Ron, I believe the advantage is at speed where the airflow is sufficient to
cool and thus the fan clutch slips. You'll cool the radiator more than
necessary with a fixed fan, but then the thermostat should shut and potentially
use more power at higher engine speeds. Ideally the plan is to keep the block
at a constant temperatre which is optimal for ignition of the fuel mixture. I
did see an email about problems finding fan belts for the older pulley on the
list the other day (apologies to the lister as I do not have it handy).
I got a used (great condition) fan cluch from Harold (
http://www.haroldstrmgparts.com). No connection, financial interest etc., just
a very helpful guy and parts source for me locally. He does ship as well. There
are other used parts sources around. I've even seen the fan clutches on ebay. I
also did not want to get an electric fan, but they do use less power and are
more efficient for the varying speeds/temperatures. They cost about the same as
a brand new fan clutch.
Since you'll have to take out the water pump to remove the old one and replace
it with a fixed one, the amount of work is probably about the same if you can
get a good used clutch.
Alan
'76 Spitfire
Original Message:
-----------------
From: Ron Roach rroach@direct.ca
Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2000 12:38:41 -0700
Subject: viscous fan
Hey all!
The fan clutch on my Spit has lots of play in it, and I want to change it
soon before it puts a hole in the bonnet. They're pretty expensive new.
What's the real advantage of having these over just hard mounting the fan so
that it spins all the time? I don't drive the car in winter, so fast heat
up is not a concern. I'm not really interested in going the through the
hassle of finding an electric fan setup.
thanks in advance,
Ron '78 Spit
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