Aaron is your thermo under the guard or is it between the radiator and guard?

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Inconspicuously Conspicuous
Appreciation without Depreciation
forever chasing clearer skies...

under the guard. Bolted in.

Cheers

Aaron

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Me want thermo fan. Car hot. Me want car not hot.

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Jonathan
http://photobucket.com/albums/y64/FatMaserati/

I'm gonna chuck in the 4 blade for the time, but the prospect of a thermo fan and no more stripped knuckles on the front end of the engine bay is tempting. Whats everyone thoughts on running a thermo fan behind the radiator - should it run exclusively, or should I keep the ordinary fan? Whats the reliability (coz many production cars do use them solely)

Answer to that question is another question.
Do you trust your lucas electrics....

Cheers

Aaron

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I am running a electric fan exclusively. It is currently wired to my ignition so whenever ignition on = fan on.

As with any mechanical part, the fan has a lifetime. As I got mine from the wreckers, who knows how long it will last. If you buy a new davies craig fan, it will have a mtbf of (i'm guessing here) of 10,000 hours. which is a long drive!

I am toying with the idea of getting a thermo switch to cycle the fan on and off - this should aid in a faster warm up - and increase the fans life. I'm hoping it will remain off on the hwy, as I'm sure enough air gets forced throu the rad here without needing assistance. We shall see...

Hmmm, might go for a test drive with fan disconnected...

Stay tuned!

I'd run it exclusively, just for the extra couple of HP.

DAVIES CRAIG WEBSITE: 5-10% increase in engine power and fuel economy over conventional fans

However, a Davies Craig thermatic fan has lifespan of 1500 Hrs. at 80 degC. Hmm... I spose thats a fair while... Depends on how expensive they are.

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Jonathan
http://photobucket.com/albums/y64/FatMaserati/

Davies Craig 9" Thermo = about $100 (gave or take) I was running the fan on my front mount rad always on, with ign. Within about 4 months, however, all the little bushes inside (not bearing in this case- it was a standard Alfa Romeo fan) were running without grease and they simply crap themselves. now i have a switch inside the car (and new roller bearings courtesy of an old VCR!!!) and i find i barely have to turn it on. Anything above about 30mph with the old side-mount should not need a fan running, according Vizard.

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Cheap, Fast, Reliable. Choose two.

Ok Initial testing seems to confirm Vizards theory - no fan required above 30mph.

I went for a bit of a drive last night with the fan off - mostly at 60 around town, and at 100 for about 5 minutes. The temperature gauge didn't move from just below the "n" mark on my clubbys gauges.

Very happy with this result - although it was a cool night 10 degrees, and a stocko 998!

Will definately be looking into the Davies craig regulator.

I'll keep driving around today with it off - to try an encounter some sort of traffic conditions, and see how it goes.

Might be a stupid question but how long can an engine go with the whole cooling system disconnected?

Would it still last a good 20 mins without overheating or cracking the head because with water in and fan off thats how long it takes for the temp to reach average, or is it gonna overheat pretty much straight away and the temp gauge wont give the right readings as its sensor will be sitting in air?

(well I'll admit it, it is a stupid question)

I've run them on the floor empty for 5 mins, no problem, but with no water in you have no heat transfer to even temps out, so things like valve seats and cylinder bores will get hotter. I'd say 8-10 mins at idle tops, no more- but it's not a good idea. Don't attempt to drive it with no cooling system.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

Ok the mini passed with flying colours on yesterdays commute - even a 5 minute wait in KFC drive thru, where the temp only got to halfway. Admittedly I live in a country town, so stop start traffic isn't much of an issue, but it would appear we can run the temp controlled thermo fans as on modern cars no probs....