Ken and list,
First, credit and hat tip to Erich Coiner who mentioned the Derale 17515 fan
in his cooling success posts last August.
The TEAE tech tip recommends the Derale 17015, a six blade 15" heavy duty
flex fan (http://www.derale.com/hdflexfans.shtml) and the Ford Maverick
C9DZ-8600-A.
After re-reading Erich's posts about the Derale 17515, I ordered one from
summit racing for $30.99 (plus shipping) and installed it last weekend. The
Derale 17515 is a six blade 15" rigid race fan with aluminum blades
(http://www.derale.com/rigidfans.shtml). It is very similar in appearance
to the Maverick fan.
The 17515 has 2 inches of pitch. I'd estimate 1" of the pitch is forward of
the mounting point to the water pump hub and 1" of the pitch is aft of the
hub. The good news is there is no problem with clearing the upper radiator
hose. The bad news is it comes real close to the radiator. In fact, I had
to trim about 5/16" off of the leading edges of the fan blades. Since the
blades are made of aluminum, they are easily trimmed with aviation tin snips
and filed smooth. You need to be real careful putting the radiator back in.
I didn't have any problems with steering rack clearance.
The 17515 really pulls air. I am confident it is every bit as good, if not
better, than the results reported for the Derale 17015 in the TEAE tech tip,
which was better than the Maverick fan.
My car has the original radiator (I've had it flushed and flow checked),
original shroud, a stock (i.e. non high flow) water pump, fan holes blocked,
air plenum/baffling to eliminate hot air recirculation, LAT-1 induction,
otherwise original 260. Temp gauge calibrated. Two test drives so far in
95 degree ambient and the car never went above 190.
For the price, it is an attractive option.
Dave
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