Replacement Steel Fan? (OEM Plastic Fan Hit Radiator!)

[greensmurf20]

are there any steel fans that will bolt to the opel water pump and work with all stock exhisting parts? i think alot of us have seen those fans with "bent" blades. my manta did that to me today and just wasted a brand new 250 dollar radiator. i dont really trust them anymore, as i've had 2 cars do that and seen a few more in my parts stash like that. i can't get an electric fan setup to fit in the manta yet, and i really dont feel comfortable with the origionals anymore. anybody ever runa cross a steel replacement?

[baz]

jared i think after all these years any steel fan that you could get will be just as prone to bending
i think in the dim and distant past i used a plastic one from a pinto engined car over here , as i say it was a long time ago and I dont think you were born then

[greensmurf20]

i look at these fans on my dads chevys, and they just beefy, heavy, but wont bend on their own i know. i'll be more motivated to get a good electric fan in there now.

Gene's gonna kill me i swear!!!! radiator place wasnt open today so have no clue what he's gonna charge to redo the dang thing again. was 250 whack the first time.

[BQS4]

Jared;
You might want to check the motor mounts on your Manta. My sister had a 71 Manta that would "eat" a radiator every time she hit the brakes hard enough. I found out it was the motor mounts. They weren't broke, but, they were spoungy enoungh to allow the motor to shift forward enough, in hard braking, to allow the fan to kiss the radiator.
Gene

[greensmurf20]

i dropped the radiator off at dundons again, he's gonna cut out 4 cores and the rest are going to be ok i guess, and he'll comb out the louvers straight again, be ready for me on thursday but wont have paycheck till friday. so i'll go pick that up, send your radiator back FINALLY. the motor mounts will be a thing for me to check, altho when it happened i was accelerating, one of the fanblades was curled really badly and just one blade scraped it. might just have to bite the bullet and cut the front sheetmetal infront of the rad so a electric fan will fit.

[guyopel]

There is an aftermarket universal fan blade that will work , but noise is loud. you match up your blade dia. Note your adding extra weight to the
water pump shaft & brg. ( early fail rate ) ele. fan is best option here , just
my opinion

[RallyBob]

Originally Posted by greensmurf20 the motor mounts will be a thing for me to check, altho when it happened i was accelerating, one of the fanblades was curled really badly and just one blade scraped it. might just have to bite the bullet and cut the front sheetmetal infront of the rad so a electric fan will fit.

Just out of curiosity, is your lower raditor mount intact (and bolted in place)?
If not it probably caused the radiator to swivel back into the fan under acceleration.

You should be able to fit a 13" shallow-motor fan (2.5"?) without cutting anything. I fit one of these into my Ascona and there's a lot less room in front of an Ascona than a Manta.

HTH,
Bob

[greensmurf20]

i may have found a electric fan setup that will work. 2 actually, but need to have the tape measure determine my thinkings. the bottom mount on mine is not in tact but i did have it held forward with heavy bungee until i could make something up on my next day off of work. i will post a picture of the plastic fan tomarrow, no way around it, the fan its self is what failed. its like somebody just heated the one blade up, and bent it forward into the radiator, its really weird.

[pvcar]

had the same sort of thing happen in my gt i was doing donuts in a parking lot and about 5 minutes later i see steam coming out from the hood and i look and it was the fan had hit the radiator. so i got a new radiator and put it in the second i turned on the car it blew a whole in the new one, turned out both motor mounts were shot and the radiator mount was close to being broken off as well fixed everything and it works great.

[heimue]

It also happened to me. Engine mounts seem to be ok, i wasn't able to move the engine forward with a crow bar between engine and firewall. My fan blades are bend forward pretty much, and the contact was done when I braked pretty hard.
Any news on the electric fan? I would really love to get one in, but just by looking at the space available, I don't see it happen.
Dieter

[greensmurf20]

i didnt find a electric fan setup to fit in the manta/ascona body, they were just a bit too thick. i did see a silver manta with rear window louvers at carlisle that had a fan up front as a pusher without anything cut, i just can't find one with the same thin design, he said i tbought it a long time ago, i believe late 80's.

[namba209]

Jared, I got a 14" Perma-Cool fan for Willit? that's only 4" from radiator to the back side of the electric motor. It covers almost all of the core, and I'm lucky in that it goes on the engine side of the radiator with a fair amount of clearance. I can take a pic if you like.

[73 gt man]

A picture would be great Nam, living here in Phoenix I need some help getting air across the radiator, I overheat at idle so if I am in traffic I have to rev the engine to about 2500 to keep enough air moving to maintain temp.

[greensmurf20]

there isnt much room between the rad and stock engine, ron has alot more room between the two with his 3.4 liter V6 swap.

[namba209]

Jared, you're right, I do have a bit more room there. Darn, Margaret just took the camera with her, she's picking up a rescue dog and taking it up to central CA on a "Cur Run", they'll transfer the dog to two more times to get it to the new owners up in the Oakland area. I'll get the pics up tomorrow.

The Perma-Cool fan will also work as a pusher by swapping the electrical leads but will work at 80% capacity in that mode. Still, it should be enuff to keep things a lot cooler. BTW, I don't have the radiator installed right now, waiting to be able to stuff the motor back in, but the fan is mounted to the radiator. I'll put my tape measure next to the unit so you'll get an idea of distances.

[namba209]

O.K. here's the pics of the fan, and the specs on it. It moves 2950 CFM as a puller, but will lose 20% efficiency as a pusher, or 2650 CFM. Still more than enuff for my needs with the V-6. As Jared said I have a bit more room with the V-6, so I can use it as a puller. The part number from PermaCool is 19114, it is a high performance unit and measures 14" X 14" X 3.75". I lost a bit of clearance by the way I mounted it, but I prefer a solid mounting rather than the plastic tie wrap type that comes with the unit and I don't think I like anything rubbing on the cooling fins. As you may be able to tell on the one pic, the rear of the motor is just under 4" from the cooling fins. I don't know how much room would be available with the fan removed and the pulley left in place. Might work, might not. I think I bought mine from Jeg's for just under $100. HTH.

[bmetsoldier]

I'm in sort of the same boat. I only have 3 1/4 inches from my radiator to the pulley. I don't want to use the fan from a 1.9 on the 2.2. I think I will get better cooling by using a electric fan as a puller. Is anyone using one that works as a puller. It gets pretty hot in Texas