Classic Mustangs List Archive

This read-only message was archived from a public mail list.
Mail From: jeff (Jeff Shanholtz)

This is a bit of a tangent from my post AC install thread...

So I did a little measuring and to get the fan 3/4 of an inch away from
the radiator would take a 3 3/4 inch spacer, and as my bolts are 1 inch
longer than the spacer, that would make 4 3/4 inch for the bolts. I
looked in my engine assembly diagrams for the 66 289, and sure enough it
shows 4 3/4 inch bolts (though it doesn't indicate a size for the
spacer). So I guess that means I'm going to end up with a stock
configuration, whereas previously I had no shroud at all and the fan was
2 1/2 inches away from the radiator!

Also, I loosened up the bolts on the radiator and shroud to see how much
I could improve the problem of the fan not being centered - not much.
It turns out that it pretty much appears to be below center, but side to
side I think is pretty close to center. And from the edge of the top fan
blade to the radiator is 1/4 inch closer than the bottom blade to the
radiator. I even rocked the car until the bottom blade rotated to the
top and confirmed that it's not due to a bent blade. So that means my
engine is at a very slight downward angle. Would that indicate worn
motor mounts or some other issue? Or is that actually normal? New motor
mounts may be the true cure, but I think for now I'll settle for
enlarging the radiator mounting holes so I can drop the radiator 1/4
inch.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: lists.twistedpair.ca/pipermail/classic-mustangs/attachments/20070803/2b4f6cc3/attachment.html

This read-only message was archived from a public mail list.
Mail From: jeffsubs (Jeff Shanholtz)

Well, I attempted to do just what I described here, although the best I
could find in bolts was 4 1/2 - fine thread bolts that long are hard to
find, at least at home centers (home depot/lowes). Thankfully Ace has a
great selection!

Anyway, using a dremel to enlarge the holes in the radiator support allowed
me to drop the radiator 1/4 inch, but while I thought that would be enough,
unfortunately it wasn't. So now I'm having to resort to using less spacer in
order to give me clearance due to the roundness of the ends of the fan
blades. I think either 1/2 inch or 3/4 inch less will do it. So tomorrow
I'll be picking up a new spacer and bolts to try it out.

I gotta think that recessing fans into the shroud is common, and therefore I
would think that clearance problems due to improper centering (like from
worn motor mounts???) can't be that uncommon. Has anyone else run into this?
What did you do? Or am I actually doing something abnormal?

When I go back to the mechanic to get the AC finished, I'll get his opinion
on whether it's worn motor mounts (I am not knowledgeable enough to tell - I
had a look and I don't really notice any problem) or something else. Maybe I
can ultimately do the "right" fix and then get the fan closer to the
radiator again.

_____

From: classic-mustangs-bounces at lists.twistedpair.ca
[mailto:classic-mustangs-bounces at lists.twistedpair.ca] On Behalf Of Jeff
Shanholtz
Sent: Friday, August 03, 2007 10:52 PM
To: jeffsubs at shanholtz.com
Subject: [CM] recessing the fan into the shroud


This is a bit of a tangent from my post AC install thread...

So I did a little measuring and to get the fan 3/4 of an inch away from the
radiator would take a 3 3/4 inch spacer, and as my bolts are 1 inch longer
than the spacer, that would make 4 3/4 inch for the bolts. I looked in my
engine assembly diagrams for the 66 289, and sure enough it shows 4 3/4 inch
bolts (though it doesn't indicate a size for the spacer). So I guess that
means I'm going to end up with a stock configuration, whereas previously I
had no shroud at all and the fan was 2 1/2 inches away from the radiator!

Also, I loosened up the bolts on the radiator and shroud to see how much I
could improve the problem of the fan not being centered - not much. It
turns out that it pretty much appears to be below center, but side to side I
think is pretty close to center. And from the edge of the top fan blade to
the radiator is 1/4 inch closer than the bottom blade to the radiator. I
even rocked the car until the bottom blade rotated to the top and confirmed
that it's not due to a bent blade. So that means my engine is at a very
slight downward angle. Would that indicate worn motor mounts or some other
issue? Or is that actually normal? New motor mounts may be the true cure,
but I think for now I'll settle for enlarging the radiator mounting holes so
I can drop the radiator 1/4 inch.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: lists.twistedpair.ca/pipermail/classic-mustangs/attachments/20070807/4cff12a1/attachment.html