My donor had an electric fan installed on the back of the radiator (via fitting through the cooling fins)
The wf has the fan mounted on the front of the radiator and it looks like it blocks most of the airflow. Which is better?
Intuitively I would have the fan on the back of the radiator pulling but maybe pushing from the front is best. All the pics I have seen have front mounted fans so I reckon I must be missing something.
Cheers
Radiator fan - front or back?
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seajayare
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erictharg
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Re: Radiator fan - front or back?
Which side of the rad you mount it on is not critical (as long as the fan is working the correct direction) but strongly recommend you ditch the stock mounting plate as it obscures a lot of the rad core area. Make up something out of some pieces of strip or tube to hang the fan on instead of the cheap bit of laser cut sheet Westfield use.
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Westfield 129
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Re: Radiator fan - front or back?
Actually, the mounting of the fan is critical. as front mounting covers about 30% of the radiator with the fan motor and center hub. There is little flow there, as the fan is in the way.
Here in sunny California, the cars overheat if the fan mount shroud and the front mounted fan. Eliminating the shroud, and mounting the fan on the back ide of the radiator (using a specific "puller" fan, as the one Westfield supplies is a specific "pusher" design and is not very efficient when run in reverse) leaves more of the radiator core exposed to the oncoming air, and eliminating the mount leaves much more of the core exposed to flow through air. The engine runs much cooler.
I mount the fan on the back side of the radiator, without the shroud mount that is supplied with the kit (I use a pull through mount kit or I have a custom radiator with the mount tabs included). No overheating problems, even in 115F weather, with a 120 HP engine.
If you have a puller fan, mount it on the back side of the radiator without the Westfield supplied mount. If you don't have a puller fan, get one, and mount it on the backside of the radiator.
I also make a simple duct to keep the air flowing into the radiator. This consists of a floor in front of the radiator, and a pair of side pieces to keep all the air going into the core, rather then around it.
Here in sunny California, the cars overheat if the fan mount shroud and the front mounted fan. Eliminating the shroud, and mounting the fan on the back ide of the radiator (using a specific "puller" fan, as the one Westfield supplies is a specific "pusher" design and is not very efficient when run in reverse) leaves more of the radiator core exposed to the oncoming air, and eliminating the mount leaves much more of the core exposed to flow through air. The engine runs much cooler.
I mount the fan on the back side of the radiator, without the shroud mount that is supplied with the kit (I use a pull through mount kit or I have a custom radiator with the mount tabs included). No overheating problems, even in 115F weather, with a 120 HP engine.
If you have a puller fan, mount it on the back side of the radiator without the Westfield supplied mount. If you don't have a puller fan, get one, and mount it on the backside of the radiator.
I also make a simple duct to keep the air flowing into the radiator. This consists of a floor in front of the radiator, and a pair of side pieces to keep all the air going into the core, rather then around it.