[grivera]

Originally Posted by Squidward

This is with a long nose pump. There is a small gap…

…So the Lincoln Mark 8-ish fan is too thick for a 1st gen.

Since the first gen birds come with 4” (short) water pumps, would the OEM set up allow clearance for the fan?

[JLMounce]

Originally Posted by GOAT8U2

I have this dual on my GTO, don't need 1 big one anymore.

https://a.co/d/fkWjTyZ

This is a copy of the Ramcharger fans from years ago I believe.

This is far too big for a first gen F-body. The core on these things is only 23" wide, and end tank to end tank is in the neighborhood of 28".

Originally Posted by grivera

Since the first gen birds come with 4” (short) water pumps, would the OEM set up allow clearance for the fan?

I would think so. I have the short water pump and use a Flex-A-Lite Black Magic fan. It's fairly deep and I have about 2" of room to the waterpump pully.

[Squidward]

Originally Posted by grivera

Since the first gen birds come with 4” (short) water pumps, would the OEM set up allow clearance for the fan?

I used to run the short nose until the impeller started slipping and the seals went out. This was at the dragstrip. Racing was over, and a buddy drove me to Autozone for a replacement, which I was surprised they had. After that I went to a long nose (3/4" difference) and a deeper pulley to realign with crank/PS.

I considered a short nose pump, but as I tried test fitting everything, I would have to go short nose AND trim the shroud drastically, and/or mod the radiator mounting brackets. The Dorman version of the mk8 is just TOO thick.

Years ago, I had a Taurus fan on the bird. Interestingly enough, I had the OPPOSITE situation: When the fan was running at idle, it seemed to do better, but then I had creep at cruise and highway drives. I attributed this problem to the fan thinking it was blocking air at cruise. But I think now that it was more a result of running a poorly flowing thermostat that couldn't flow enough coolant when wide open. So I went SIMPLE: clutch fan and shroud, and I run the smallest wp pulley to maximize coolant flow AND fan speed. I enjoy playing with gizmos and gadgets, but I really do appreciate simple and reliable as best I can.

So here is why I am playing with an efan: Tired of getting a 34 lb rectal pucker every time I get stuck in traffic. Drive thru's are part of why we have these cool old cars, so I don't want to forego those. And I spent the money to put AC in this car, and I want to use it.

Data point: My 04 GMC 5.3 had a standard 28" radiator and clutch fan. With AC on and idling in a drive thru, it would creep to 220-ish or more. Putting it in neutral and giving it a rev to 2-3k for 5-10 seconds would bring it right back to 195 due to the increase in airflow and coolant flow. Interesting case in point: Heavy duty cooling option got you a 34" wide core. So I upgraded to a 34" radiator, even still using the shroud for the 28" core (I know, I know... it's on my list). It does better, but will still start to cook a little bit when it's 115+ out here. Never a problem at speed, tho.

Another interesting data point: In 2005 GM went to dual electric fans on their Sierra's and Silverados, and never looked back. A factory dual efan setup is a project on the horizon for my truck, unless I get a 2nd gen as a daily driver...

If I lived back in Michigan, I would likely think differently. I wouldn't care about AC so much, and cooling wouldn't be as much of a challenge. Just keep the windows down, and try not to swallow too many bugs.