Thread: model A, fitting everthing between rad and firewall

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I am in the process of mocking up 29 Ford Tudor. This is what I,ve got. TCI chassis, 327 SBC, four inch recessed firewall, Walker rad with AC condenser(4" thickness), will be running a smaller diameter HEI distributor. I,ve got a mock block and trans bolted together, thier just hanging in the frame right now. I want to make sure everything fits before any welding is done. With everything in place(3/8" clearance distributor to firewall), I have 1 1/2" from waterpump nose to rad. I don't think thats enough room for an electric fan is it? I see all those model A's out there with air conditioning and the four inch recessed fire wall, and running electric fans, just not sure how they do it. I'm just going to run a hood top (homemade), so I could slide the rad ahead a 1/2' maybe. I don't want to move the engine back, it ruins the look. I could go smaller rad (thickness) but then where do I put the condenser? Anybody out there with model A's that can offer advice? Great informative site, sorry about the long post.

Well let's kick this thread up to the top again and see if any other Model-A builders answer. I do not have a radiator yet but I have installed a short water pump with a single-groove pulley setup and a 19" flex fan. I added 1.6 ratio roller tipped rockers to my 350 because the lift is greater AND the roller tips are supposed to make the engine run cooler since the regular rocker arms really rub hard against the valve tips and cause a lot of heat; some people say the oil is 20 degrees cooler with roller tip rockers. In addition I am toying with using a deuce shell BECAUSE there is room behind the (very expensive) grill for a blow-through fan from the front of the radiator if the flex fan does not cool enough. I would be interested to know where the back edge of your radiator is relative to the center of the radiator mounting holes. As I said in a previous thread the distance from the center of the radiator hole to the center of the motor mount bolt is 13 1/2" on my Brookville frame. So far there seems to be plenty of clearance with the front crossmember and U-bolts for a two-groove pully setup if I want to use it (I have the pully set). I just bought a HEI distributor from Summit and the tech guy at Bebops said their '29 roadster firewall would handle it, but just in case can you tell me about a small cap version of the HEI distributor?

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

Some thoughts:

- A short water pump is absolutely essential. That gains 1-5/16"
- I have had little luck with flex fans If you use one, you need a good radiator shroud.
- Most electric fans are a little over 4" thick. I'd choose an electric over an engine mounted fan every day.
- Don't depend on measurements from us. Have the fan, the body and the radiator mounted. Mock it all up. Otherwise, you're guaranteed to have to re-do it all.

If your firewall is set back 4", and your radiator is really 4" thick, I don't think your engine will fit unless you set the grill shell about 2" farther ahead of its stock position. I am building a model A with a 4" recessed firewall, a 2" thick radiator, and a short nosed waterpump. The radiator fits fully foreward as far as it can go inside a stock 32 rad shell, which is in the same position as the model A grillshell. From the inside of the radiator core to the end of my short waterpump shaft is only 3 1/4", and from the rear of the HEI cap to the indented firewall is 3/8". Don---I don't think your flex fan will work---it will set too close to the bottom of the radiator to be effective. To make a mechanically driven fan work you will need to buy an aftermarket hi-rise waterpump that will lift the center of the fan about 3" from a stock G.M. position. (Zips sell these). A 15 " diameter electric fan x 4" thick will fit just about perfectly by hanging the motor part of the fan back over top of the Chev water pump nose.---this also positions the fan closer to the top of the radiator, where it has a better chance of cooling the water as it enters the top of the rad and works its way downward thru the tubes. I bought one of these fans at a wreckers for $25 and fuilt my own supports and fan shroud.

Don,

I had a flex fan on my BBC model A, and it was marginal at best. Actually, it worked . . . until I stopped at a light. As brian says, it's too low.

Well thanks Brian and Henry, I learned a few things and as usual Brian's picture helped a lot so maybe LAY N LO got some help too. For my part the main thing I learned is that the electric motor can be above the water pump hub and intrude into the space above the pump pully to allow a closer radiator. Nobody yet commented on the idea of the electric fan on the front of the radiator (as suggested by "Bill" at Bebops). I knew about the part of it being better to have the fan higher but not that the electric motor could be further back if placed higher. I guess I need to look at the electric fan idea more closely.

Don Shilady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

There is a new fan out there, I believe it's by Be-Cool. The motor part of the fan is raised up or offset to make the fan thinner for tight space constraints. In most "A's" that I've looked at, the engines are set back quite a bit. I can't give you any help here due to the fact my car's blown which needs lots of setback room. These A Bones are really small cars! I don't know which fan you are thinking of using, but I would us a 16". Make the room for the fan. You don't want to be stuck with to small a fan. You want to keep her cool! Get all you parts and mock it up. The other option, you could run a 32 Grill Shell and use a pusher fan in front of the radiator. Good luck.

I do not believe that there is room to run a pusher fan on the front of a 32 style grill. There is only about 1 1/4" available between the front of the rad and the inside of the grill bars.

I use two 8" oil cooler fans above the pump pulley. Since it is a downflow radiator, the positioning of the fan higher up doesn't hurt.