Aaron R.

I was browsing through the scrapyard the other day and realized a dual fan setup off a 98-02 Toyota Corolla would be a nearly direct fit for the 82-92 Camaro / Firebird. The 98-02 Geo Prizm used the same parts too since it was a Toyota re-badged as a Geo for General Motors.

I wanted a better electric fan setup on my 1985 Camaro, which had a factory engine driven fan and two aftermarket 10" pusher fans mounted in front of the condenser. This kept the car cool until I fixed the a/c and the extra heat coming off the condenser caused an overheat situation when running a/c.

I left the 10" pusher fans in place and removed the engine driven fan and clutch. I fabricated a new upper and lower radiator support to work with the Toyota fans, then sprayed the support with truck bed liner. I used rubber radiator mounts off a 4th gen Camaro, but had to cut out the rubber flaps on the inside to make it fit nice and tight. I cutout a section of the new top support to allow a nice clean fit for a factory style TPI cold air intake to be added later. Everything fit nice, but for now I'm staying with the open air cleaner element (which is essentially a hot air intake). The Toyota fans fit better under the hood in the upside down position so I built the supports to accommodate it with the top of the fans facing down. I bolted it all together under the hood and it fits PERFECT with no obstructions or cutting / chopping required. I installed a Dakota Digital PAC-2750 electronic fan controller and coolant temp sensor. This is the second one I have used and I highly recommend them because they allow very precise adjustment for the fan on / off. For now I have the 10" pusher fans set for 200* on and 190* off, and the Toyota fans at 190 / 180. I am using a 180* thermostat.

No more cooling issues with the a/c running, even when it was 90*+ outside and idling in city traffic. The 10" pushers don't ever really need to come on. The fit is so good it looks pretty much like a factory setup.

I attached pictures. The picture with the radiator and mounts on my shop floor shows the top radiator support and top of radiator at the bottom of the picture. You can see the size of the Toyota fans and their plastic shroud are perfect for the stock radiator. The last two pictures show it after installation but before I put in the PAC-2750 so the wiring and a/c hoses are still routed messy. I used a scrap yard fan setup for $38 plus tax, but afterwards found the exact same fans on EBAY for $55 with free shipping, BRAND NEW. If you are interested in doing this to your car I recommend you just buy nice new ones instead of some old worn ones from a scrap yard. I ended up buying a new one from Ebay to have on hand for when the scrap yard ones wear out.

Aaron R.

Here are two more pictures after cleaning up the wires.

Arctic White 91 RS

That's a really, pardon the pun - a really "cool" set up!

Excellent spot on realizing those fans would work.

Boom

Great job! Have you had any issues or is the fan still working and cooling the engine?

Also, found out you can buy this fan assembly new from Dorman, part number 620-511.

Randy_M

Are the two 10" pusher fans the only fans that are used when the A/C is on?

NoEmissions84TA

iTrader: (1)

Is that an idler pulley I see running on the back of your AC v-belt?
How is that working?

Aaron R.

Been off the forums for a while. Was browsing and just saw some questions added since the last time I was here.

-No issues with this setup at all, and this summer has been unusually hot here with most days 90-100*. Wish I would have discovered this setup years ago. Highly recommend this to anyone interested in stabilizing/improving their cooling system. The Toyota fans coupled with the Dakota Digital controller are perfect.

-The two 10" pusher fans are set to come on at a higher temperature, and only come on when I'm running the A/C and its very hot outside in traffic. I can still drive in traffic and run the A/C without any overheating, thanks to the pusher fans. The two main fans do run independently and come on before the pusher fans. In high heat and traffic the two mains come one, and if necessary the pushers come on as well a few minutes later.

-That IS an idler on the A/C compressor belt. I have been very unhappy with the R4 compressor vibrations, and tried adding the idler to see if it helped. It did NOT, and if anything made it worse. The belt doesn't slop now though. I used an idler off a later model GM truck and just cut a piece of metal and bolted it to the A/C bracket. Ultimately it was a waste of time and effort because the belt slop wasn't hurting anything and seems to be mostly caused by the vibrations from the compressor. I have a new Sanden compressor that I plan to swap in to replace the crappy R4. Planning to do it this summer, and if it turns out good I'll do a separate post about it. Busy repainting my wife's 1987 Camaro right now and the Sanden conversion is one of my next projects.

NoEmissions84TA

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for answering about the idler. The reason I asked is because I'm doing nearly the same thing on another SBC engine but
it is just on a stand and I didn't really know if using an idler on the back of a v belt would actually work long term in the real world.

Aaron R.

The idler works fine, even though it was a slap together job to test a theory. Left it on for months and no problems with it. Yours is a clean setup.