Electric Fan Upgrade - Pics

Electric Fan and Alternator Upgrade - Pics

After my cooling fan ate my radiator a few weeks ago I decided to tackle the electric fan upgrade.

I was driving my Jeep from my old to my new house at about 70mph when I hit a big bump in the road, and I believe one (or both) of my old motor mounts gave way and let the motor dip forward.

If anyone hasn't jammed their cooling fan into their radiator at 70 mph I don't recommend it. Here is the result.



So, I went on down the local pull a part in Houston and grabbed a couple of Ford Contour dual fans. I read that they are a great fit, and they are!
(I've since trimmed the top bracket and around the lower outlet and it really fits perfect.)

Here are a couple of pics of the test fit.



So far so good. I'll be posting more pics and updates to this thread as I progress.


Then came the matter of more power. With the dual electric fan setup my old delco just wouldn't get there. So I went with a new 100 amp 12si alternator.
It was almost a bolt in operation, the spacing between the mounting brackets is the same on both, 6.6in. However, when I first mounted it up the pulleys didn't align; the alt pulley was too far forward.
So, as you can see in the pics below, I cut the bracket lengthwise and welded in a new strip of flat bar to make the bracket deeper. Then I could use the (very high tech) method of bolts and washers to get the right spacing and angle on the pulleys so everything lines up.
I haven't wired it up yet - I ran out of time. But I will continue to update as I make progress.

Oh and yes, I'm also installing new motor mounts.

More Pics, enjoy.

 

ouch !!!
that had to make some noise
how will you control the off/on of the fans ?

 

Yeah, one loud BAM! and then the fan jammed and the belt started slipping over the WP pulley.
Oh, and don't forget being enveloped in a cloud of sweet white smoke. My wife was following me, I think she thought I was burning.

I purchased a single simple $17 fan controller from my FLAPS (no integrated relay). I then purchased a new starter solenoid to act as a heavy duty relay for running both fans. They have such a high draw I wanted to put in something that could handle the repeated load. I've read on other sites where guys are running this setup and it seems to be working well.

 

so all manual control, no temp control ?

 

The $17 controller is the temp control module, it will automatically switch the relay to the run the fans. I'm also going to wire in a manual kill switch to shut it down for deep water.

 

Very cool setup.

 

Brian,

Glad to hear you're alright after Mr. Toads' wild ride. I hate surprises like that at hwy speed.

Has your alternator always been mounted on the passenger side? I have power nothing, steering or brakes. I'm still running the original alt., it is mounted low on the drivers side. I would love to upgrade it and move it to the pass side. (find a good home for the original) I don't understand why they would mount and run wire all the way over. I guess they've always done strange things at the factory.:?

 

Mine came that way from the PO.

I can't tell you if its original or not.

I poked my head out on ebay and found one just like it though. Hope that helps.
Ebay Alt Bracket

 

Brian thanks for the heads up!

 

Those dual fans look almost factory, I like it, good job.

 

here is something my friend did for his manual kill switch on his truck with elec fan upgrade. i will probably do the same on mine when i make the change over:

3 way toggle switch with 'rocket launcher cover':
cover down, switch down-->automatic position
cover up, switch in middle--> manual ON position
cover up, switch is up--> manual OFF postion

rocket launcher cover prevents someone/something (passanger, dropped beer, dog, whatever) to knock switch to OFF position while running. auto is good, but as you mentioned, there are times when you will want it OFF, and in line with that thinking, there are sometimes you will want it ON-especially if that temp module were to crap out on you for no reason, good to have a manual overide either way.

thanks for the tip on the ford contour fan. i did not know, and i'm happy to find that one of those is going to be far less than a $300+ elec fan upgrade

 

Wicked, I've got a second fan that I pulled while I was at the yard.
If you or someone else wants it you can have it for cost+shipping. Just PM me.

I'm going to fab up some small tabs to go from the current rad bolts to the mounting points on the shroud, shouldn't take but a few minutes.

 

Those fans look like they fit good. From the pics it looks like you have a 76 and later engine or at lease the front of the engine (balancer,water pump,alternator brackets, and water pump pulley) I can't see the side of the block or the timing cover to be sure. At this point it wouldn't be that much work to install power steering, all you need is the pump, gear, hoses, coupler, and crank pulley you would have to fab a bracket from the stud on the top of the intake manifold to the rear of the pump brackets and if you have an early engine block you would have fab a bracket from the old lower alternator bracket mounting holes in the block to the p/s lower rear mounting bracket, everything else is a bolt on operation. Where in Texas are you?

 

Its a actually the original engine (73). I had the intention of installing power steering last summer. I pulled the pump, gear, hoses, and steering column out of a 93 XJ. Everything fit pretty well except the hoses didn't reach and I couldn't find a v-belt pulley that fit the pump shaft to safe my life. I ended up ditching the power steering and installed the new column without it.



As part of that project I installed a newer style water pump that points down, works fine. I'm not sure why the PO moved the alt to the passenger side. And the carb is a recent addition from yours truly.

 

I've been looking for a better fan set up for mine. It's got one elect fan and will not cool my 304 when idleing. I think I'll be looking for a double fan set up like yours.
I like it!!!
If ya still got the power steering pump and gear I might be interested.

 

That duel fan set up is kind of like mine.

http://scottmilliner.multiply.com/photos/album/1/scotts_jeep_pictures#26

 

Very Similar indeed, right down to the 12si alternator.

Scott, how did you attach your fans to the radiator?
Thanks

B

 

Great thread. Please give us the details as you go along. I bought a Contour fan too and was shocked at how well it fits. Mine is not installed though so anything you can share will be a huge help...especially the wiring.

 

OK!

Next installment.
I don't have a lot of spare time, so its one step at a time around here.

My plan for attachment is laid out below. I didn't like the idea of twist ties, although they seem to be used without issue all over.

So instead I opted to weld some tabs onto the side of the radiator that I could then weld some bolts onto. I could then use the bolts to attach the fans to the radiator using the existing mounting brackets on the fan shroud.
Also, the lower left bracket fits directly over the existing bolt hole, so no need for a forth tab.

I have to drill out the shroud brackets slightly larger which is why I don't show the fan on the rad, but that will come very soon I promise.
Thanks

They aren't the prettiest welds ever, but they get it done, and I'd rather show my imperfections than not at all.
Oh, and I did clean up the metal near the welds, just not everything.

 

Brieoff, will this setup cool a 304? Just bought my fan and will install it as soon as I get my alternator installed. Also, which flaps did you use? Will discount know what a fan controller is or do you have a part number?