[Tarl]

Hi All,

My new to me 68 does not like traffic on a hot day. I live in Boston and hit a lot of traffic, almost got stuck in a tunnel. After reading a lot of informative posts here I believe I know how to address the issue. Luckily the owner kept all receipts so I will swap out the 195 thermostat for a robertshaw 180, the cardone waterpump rebuilt in 2000 for a newer pump with the good impeller (probably has the crappy stamped one) along with adjusted divider plate and probably a cold case radiator.

My real question is the fan. Right now it has a flex fan on it, not sure of the make but it's 18" 5 blade fan. I would like to put a 19" with a HD fan clutch but I need to figure out 2 things. First is which fan? I have a GM 19" 7 blade 10008888 that I can use, but maybe I should try say a 68 Cadillac flex fan, or some other fan. What works well on the 68 firebird?

My second issue is fitting the bigger fan in the shroud. It's a GM 9788883 shroud from around 2001 from Tamraz and the fan fits weird in it. There is well over an inch clearance on the drivers side and top but at the 5 o'clock position on the passenger side there is like 1/4 inch. I tried shifting the shroud to center the fan more but there isn't any adjustment. so I won't be able to fit a bigger fan as is. Were the shroud castings off? are there better ones I can get? are there tricks to moving the shroud around (the top bracket seems to fix it in place though).

What fans have you fit into your first gen firebird shroud?