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Twin Thermals

26K views 81 replies 26 participants last post by  Aussiblue 
#1 ·
Removed stock fan from my 78 ZH fairlane & fitted 16" Ice Thermal fan (pushing thru radiator). No drama yet, i.e. doesnt overheat, but see bigger temperature variation in traffic and low speed driving ( 160 deg high flow thermostat, high flow water pump, new 3 core rad.), and summers a commin.
Believe twin thermals from AU may be a better bet. Anyone know if these fit ZH's on engine side? will additional cowling be required?
Alecz
 

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#2 ·
From looking at my Zed's bay and seeing how neatly a set of AU thermo's can fit an XB, i'd say there's be plenty of room. I'll give it a go when funds permit.
 
#3 ·
GreenMachine said:
From looking at my Zed's bay and seeing how neatly a set of AU thermo's can fit an XB, i'd say there's be plenty of room. I'll give it a go when funds permit.
I've just gone through the process of putting AU fans on a XC(? might be an XD rad, but was in an XC at some point) and they almost fit like they were made for it.... they're exactly the right width for the core, you just need to knock the mounting lugs off the fan shroud and clearance a little for the upper radiator hose, screw the upper part of the shroud to the radiator structural piece and bobs your uncle. :D

Yes, that set fit in Blue Raven's XB rather nicely if I do say so myself.... :p

Ben
 
#4 ·
Dont buy second hand ones because the brushes will probably be rooted. You can tell they are if there is a lot of dust coming out of the motors. A guy on E Bay was selling lots of them from Taxis and the brushes were all but gone.
ICE 16" thermo is a pisser, the blades are tiny narrow. You said you put it as a pusher (in front of the radiator) and took the stock fan off, doesnt make sense. You only take the fan off to make room for the thermo.
 
#5 ·
xcgxl said:
Dont buy second hand ones because the brushes will probably be rooted. You can tell they are if there is a lot of dust coming out of the motors. A guy on E Bay was selling lots of them from Taxis and the brushes were all but gone.
ICE 16" thermo is a pisser, the blades are tiny narrow. You said you put it as a pusher (in front of the radiator) and took the stock fan off, doesnt make sense. You only take the fan off to make room for the thermo.[/QUOTE

Fitted the thermal in front of rad. so I could refit stock fan in case thermal not up to task, or run both to boost cooling with thermal in traffic.
But no doubt, stock fan moves more air than thermal, even at idle, I'll junk it.
Found some listed on "American Auto Parts" for $240 new, I'll try em.
Alecz
 
#8 ·
fordarn said:
i have a ba ones on my xd they work great as well i was told that pull through are better than push through
Was forced to refit stock engine fan, ICE thermal couldnt hack it on a hot day ( not much better on a cool day either-they really are crap ), have ordered twim AU's, which should do the trick. Nothing wrong with stock engine fan though, just dont like all that wasted energy to spin it at high revs. Might even leave the crap ICE fan on (push) when I fit the twin AU's, just to see the affect of a "menage a trois"
Alecz
 
#9 ·
alecz said:
Was forced to refit stock engine fan, ICE thermal couldnt hack it on a hot day ( not much better on a cool day either-they really are crap ), have ordered twim AU's, which should do the trick. Nothing wrong with stock engine fan though, just dont like all that wasted energy to spin it at high revs. Might even leave the crap ICE fan on (push) when I fit the twin AU's, just to see the affect of a "menage a trois"
Alecz
What price did you get the AU fans for? Are they genuine or aftermarket??
 
#12 ·
xcgxl said:
In what way are the aftermarket ones better then the genuine ones? Are they foted with the heavy duty four pole motors the same as the genuine ones? Genuine ones are made by KAMCO, (BOSCH in Korea)http://www.kamco.co.kr/en/en.htm
Cant fully answer that one, except that most aft/mkt components and/or equip manufacturers generally redress known issues of stock components. Whether this applies in this case, stuffed if I know. But now I'm curious, I'll ring em to find out exactly what I'm getting, & let you know.
Alecz
 
#13 ·
ZK 351 said:
I have EL twin's on mine, and i can sit in traffic with Air con on and not even go over 1/2 gauge on a 40degree day.....
I also installed a set of EL fans. THEY ARE EXCELENT.

Bye new because the bearings can be worn on second-hand items. Mine cost me $250.

I had to upgrade my alternator to handle the amps they draw. I chose a Bosch 120 amp unit, (agricultural use only !).

No problems now with my 650 amp battery slowly being drained. Be sure to get a sparky to wire it up properly, cos we are talking some serious amps here, which can lead to some smouldering, melting wires.
 
#14 ·
Hey 'XE Ghia 351 on LPG' how did you go with fitting those thermos?

Ive got a set sitting in the shed ready to fit but Ive been contemplating retro fitting a late model radiator as well.

Which Rad are you using and what mods have you done to get them to fit?

Got any pics?
 
#15 ·
Rhett said:
I also installed a set of EL fans. THEY ARE EXCELENT.

Bye new because the bearings can be worn on second-hand items. Mine cost me $250.

I had to upgrade my alternator to handle the amps they draw. I chose a Bosch 120 amp unit, (agricultural use only !).

No problems now with my 650 amp battery slowly being drained. Be sure to get a sparky to wire it up properly, cos we are talking some serious amps here, which can lead to some smouldering, melting wires.
I agree with rhett they do drain mega power I had to upgrade my alternator and battery to cope with the extra drain, but they do work a treat mine runs pretty cool anyway but on a hot day when the temp gauge creaps upto 1/2 i flick the switch and it drops down to less than 1/4 in a matter of seconds, after stuffing roun with single fans on other cars i wouldnt bother using any other thermofans but these mine cost me $280 fitted.
 
#21 ·
grey_esp said:
Hey 'XE Ghia 351 on LPG' how did you go with fitting those thermos?

Ive got a set sitting in the shed ready to fit but Ive been contemplating retro fitting a late model radiator as well.

Which Rad are you using and what mods have you done to get them to fit?

Got any pics?
You can call me Rhett and no I don't have any pictures (or diagrams) yet.

Remove the radiator and be careful not to damage the cooling fins during every stage of the process. It took me a few hours to get everything just right, but the end result looks as if the car came with these fans.

You will need to cut off quite a bit of unnecessary plastic from the shroud edges. I attached a metal mount along the bottom of my radiator for the fans to sit in, then screwed the shroud to the top of the radiator. This way I only have to remove the top screws, then lift the fans out of the bottom mount.

Eric from ATT Radiators in Malaga made up a huge 4 core radiator with side tanks for easy installation in my XE. I highly recommend his work. You should see the massive radiator he made for my son’s XY wagon. IT IS AWESOME. It also uses a set of EL fans and will be enough to cool any high compression big block running straight gas (with attitude).

I also got some new rubber mounts from Coventrys in Morley for the radiator to sit in.

I picked up 3 little switches from RS Components in Osborne Park that close when they reach a specific temperature. They only cost about $8 each and I’ve mounted them all to the top of the radiator near the top inlet. A 60C switch activates one fan, a 75C switch turns on the other fan, and a 90C switch is connected to a reversing alarm to let me know that something is wrong before I go cooking my precious 351.

I’ve also wired up two coloured lights under my dash so I can tell when each fan turns on and off. You’ll be surprised that the fans hardly ever need to come on while cruising.

Be sure to use decent relays and thick wires and connectors.

I’ve also installed a high flow 160F thermostat and a custom aluminium water pump from Choice Radiators in Bellview, just to make sure that the rear pots receive their fair share of COOL coolant.

I’m very happy with the end result. The key is to take your time and don’t take any shortcuts, because

HEAT KILLS ENGINES !
 
#23 ·
Ive been running a VK commo fan on an adapter to a new davis craig clutch for the past 18 months but the dam thing has so much load on it the belt sounds like it about to jump out, and its bloody noisey.

So I picked up these fans off my bro, they are only about 6 months old. And to tell the truth I havent had time to even lift the bonnet to contemplate fitting them, so I was just after a bit of info and maybe a pic or two from some guys that have done them. So cheers fellas hopefully get a chance to have a look at it on the weekend.
 
G
#24 ·
basically i have 2 relays, one attached to adjustable thermo switch which is set to turn on over 1/2 gauge, and the other is triggered by the trigger wire for the air con, so when the air con comes on the thermos are on full time,
i dont have them coming on seperate at all, and they have done fine :)
and i used 15cm fuseable links for the main power to the relays.
 

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#25 ·
Don't bother with EL fans. The AU ones have a larger shroud, are offset to cool the radiator where it needs it most and as a bonus they are $100 cheaper new.

EL fans were designed to fit in the cramped e-series engine bays. The AU bay was redesiged and as a result the fan blades are thicker and better positioned. I'd go EL fans if I was cooling an I6, but the AU fans slaughter the EL's dollar for dollar.

I found I had to modify the AU fans exactly the same as gamma boy had to. 20 minutes work with an air hacksaw and they fit as if ford designed them that way. Mine kept the XD so cool that I ran the cam in on a 30 degree day without passing half. I'd love to see any other fans match that.
 
G
#26 ·
xdc351 said:
Don't bother with EL fans.
Mine kept the XD so cool that I ran the cam in on a 30 degree day without passing half. I'd love to see any other fans match that.
the ones i have are EL, and they cool my 351 just fine, i can sit in traffic on really hot days (like last summer in central NSW 40+ degree days) with the Air con ON, barely getting over 1/2 gauge, so i am sure i could run a cam in just as easilly as you could with the AU ones
 
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