Adding secondary electric fan - do's and don'ts?

[miketyler]

I am convinced that the OEM belt-driven fixed fan is the best cooling method for my car. I want to add a secondary electric pusher fan to help out.

My car is an AC car and I need to provide clearance for this 16" pusher SPAL fan I want to install. I need about 3.5" on the front side of my 26" radiator. Right now I have 2" airspace between it and the condensor. It would be VERY messy to try and move the condensor forward so I am looking hard at moving the radiator towards the engine for the clearance I need.

I can bend up a couple of U channels that will allow me to mount the radiator closer to the engine and will be completely un-doable. So far I see the washer bottle will have to be moved and radiator hoses shortened.

I have about 2" clearance from the front edge of the fan blade to the radiator. When moved, will leave only 1/2" clearance between it and the radiator. Doing this will also put most of the fan blades inside the shroud. Do I want to do this or do I need to get a shorter spacer block and move the fan back away from the radiator and try and maintin the 2" space?  I do not want to lose any cooling ability and assumptions made in the past have bit me in the butt.

Thoughts? As a side note, are there any 4-row radiator products out there that will bolt right into the stock 26" place and will accept OEM shroud?

[Chryco Psycho]

The HHr fan seems to be the best value for the $$ , I do not know of any 4 row rads that will work better for you

[miketyler]

Is that a pusher? Am keeping my stock OEM fan on the backside. The SPAL is probably the best aftermarket fan out there next to some of the heavy duty OEMs.  So no loss of air movement bringing the radiator closer to the fan? If I change the spacer block to space it off the radiator it will get very close to the front of my 4groove crank pulley. Didnt want to go there unless I had to. 

[Katfish]

What will the effect be when you are pushing air from both sides to the middle?

Maybe just creating some seperation between the radiator and condenser will help.

[miketyler]

This is what I was looking for regarding shroud or fan-to-rad spacing.

http://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=5311306&page=0&fpart=2&vc=1

[regarding fan blade spacing in the shroud]
"start with getting a 50/50 spacing in the shroud, 75 % in, has the same effect as 75 % out, from what I've found with playing with wingcars, buy placing a sheet of typewriter paper on the grille at idle, and playing with nothing but a handful of spacers with the same car, 50/50 seemed to hold the paper to the grille, where as to far in, or out wouldn't hold the paper to the grille,....unscientific perhaps?"