HT413
Semi Pro Bowler
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.
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.
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.)
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).
Hopefully sometime in the next week I'll have some time to apply some resin.
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.
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.
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.)
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).
Hopefully sometime in the next week I'll have some time to apply some resin.