Hello All,
Here's an update on what I did to make a Flex-o-lite Stainless steel Flex
Fan fit a Series V Alpine.
As I discovered when I bought the 13" unit, I realized that it would not
simply bolt on (does anything?). The center hole of the fan was too small
to clear the water pump shaft, and the bolt spacing was also not wide
enough for the bolts to line up. The bolt spacing was solved simply with a
"rat tail" file, and some "eye balling," but my concerns were with the
centering of the fan to the water pump. Removing the material from the fan
was not a good option because that would probably make the fan too weak to
operate safetly, so a spacer was probably the best way to go. I did some
measurements, and decided I could go 0.5 inches forward, and still have
enough clearance from the radiator. This would give me enough room to clear
the nose of the water pump with the fan, and solve my problems. I had the
machine shop at work make me up a spacer with a nipple on the other end so
the fan would center correctly and everything would remain balanced.
Without centering everything, my concerns were that the vibrations from
this rotating fan would eventually ruin the water pump bearing. I can't
wait to bolt this whole thing together later this week. I just need to stop
by the hardware store for longer bolts!
You can see pictures of this spacer at:
http://www.tomyang.com/cars/alpinespacer.htm
Tom
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