Cool/Heat: electric fan

[swvalcon]

Has anyone here ever mounted an electric cooling fan on a Studebaker motor? What did you use for your fan Temp sending unit? Can you just use a jumper wire off the Temp unit at the back of the block? The temp sender that came in the kit is way to big to fit anywhere on a Studebaker block. It is like what is used on chevy V8 motors. The fan needs the temp sender if you don't want to hook it direct. With the sender it comes on at a pre set temp and shuts off after you stop the motor and it has cooled it down.

[jts359]

Try this one from amazon only 11.00 on sale. Amazon p/n shlpdfm adjustable radiator fan thermstat, It uses a probe instaed of a screw in block fitting ' I have one in one of my cars and works great for 3 years now , Ed

[DEEPNHOCK]

Fans can be great...
ALWAYS run them through a relay. Switches cannot handle that many amps.
Follow their placement instructions closely.
And to add..... Try to wire it so..
If you have A/C, it turns the fan on full time when the A/C is on.
Put in a separate toggle switch on the relay so you can turn it on manually. When you see the traffic jam, stay ahead of the heat.

That Amazon adustable control is on sale tonight... $10.75 https://tinyurl.com/mtb9yddv

[Rafe Hollister]

That 10.75 one, how do you get that tube and bulb into the engine/radiator?
Rafe Hollister

[enjenjo]

I have used a 1/8" pipe to 5/16" compression fitting to adapt it to the engine. A 5/16" compression sleeve will slide right over the probe and tighten up with no damage to the probe.

Or, you can make a bracket to set the probe right against the radiator near the bottom. A third way is with a pipe to compression adapter in the radiator drain. use a T for the drain petcock.

[Rafe Hollister]

I have mine wired thru a relay. My temp gauge has both analogue dial and programable warning light. I had planned on a manual toggle switch to turn it on and off according to the gauge. But hey, if I get a better idea here... ? I have not driven my car since installation... maybe today?
Rafe Hollister

[Dads Baby]

When I put my Sniper system in, I needed to add a temp sending unit. I knew there is a plate at the back of the passenger side head. I took it off, drilled/tapped and put in an elbow. I put the plate back on and then installed the sending unit. Yes, I did this with the engine in the car. It's tight but very doable.

[swvalcon]

That was my first plan. I even have a extra Studebaker plate that goes on the head made for the studebaker temp unit. But with the brackest for the wire covers bolted there to it doesn't have a lot of room. I see they sell a piece you can splice into the upper rad hose which may be and option

[bensherb]

I used an adjustable thermostatic switch similar to that amazon one. I simply slid the bulb into the radiator fins between two tubes as the instructions said to do. It's been working fine for a decade.

Prior to using that I had a thermal switch (not adjustable) screwed into the port on the drivers side top of the water manifold, If I remember right it was a fan switch for a Subaru.

When I got my GT the heater hose was connected to that plate on the rear of the passenger side head and brazed in place. It was in my way so I moved the heater hose to the water manifold and made a new block off plate. At the time I was also changing gauges and my digital ones used a 1/8" NPT sender so I made a new plate for it too. I made them from aluminum plate. It can be easily done with a hand drill, hole saw (for o-ring groove) and jig saw. And yes, I polished them even though they can't be seen; I tend to polish everything I make from aluminum or stainless.

[Tired iron]

I've done just what you did with the probe and that worked great for me. I like being able to adjust my on/off temp, too...tho I guess I really haven't changed it since the install.

[bensherb]

Yea, I've only recently adjusted it for the first time. I adjusted it to come on a bit sooner since I installed a roots blower.

[Jeffry Cassel]

Put one on and took it off a year later. Wanna buy it?!

[bensherb]

To what are you referring?

[Jeffry Cassel]

An electric fan. Hawks just are not suited for electric fans.

[bensherb]

My electric fans have been working fine and doing the job for nine years with no issues. The thing still runs a bit warm just like it did with the stock fan before a stock engine mount broke and the fan destroyed itself and the shroud.

[swvalcon]

Mounted mine on the Avanti inside the fan shroud. 18" and just fits and clears everywhere by about a 1/2 " so no room to spare. Just need to hook up the control box and going to build my own adaptor for the sending unit in the upper rad hose and get it as close as I can the the tank. It is set to come on at 180 and shut off at 160 even after the key is off.

[Tired iron]

Hawks just are not suited for electric fans.

Can you elaborate please?

[Jeffry Cassel]

If mounted in the front, the radiator cradle cross brace is in the way and the hood prop rod cannot be stowed in the clip; it has to be kept in the trunk! The big fan shroud gets in the way if you try to put it on the engine side of the radiator. I'm not sure I'd want to remove the fan shroud. Has anyone successfully installed an electric fan in a Hawk?

[swvalcon]

As big as the fan shroud is on the hawks I would think you could do just what i did on the Avanti. I made my own mounting brackets and mouted the fan inside the shroud. It is at a slight angle closer to the motor on top and tight against the radiator on the bottom. The bottom is held to the radiator with the plastic clips that came with the fan and the top is where I built the brackets. The fan had to be at a angle so it cleared the lower pulleys and it does by about a 1/2 inch. Top has plenty of room. That is because the Avanti radiator is mounted at a angle where the Hawk is not. I will see if I can get enough light to it so I can take a picture. Now I need to build the sending unit adaptor. They make units you can buy on line but none have the size pipe tread I need for the sending unit that came with the fan.

[swvalcon]

Not the best pictures. Not a lot of light and a lot of stuff in the way but give's the general idea of where the fan sits

[bensherb]

"Has anyone successfully installed an electric fan in a Hawk?"

Yes, years ago my dad used electric fans in his '53 Coupe inside the shroud like swvalcon did. He figured it would run hot with his new engine, but it never ran over 160F; it still doesn't. After a few years he went back to the standard fan because he didn't like the noise of the electric fans, and I needed some for a different project.

This is my Hawk with electric fans. It's been working fine this way for years. On the freeway the fans don't even run most of the time. So far it's been fine keeping the temp in check with the blower too, but I haven't driven it when the ambient temp was over 85F yet.

[Rafe Hollister]

Awww, now you are just showing off with your engine bay pictures!
Rafe

[bezhawk]

A shroud is totally useless behind a fan. With electric fans it should be like bensherb has on his setup, that is pulling air through the radiator and the area around the fans are sealed with a shroud. With engine driven fans the shroud is tight around the fan so when it runs, air is pulled through the radiator, and not any surrounding air in front of the fan if it didn't have a shroud. On an engine driven fan, ideally, the fan should be centered in the shroud opening towards the engine...that is, 1/2 in, and 1/2 out of the shroud. That will give you the maximum air flow through the radiator core.

[bensherb]

Correct ! To clarify; when my dad had the electric fans on his '53 Coupe they were also mounted against the radiator as mine are. The stock shroud was them mounted over them purely to maintain a relatively stock appearance.

[swvalcon]

got the sender adaptor built and found a formed upper hose that would work to be split. All thats left is wire up the coil and fill the radiator with water and I should be able to see how it's going to run. Going to run water in the block and drain it a few times to get everything as clean as I can get it before I go to anti freeze. I cleaned the block and water pump as good as I could when I had the soft plugs out. But not the radiator.