Fan Shroud - What Options?

[byersmtrco]

The lwr 1/2 won't go in properly w/the radiator in place. Plus my bolt holes didn't line up. Easy fix. I installed it to the radiator while it was out (After measuring exactly where the fan is in relation to the radiator)

I still say Ford made shrouds for these cars. Good luck finding that. I would prefer a metal shroud. The quality of the Dearborn repo is pretty good (except for those lwr mnt'g holes, but afterall it IS for a Galaxie)

It helps with the heat but I feel only in combo with other parts (bigger fan etc) The shroud w/the four blade would be a waste of time and $$$$$$ !!!

[bcomo]

Yeah. I found that the "ABS Plastic" shround that I ordered from Bird Nest is too flimsy to take a chance with. Unfortunately, I got the darned bottom 1/2 wedged in between the fan and the radiator. It was like a chinese puzzle trying to get it out for an hour in the heat.

I decided that it wasn't worth taking the chance on puncturing a hole in the radiator -- so I cut the bottom 1/2 out with my dremel, and tossed it.

So, now I have the choice of installing just the top 1/2, or not. I think that I will do that -- it will make my thumb feel better.

[tbird430]

Speaking of that, How is ur thumb anyay?

[bcomo]

It's all healed now. Lucky that it was my left hand; I'm right handed so I could still do things.

Thanks for asking.

[byersmtrco]

It's worth running.
I was looking at the radiator in a 59? Lincoln at a recent car show (was a 430 eng) but that radiator looked a few inches wider than TB and had a (metal)shroud. Any thoughts on that? The height looked right. Any way to put a bigger radiator in there would be good.

[LuckyJay]

Yea, Bathroom operations are a real chore with a bad thumb on the dominant hand.

[bcomo]

John:

I don't know if the radiator that I have is stock. It's much wider than the fan shroud that I got. The other thing is that it's so thick that there's only about 1 1/2" clearance from the fan. But it's mounted in the stock bolt holes.

All that I know is that It never overheats or boils over after a soakdown. I thought that the radiator cap was bad, so I bought another one at 13 lbs -- still no boil over.

Some time I may get a chance to see another 430 and have a ruler in my pocket to get measurements --

(Actually, someday I'd like to see another Squarebird in person -- period)

Wildcat15:

Absolutely true !!