My 81 flareside is going electric!

Made you look. No, not the drivetrain, just the engine cooling system. I am a big fan of electric fans over engine-driven, so I started looking around for a fan/shroud package that was sized about right for our radiators and wasn't horribly expensive. I found what I was looking for in the Infiniti FX35 fan package, which was available for under $100 delivered. I got it from CarParts.com, item# I160901.

These fans required 2 Nissan-specific connectors, which I sourced from CTLumination, item# WEC-AC-4PIN-0010-0015. This was under $15 delivered.

And in order to activate the fans and have some control over the temperature at which they come on, I ordered this fan control thermostat kit, under $20 delivered. https://www.summitracing.com/parts/SDM-PCE184-1005

Then there was the matter of the radiator in my truck. It had 2 things wrong with it. First, I swapped a 351W in place of the I6 that was in there, so it had the wrong radiator. Second, one of the radiator clamp down brackets was missing. So I ordered a Spectra CU561 radiator from ebay (about $210 delivered).

With the radiator problem on its way to being solved, I turned my attention to the missing clamp down bracket. I tried to find one for a few weeks but did not have any luck, so I decided to spend a few hours and just make my own. Here is how those turned out.



Next, the fan shroud had to be mated to the radiator. The shroud was just a hair large for the radiator, and needed trimming in 3 places - around the 2 radiator hoses, and around the drain petcock. I probably could have gotten away without the clearance around the petcock, but I figured, why make it tight as long as I was cutting anyway. The clearance around the hoses was done with a hole saw. Here's what was removed.



There was also a small hole drilled in the upper right for the temp probe for the fan controller.

With the shroud now able to fit the radiator, I had to figure out how to mount it. On the bottom of the shroud, there are 2 lugs that locate that end, so I made a couple brackets out of some aluminum angle and rectangle tube. The brackets bolted to the flange at the bottom of the radiator. Here are those.




And here's how the whole thing fits together.



Still left to do is to modify the shroud to fill in the gap between the radiator core and the top and bottom edges of the shroud, and to modify the brackets I built do have an extension which ties the bracket to the bolt holes at the top of the shroud. And paint, install, test, etc. I'll post more when those things occur. I'm anxious to see how that 1" core (!) deals with the Texas heat.

Pete - You certainly did make me look!  But, I like what I see.  Looks like a very complete package, and I can't wait to see how it works

On your pic of the shroud, it was small enough that I had trouble seeing where you'd cut it.  So I've blown it up to 100% by placing this text in the string: width="100%".  And now I can see the cutouts.  

How deep is that fan?

And what are you going to do to hold the pulley on the water pump?

Pete Whitstone wrote

Made you look. No, not the drivetrain, just the engine cooling system.

You did make me look...lol.
Nice job on the rad and fans though. Well done.

Pete Whitstone wrote

Made you look.

On a serious note, following. This is something I have been thinking about doing.

Angelo Voltura wrote

Spot on!

Man, you really had me excited.

Nice, are they going to be both on full tilt or will they come on in stages and ramp up the more air flow you need?

I myself have been throwing around the idea of a possible electric condenser fan but im waiting to see what the 7 blade fan I got will do over the oe 5 blade which shouldn't even be used on AC equipped trucks.

ArdWrknTrk wrote

How deep is that fan?

And what are you going to do to hold the pulley on the water pump?

The fan measures right at 4 inches depth when sitting on a flat surface, but it sits off the radiator just slightly less than that because of where it sits on the radiator. Call it 3 7/8" off the radiator.

For the WP pulley, I just ditched the long bolts that go with the aluminum spacer thing, and installed some short bolts, maybe 1/2" long or so.

Rusty_S85 wrote

Nice, are they going to be both on full tilt or will they come on in stages and ramp up the more air flow you need?

The way they are wired now, yes they just come on full. The fans will support 2 speeds but I have both speeds wired to the same controller so they just come on "high". I toyed with the idea of getting a second variable fan controller ($11) and setting that controller some degrees cooler so they would come on in stages, but I was not sure that was necessary. I can always go back and add that easily enough, if I determine I need it.

Oh
I didn't realize your early truck doesn't have a fan clutch.

ArdWrknTrk wrote

Oh
I didn't realize your early truck doesn't have a fan clutch.

I swapped in a 351w that came from a motorhome, so there's quite a bit of non-stock going on under my hood. I didn't realize it should have a fan clutch, the I6 I pulled out of there also had the aluminum spacer and a fixed fan, so I assumed the V8's would as well. Still learning a lot about this truck.

What are you running for an alternator? I am pretty sure that those fans will a stock 40 amp alternator for a mid day snack on a hot day while stuck in traffic. Just a thought.

And the 130A 3G conversion rears its beautiful head!

My DB Electrical, Cheap, Chinese alternator is doing yeoman's duty going on six years.
Fans are the reason Ford ditched the the miserable 2G alternators.

old55pete wrote

What are you running for an alternator? I am pretty sure that those fans will a stock 40 amp alternator for a mid day snack on a hot day while stuck in traffic. Just a thought.

That's a pretty good thought... I don't know what the alternator on there is rated at. I assumed around 60 or 70 amps, but if it's 40, yeah time for an upgrade.

As shown on our page on alternators (Documentation/Electrical/Alternators) the 40 amp 1G was standard through 1985 and the 60 amp was optional.  And the 70 amp was not used.

So you might have a 40 or a 60.  But, those only put out that current at full tilt, which is 5100 RPM for the 40 amp and 7000 for the 60 amp.  That's alternator RPM, but most of the pulley ratios are 2.68:1 so that's 1900 and 2600 engine RPM respectively.  But the 3G puts out that much current at idle.  

Turns out I have the 60 amp. I think the fans draw less than 20. I'll worry about charging problems when I start the road trails, hopefully in about 2 weeks. I do have a voltmeter, so I can keep an eye on things.

Got everything buttoned up yesterday. Since the core of the radiator is "recessed" from the tank, I had to fill in the holes this left, so the air would actually be drawn through the core, and not just sucked through the gaps. A piece of 1/6" aluminum that was 1.5 inches wide was just right for the bottom, with some clearance cut for the mounting lugs.



Up top, a 1.25 inch strip was the right width. I also painted the radiator clamp down brackets, and added a tang at the top which retains the top of the fan shroud.





Here is the controller kit that is turning the fans on. I have a relay wired in also.



And the view from the top looking down.



It clears the water pump pulley with a little bit of room to spare on my truck. On a "normal" truck with a V8, the engine would be set back another 2 inches or so, so there would be plenty of room for this arrangement. Why my truck is not normal, that's a story for another day.

Looking good!  Nice fabrication.  

So, yours is Abby Normal?  Did someone use the wrong perches, like from a 300 six?

First we have lines from Monte Python and now we have them from Young Dr Frankinstine……..You guys are a hoot

What can I say but that I’m well watched. 😎

Glad you got it.