FYI when I was in Hawaii stop-and-go town traffic caused cooling problems in my 5.7 TPI with dual fans, even though all mechanical components were new or upgraded, such as the Edelbrock aluminum high-flow water pump.

Here in the Tri-State area, where AZ, NV and CA meet along the Colorado River, and Las Vegas, summer temps are brutal, sometimes above 120. My '87IROC does ok with the AC on as long as the car is moving, but stopped in traffic or roaring up a mountain at 80 mph moves the temp into the red zone -- turning off the AC lowers the temps so she doesn't blow -- but then it's like an oven inside the car.

The problem is the poor design of the ThirdGen dual fans that were installed without a fan shroud. I picked up a FourthGen dual fan/shroud unit for $50 today in Las Vegas and will soon install it in the '87. Looks pretty easy. I'll post the results when it's done, but thought I'd let you guys have a heads-up in case anyone sees a FourthGen fan setup around Oahu and can pick it up at a reasonable price.

 

Let me know how it goes Ed. I have that problem in trafic. Hooked up a switch to the relay for the secondary fan so I can turn it on manually. But still if your sitting gets hot.

 

Cool, thanks Ed! Looks like it might be a cheap way to stay a little bit cooler! Keep us posted.

 

Hows the progress Ed?

 

The fans I picked up in Las Vegas were in like-new condition, for only $50 it was an excellent purchase. The salvage yard would have shipped them for about $20 if I'd wanted, so the opportunity for shopping out-of-state via internet is viable if someone needs the part in Hawaii.

Here's the link - http://car-part.com/index.htm It's an excellent search engine. So far the fans have not been installed, but it appears the unit will drop right into place, with the lower part fitting into the retaining lip, and the upper fitting into the stock cover strip. The left and right sides of the shroud don't extend to the edges of the radiator, so I'll need to fabricate cover strips about two-inches wide. The FourthGen fans/shroud looks remarkably similar to the SPAL fans, at a fraction of the cost.

Since I haven't worked since December, you'd think I'd have lots of free time to do this easy mod, heh. But too many road trips have been getting in the way and working on the garage is an ongoing project -- but I promise I'll get to it soon!

Something else to consider in the battle against overheating, would be to add a small additional radiator connected via T-fittings inserted into the heater hoses just before the valve. It would add enough radiating surface to make a considerable difference in cooling the engine on hot days and could be mounted anywhere there's room. There have been a couple of times in Phoenix recently where I was stuck in traffic and had to turn off the AC and turn on the heater to cool the engine. I think the FourthGen fan setup will cure the stuck-in-traffic problem, but may not completely address the "charging up a mountain at 80 mph in 110-degree heat" situations, since airflow is adequate, but cooling capacity might not be. The normal approach there would be to add a larger radiator ... but adding additional cooling surface with a small add-on is a lot cheaper than an aftermarket BeCool, etc, unit.

More to follow! Cheers, Ed