Hi Phil.
Regarding you post about electric fans...
I've not done this to a TR4, but I have one installed on my TR6 race car.
I purchased a puller fan from Racer Parts Wholesale for about $80, if
memory serves. I wound up not being able to use that one because the fan
housing interfered with the crank extension - which is integral with the
stock harmonic dampener.
So - I purchased a pusher fan from the same source. That works pretty well.
Same price, about $80 for the fan.
Notes:
The installtion kits that you get with these radiators will work, but if
your core is at all "soft" you might want to think about fabricating
brackets to hold the fan. I wound up getting some 1/8 mild steel and bent
it to fit. It came out pretty well.
You need to get the fan fairly close to the radiator core for maximum
efficiency.
The wiring in these kits is also suspect. For an extra $20 or so, you get a
wiring harness and a relay and a temp. probe. You need to install the probe
into the coolant line somewhere. I bagged this setup, owing to the
cheapness of the materials.
I wound up finding hole in the water pump assembly. On TR6, several are 1/2
NPT. Warning: several are also 5/8-18 which _looks_ like 1/2 NPT but are
not!!! I then went to NAPA and poked through the "book" for fan temp.
switches. There are lots of switches to choose from! I wound up with one
that turns on at around 205F and then shuts off at 185F. I'm not sure why,
but sometime during the process I bagged the automatic feature and merely
wired the fan to a mechanical switch. Now, when the temp guage moves, I
turn on the fan manually. The Thermostat (165 on the Race car) takes care
of the rest.
The shroud is critical to this setup. With a cheapo fan, you _must_ direct
the air to the radiator. If my shroud is loose, the effectiveness of the
fan reduces dramatically.
On the whole, the 13 inch unit I got is adequate. But next time, I might
spring for the extra money and buy the super efficient fan - those are $150
in Racer Parts Wholesale. Note: the electrical requirements of the higher
efficiency fans is fairly high - around 12 or 13 amps. Make sure you use
adequate wiring and make sure your generator is up to the task!
I've seen folks install electric fans up to 16 inches on the TR6 (the
radiator dimensions are similar to TR4), but you need to measure this
carefully. The Racer Parts Wholesale catalog has all the dimensions for the
fans that they sell - so use that as your guide.
When your car is moving - you almost don''t need the fan ever except under
extreme heat conditions.
Bag the stock fan if you can. It is well documented that the stock fan eats
several horsepower just spinning around. On TR6, JK Jackson indicates up to
8 HP just by removing the fan. That's "cheap" horsepower!
Does this help??
rml
TR6's
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