Engine fan size

[68coronetGLwannabe]

What would be the best fan size to use on stock 440 17" 18" or ? It has a 4 row aluminium Radiator. Steel or Flex fan and how many blades? It has no shroud yet, will have one made after figuring out fan size. Thanks

[firefighter3931]

What would be the best fan size to use on stock 440 17" 18" or ? It has a 4 row aluminium Radiator. Steel or Flex fan and how many blades? It has no shroud yet, will have one made after figuring out fan size. Thanks

I haven't seen a "4 row aluminum" rad....everything is a dual core with 1in tubes. 

One thing i found when i upgraded to the aluminum rad is that things are very tight under there....i ended up going with an electric fan. If you plan to run a fan there will be no room for a fan clutch so it will need to be solid mounted with a spacer. A lightweight 17in with a shroud is probably your best option....mechanical fans rob a fair bit of horsepower...especially if there is no clutch to reduce parasitic drag at higher rpms.


Ron

[68coronetGLwannabe]

How close should the fan be to the radiator. I could be wrong on rad. size it was in the car when I purchased it. It has an electric fan it it now but it runs all the time is it missing some sort of relay or thermostat control? It appears to be hooked up direct because when you start the car it comes on. Yesterday was the first time I drove it and temp never got 140*.

[2Gunz]

The Fan should be pretty close to the Rad.

And Electric is the way to go.

But Ideally it should have a temp sensor that kicks it on.

Im not an expert on this but I would say above the thermostat temp

and below to hot.

Somebody here will have the ideal 440 engine temp but I suspect
its in the 180-220 range.

Mine runs about 190 and seems to like it.

The temperature sensor and relay can be found on Ebay, summit and a
zillion other places.

[firefighter3931]

2Gunz is correct....there should be a thermostatic switch wired into the electrical side of your fan. Personally i like them to run cooler....170* is my "target" temp   

Unless this is a dual fan electric setup you probably won't need a relay....my single fan doesn't. 



Ron

[2Gunz]

What was the stock thermostat for a 440 in a charger?

I think I have a 190 in mine.

Which after saying you like colder maybe I will get a different one.

[2Gunz]

Most of the temp probes I have seen come with a relay as part of the deal.

And if your target is 170 (cause Ron is the man) I would still pick 180 - 190
as the trigger temp.

That way the fan can turn of at highway speeds. Its counter productive
at that point.

Anyway Im still running a crap flex fan. But I have all the parts for the
electric upgrade. Guess I should get my ass on it this weekend.

Anyway Ron.... you rock love your advice!

[68coronetGLwannabe]

Thanks for the help. I will get  me a temp sensor.

[firefighter3931]

What was the stock thermostat for a 440 in a charger?

I think I have a 190 in mine.

Which after saying you like colder maybe I will get a different one.

2Gunz ;

Stock thermostat is 180*....i like to run a 160 hi flow stat (milidon) and a 170* switch on the electric fan. Somewhere between 170-180 seems ideal from my experience. As the engine mods progress....heads/cam/headers etc... become more agressive, increased cooling capacity seems to help. The junk fuel they sell today is designed for high pressure EFI fuel systems and is prone to vapor lock/boiling so anything you can do to keep the engine (and fuel supply) cooler helps, bigtime ! I'm a firm believer in blocking off the heat crossover (stock heads) and using a carb spacer or thick insulating gasket to keep conductive heat away from the fuel bowls.


Sorry, we strayed a little off topic here....seems to happen a lot. 



Ron