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fitting a pusher fan


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Thank you to all the guys who replied ref fitting of the oil cooler. Due to the advice I am holding off from fitting the oil cooler but I still want to fit a pusher fan in front of the radiator and behind the grill. Normally my TR3A does not overheat when moving but if caught in stationary or slow moving traffic will gradually overheat with the engine just idling ( mechanical fan still fitted). I have purchased a Kenlowe 10" auxiliary pusher fan but I am reluctant to use the supplied zip lock style attachments which rely on passing through the radiator core. Some one told me that they do come loose and can damage the core and cause leaks. What is the experience of this? Has anyone designed and made purposed made brackets which clip into the radiator housing to which the fan can be bolted. A diagram or photo would be appreciated. Also what's the wisdom of fitting the optional over ride switch? There is a choice between switching the fan off when it automatically (thermostat control) comes on or switching it on before before it comes on automatically.

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My pusher was fitted using the zip lock attachments and had caused no damage at all to the radiator. They were still tight when I took it off.

 

I have since fitted the revotec system which uses a bracket or ziplocks, but I have used the bracket. The bracket is not the best fit in the world.

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I made brackets to support the 12" Kenlowe fan that I installed in 1992 because I didn't like the "through-the-fins" method of attachment. The brackets are held to the side frame of the radiator with 1/4"-28 UNF hex head bolts about 3/8" long. Do not overtighten them as you might strip the threads in the thin side frame of the rad. I added red Loctite to secure them. I used hex head bolts, so I can remove the fan and brackets if I want to easier than if I had used round-head screws where I would need to use a screwdriver and there is no space for this. But a 7/16" socket does this easily after removing the bumper and the grille.

 

The holes across the supports are to allow the air to flow through. The engine temperature in my 1958 TR3A will rise to 210 deg F. in about 5 minutes when stopped in heavy stop-and-go traffic, so I manually flip on the fan and the temperature drops right back to normal in about 2 minutes and stays there. If I'm driving on the open road, it never overheats and I only need to use the pusher fan in extreme cases. If I forget to turn the fan on, the engine may reach 235 deg. F, in which case it may take the fan about 5 minutes for it to drop back down to normal. I have only forgotten to turn off the fan twice in 16 years. Both times, I parked my TR is a car park where there was a loud air-conditioning system making lots of noise and I couldn't hear that the fan was still humming. All the other times, I parked, I could hear it humming so I remembered to turn it off.

 

Mine is 12". I had to mount it quite high as shown so that the hole for the hand-crank would remain accessible. Your 10" fan should be adequate and it will be easier to mount so that the crank hole remains open. I had to cut the cardboard air deflector with a curve because the fan was scrubbing on the deflector at the top of the radiator. After this, I had no problems and it works fine.

Edited by Don Elliott
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The first time I used a through the radiator fixing and drove it right through a vertical tube. The next time I used pop rivets to fix a strip of galvanised metal down each side of the radiator. The fan was mounted on two spider arms supplied by by Kenlowe. These were fitted to the side strips by 4 bolts. This was a bit experimental at the time, and has worked very well for 20 years. The radiator was new and uprated by Southern Radiators in Chichester. I keep the neck full of water by using a blanking cap on the rad and a pressure cap on the expansion bottle which is fed by a tube from the original overflow and is mounted on the wing opposite the coil. This bottle is only 30% full and we never lose any coolant. I used to have a problem starting when hot and could never turn off the engine. However the Distrubutor Doctor has overhauled the distributor and it starts like a modern car, hot or cold. my engine had been overhauled by racetorations and the block is clear. I keep anti freeze in all year to keep the corrosion at bay. I notice in the instruction book that they recommend rain water. Is this still recommended?

 

Good luck.

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Me too I'm not in favour of the pins through the mesh, but beside the metallic pins there are also plastic pins available. Be aware that the vertical channels are very thin copper items.

The override switch is avery good idea, I got it on both TR's. As soon as I approach a traffic jam or drive in town with many stops and goes I switch the fan on to overcome a rise in temperature in first place :)

Electric fans mostly show a power surge when cutting in, and it could happen that after the 5th start the fuse blows, it happend to me several times. To be on the safe side I now use 2 relays and switched the fan via 2 different circuits ;)

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Another way to mount a pusher fan is to cut four pieces of aluminium angle, and pop rivet them to the metal sides of the radiator.

 

Then drill the face of these angles to accept the fan mounts.

 

It was easy for me as I have an aluminium fabricated radiator shroud, with a bit more clearance around the radiator, as an upgrade for the "hardura" cardboard one. Painted out matte black it takes a keen eye to spot it.

 

Another useful cooling upgrade is a fabricated scoop under the valance to improve air flow up into the bottom of the radiator. Again, painted out matte black it goes unseen, unless you have reason to get down on bended knee and peer under the front of the car.

 

If you use the capillary sender in the top hose to activate an electric fan, it passes through a half moon shaped rubber spacer thingy that's inserted between the hose and the radiator inlet pipe. This has to be sealed with plenty of goop, being serial leakers.

 

You can run a fan through a relay, with an over ride switch in the ignition circuit so it turns off with the car.

 

One thing to watch is that an electric fan can draw 10 amps, and a generator only produces about 17 amps, so it's marginal if driving on a hot night with the head lights on. We all know how the early TR headlights rise and fall in brightness at traffic lights, without an electric fan. Of course an alternator fixes all that. Make sure you fuse the electric fan too - an inline one will do, but put it where it is accessible, rather searching for it under the dash on a dark night.

 

Cheers,

 

Viv.

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for what it's worth: I 've seen an other solution too: 2 L-shaped brackets, the lower part of the L mounted on the inside of the apron behind the grill, facing backwards and sticking upwards. With the vertical part of the Ls parallel with the front of the radiator. The fan is mounted between the brackets and the radiator. (This is not east to explain in English!)

 

It's a clever installation: when the fan fails, the only thing you have to do is loosen the apron-mounted bolts and you can pull out the fan through the the front of the apron without having the dismantle the whole front of the car. The fan also stays clear of the radiator itself.

 

The owner had used two colours for the brackets: the horizontal ones had the same colour as the car's body, the vertical part of the brackets were painted black. Only when he pointed out his solution I recognized the brackets: being behind the grill, they are hard to spot.

 

Furthermore, are you sure you want a Kenlowe? Did you have a look at the Pacet website? Their fans have better specs than the Kenlowe fans (well, they did two years ago, when I bought my Pacet).

 

Menno

Edited by Menno van Rij
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I made brackets to support the 12" Kenlowe fan that I installed in 1992 because I didn't like the "through-the-fins" method of attachment. The brackets are held to the side frame of the radiator with 1/4"-28 UNF hex head bolts about 3/8" long. Do not overtighten them as you might strip the threads in the thin side frame of the rad. I added red Loctite to secure them. I used hex head bolts, so I can remove the fan and brackets if I want to easier than if I had used round-head screws where I would need to use a screwdriver and there is no space for this. But a 7/16" socket does this easily after removing the bumper and the grille.

 

The holes across the supports are to allow the air to flow through. The engine temperature in my 1958 TR3A will rise to 210 deg F. in about 5 minutes when stopped in heavy stop-and-go traffic, so I manually flip on the fan and the temperature drops right back to normal in about 2 minutes and stays there. If I'm driving on the open road, it never overheats and I only need to use the pusher fan in extreme cases. If I forget to turn the fan on, the engine may reach 235 deg. F, in which case it may take the fan about 5 minutes for it to drop back down to normal. I have only forgotten to turn off the fan twice in 16 years. Both times, I parked my TR is a car park where there was a loud air-conditioning system making lots of noise and I couldn't hear that the fan was still humming. All the other times, I parked, I could hear it humming so I remembered to turn it off.

 

Mine is 12". I had to mount it quite high as shown so that the hole for the hand-crank would remain accessible. Your 10" fan should be adequate and it will be easier to mount so that the crank hole remains open. I had to cut the cardboard air deflector with a curve because the fan was scrubbing on the deflector at the top of the radiator. After this, I had no problems and it works fine.

 

Don: Why not wire the fan circuit through a small relay which is fed by the ignition switch. That way the only way you could leave the fan running would be if you left the keys in the ignition and in the 'ON' position. just a thought!

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Thank you Frank for that idea. That's exactly what I did about a year ago after I left the fan on for the second time in all those years. I use a small relay that I mounted securely under the dashboard. My fan jumps to -25 on the ammeter when I turn it on but then it steadies out at about -10 or -12 amps after a few seconds. Our nights are cool and I have found that we don't have traffic jams after dark (rush hour is over) so I have never needed to turn on the pusher fan when I have the headlights turned on.

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I understand the concern regarding the "through the rad" mountings, but I had a Kenlowe mounted this way on a Vitesse many years ago and that car had a lot of abuse as a full-on rally car - as well as being my daily driver in London for most of the time. The mounts were long screws (less prone to working loose, perhaps, but more dangerous for chafing the vertical elements) and I never had any problems over 5 or 6 years of rough rally roads, etc.

 

Just a case history to add to your thoughts.

 

I've recently added one to my TR4 - again using through-the-rad, but this time with the plastic mounts - I guess I'll see how it goes...

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