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My DIY fan shroud project...

HT413

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Ok, boys, here's my foray into fabbing my own fiberglass fan shroud. I have the classic symptoms of needing a shroud (cools fine at speed in any weather, but overheats when not moving). Problem is that my application is custom (summit alum radiator) AND my fan overhangs the radiator in 3 places, so a prefab or kit alum or stainless shroud just won't do it.

My inspiration - http://www.route66hotrodhigh.com/FanShroud.html

And away we go...

First, I measured the fan and rad and then cut them out of hardboard. I made the fan template about 1" larger in RADIUS, just to give me a bit of wiggle room. Then I marked the center point of the fan on the rad and set a 3-1/2" screw at that point. I kept that 3-1/2" screw in place the whole time.

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Next I measured for shroud depth so the fan will be half in / half out of the shroud. This left me with about 3-1/4" on top and 1-3/4" on bottom, since the engine tips back a bit.

So I cut up some spacers with some scrap wood, dry fit em, got em just right and wood glued em in place. Let that set then sank some screws in place. Before I sank the screws, I used that 3-1/2" screw to line everything up. If that screw was perpendicular to the rad template, I knew it was all centered correctly. I checked that from a couple of angles (top and side).

Here's where I added a step. Since my fan blade extended beyond the radiator in 3 places, I felt the shroud would contact the blades at the forward tips. So I built in some spacers to hold the shroud back off the blade at the tips. I measured the blade and found I needed 1" or forward room fine, so I made it 1-1/4" to be safe.

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Here's where I left off for now. Stretched the fabric out (got a couple of yards of stretchy stuff from Walmart at $2.50 per yard. Only needed 1 yard but I picked up some extra.)
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You can see how those spacers I put in will give the fan blade some more forward room and keep the tips from contacting the shroud (hopefully).
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Hopefully sometime in the next week I'll have some time to apply some resin.
 
Nah, I teach night school Tuesday and Thursday. Hopefully this weekend I can get some time for the 1st coat of resin.
 
Well, forgive the lack of pictures, but that 1st attempt went a bit awry. Stunk the house to high heavens (my pregnant wife was non pleased) and to boot, I, er, failed to appropriatly utilize the mold release. So, well, the mold did not prefer to release and i was unsuccessful in persuading it otherwise.

I have lived and learned, thus the next attempt should fail in entirely new and interesting ways.
 
Yeah I screwed up and didn't use any release either, even followed the same how-to page you did haha I think I can save mine though, just gonna use a circular saw set to depth to cut the radiator core portion out of the shroud and shave the excess with a dremel like that page said. Next time I'd just lay wax paper under the fabric, should release fine doing it that way.

Still trying to button up my grille resto, but I'll get back with the program here shortly haha

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Finally got to make another attempt tonight. Used blue masking tape to provide some release then spread a thin coat of vaseline for good measure. Should be ready to be cut out and glassed tomorrow, we'll see if i have the time though.
 
Found some time this morning for a layer of glass on the inside. Kind of made a mess of it, but another couple of steps and i should be good to go. This time I decided to use Sheetrock for the radiator cutout and am pretty pleased with how it performed. I was looking for something stiffer than the fiberboard but easy to break up and remove, really didn't want to wrestle plywood or particle board. I left about 1" frame of the Sheetrock for rigidity. Pleased with how the Sheetrock performed.

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Got it sanded and primed. Now to trim it up and some finish work and we're rollin. Boy does my fiberglass work suck, I have an awful lot of fiber cleanup and I'm sure some reinforcing to do on the inside. Outside looks decent, just needs a little filler and it should be good to go.

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- - - Updated - - -

wax paper or suran wrap will release also.

Thanks for the tip on the Saran Wrap. I used that for my 2nd layer of fiber, to press it all down nice and firm. Wish I knew that for the 1st layer lol, boy did I need to do some cleanup.
 
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Okey dokey fellas, here's a quick photo of it DONE and in place. I'm going to wait a few days to let the paint cure before I wrestle the fan and clutch into place and final mount the shroud. Test fit looks great, it fits the rad nicely and the fan looks pretty much dead center.

After a few just a little filler and a few sanding / priming sessions - she done.

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Speedfreak, your setup looks awesome. Hey, what fabric did you use? Mine was definitely too flimsy and caused some minor waveyness in a couple of areas. Love the thumbtack idea, bro.
 
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