Hi fellow Oldsophiles:
I'm exploring the '66 Toronado I purchased this summer and noticed the oddity of the fan shroud. It does not cover the entire radiator. I"m wondering if this is correct or if a previous owner installed something from another car. It seems to fit the other dimensions of the radiator fine. I hoping someone can shed some light on this one.
Thanks!

 

It is most likely correct as the 67 Cutlass and full size Olds this was the case. I would think this is true in 66 as well.

 

Just checked the radiator/fan shroud on my '66 Toro, and the first 3 inches or so (driver side) of the radiator core are not covered by the fan shroud. A possible explanation might be that the temperature difference between engine coolant and ambient air is greatest in this area and doesn't need the benefit of the shroud as much. As the coolant moves left to right in the core and loses its heat along the way with its temperature dropping, then the shroud and enhanced air flow becomes more beneficial. I'm not an engineer in thermodynamics, but I think this explanation is as good as any.

 

Thank you for the quick responses! And the thermodynamic explanation seems really reasonable!

 

Olds only made one shroud in ‘66. It covers the full width of the Culass/442, but as you’ve noticed only 2/3’s - 3/4’s of the big car and Toro larger radiators. I augmented mine with a left hand piece of a later Toro shroud to make it full width. My solution isn’t elegant (zip tie engineering), but it works .

Look under my user name for pictures from past 2-3 months somewhere.

I figure it was accountants being cheap. Or maybe since gas was better and traffic was less they just didn’t need ‘em full width. But I need mine full width now.

Chris