by swinging the fan assembly), it was soon discontinued. I imagine the short production time - even for a high production car - would make such an item quite scarce and hence on the pricey side.
Marshall
 

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I've been in the T hobby for over 50 years and the photo I posted is the only one I've ever seen on a T - it was an all original 1917 two owner car.
 
I think the 3-tab shroud is the early type regarding Model "A"s then they changed to the channel all the way across, that's the one I have. Running a later '30s 4-blade fan and leakless water pump, standard powerhouse generator, all 6-volt. No overheating issues for me.
 
"I've been in the T hobby for over 50 years and the photo I posted is the only one I've ever seen on a T - it was an all original 1917 two owner car."

Like Model A engine splash pans, that 1917 radiator shroud was probably the first thing a local repair garage grease monkey or even the owner threw away after major radiator or mechanical work had been performed. I doubt that Ford dealership mechanics would have tossed such parts, unless an owner requested it.
Marshall
 
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I notice that the car in the photo, post # 10, also has a water pump, which isn't stock.
 
You are correct - water circulator not stock but the car was used for the Hoquium Loggers parade for many years - perhaps the shroud wasn't up to snuff ?
 
I have a 1917 T without the fan shroud and no overheating problems even on hot days at idle for hours.
I have a 1931 A that has no overheating issues even on 90 plus degree weather and hours long parade with spark retarded for the slowest walking speed parade
bothe cars have their engine pans and are stock.
when they were apart I cleaned the “steam holes “ even though from the surface they looked open but were over 50% clogged below the surface—- my A runs the same temperature at the rear of the engine as the front
 
Guten Abend,

it is undisputed that the shroud improves cooling, as the air is directed more precisely, thereby reducing propeller flow losses.
 
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