jimvbills

Need to put a mechanical fan on my 455. Bought a new Hayden thermal clutch standard rotation. I have the 19 inch fan with Aluminum blades but it's kind of sloppy looking. I tried to clean it up with steel wool. I was wondering if anyone has ever bought a flex a Lite fan. I was going to buy an 18.25 inch https://www.summitracing.com/parts/flx-1308. They make a 19 inch but it is over 19 inches and will rub up against the fan shroud. It looks like a similar style to the stock fan but I'm not sure how big the blades are. Are there big risks to overheating with a fan that is ¾” shorter in diameter?
Thanks,

Jim




My old fan

oldcutlass

I believe that is an old flexfan. Why not just get a stock fan to go on your clutch.

jimvbills

I'm not even sure what a stock fan is supposed to look like or how big in diameter they were for a 455. Year one has flex fans it looks like unless those 4 bladed fans were OEM. Plus the price point puts me higher than a flex fan.

oldcutlass

If you post a parts wanted ad, I'm sure someone on here has one.

Gary's 2 442-S

Just my 2 cents,but with a little extra work on that fan it can be restored nicely. I used a wire wheel on mine to remove the oxidation. I tried steel wool but it did not give me good results either.Once I got the blades like I wanted them,I then masked them off and painted the base. I was going to shoot clear on the blades but I changed my mind

P1010178_zps6iynmr6u.jpg

oldcutlass

Is the OP's a stock fan or not?

steverw

looks like a good fan to me, looks almost stock, paint it black, it will look stock and try it. If its cools good, and its not too loud use it. I have an older aluminum flex fan on my Vette, its kinda noisey but it cools good. Someday i may put an original on it.
I dont know if thats a stock fan but it looks factory, did they use aluminum blade fans?
Steve

jimvbills

All, thanks for the guidance and reply. The fan is among 3 that I got with the car when I bought it. 69 convertible that had a 400 in it. The fan that was on that was painted black but same shape, same blade shapes and diameter.

jimvbills

Gary GH5168,

Did you have a specific wire wheel you used and did you use a corded drill or battery drill?

Gary's 2 442-S

I used a 4 1/2 electric grinder with the wire wheel attachment I got from Home Depot. It was really fairly easy using it compared to the steel wool. It actually screws down on the grinder. I was really happy how it turned out. It takes every bit of the oxidation off. I painted the clutch with Aluminum Blast paint. I also used that same paint to restore the alternator and plan on using it for the transmission.

P1010180_zpsejml7o2n.jpg

I used the one below on my cordless drill. It was ok but the other one above was better.

P1010181_zpsq0h04v8w.jpg

jimvbills

Thanks for the scoop Gary

Gary's 2 442-S

You are so very welcome.

MDchanic

That is 100% a factory fan. They painted the blades black.




Just paint it black and put it back on your car. Nobody can see it anyway.

You're making a big deal out of nothing.

- Eric

oldcutlass

Thanks for the clarification Eric.

MDchanic

Glad to help.

If you've only seen the pre-'68 (roughly) fans, or the non-A/C fans, the factory ones look a bit odd, but they were used at least through the eighties.

(And, yes, they've always got a blade in an odd spot, and sometimes the blades look bent or crooked, but they're the way they're supposed to be
Also, needless to say, but if you're not careful, you CAN mount these backwards).

- Eric

oldcutlass

I'm familiar with the odd fan blade spacing with fans. Just that one looked like the older style flex fan.