that will do it every time.

 

I got the radiator in last night along with a new lower hose and thermostat, one in it was stuck open (go figure). I also put in the clutch fan. I had a few misadventures as well, lets just say it was a good thing I have spare engine sitting right next to it.

The engine seems to idle so much smoother without any adjustment and the sucker warms right up. The gauge works it's way to about the "m" in "Temp" then settles down right in the middle within 5 minutes at a stationary idle, usually it takes about 10 minutes and 5 miles of driving to get it up into the normal range. I'm going to do some running around today so lets see how it does.

No electric fan found yet but I'm still looking. I do still intend to put one in. I'll keep you posted here.

 

I did a bunch of running around and it ran fine. It hovered around the "M"s on the gauge, anyone notice the the Ms line up on "TEMP" and "NORMAL" with the needle? Hmmm.

It does seem to be harder and harder to start with short hops between starting and parking, my battery is either too small, bad or my alternator is giving up as well.

I found a fan on eBay for $20+$20, yay!

There are few more on there that would run about $65-75 shipped if anyone is looking use "Lincoln Mark VIII fan" & "Thunderbird fan" as search terms. Mine is apparently out of a Cougar.

I got my new alternator in yesterday and it might take me a bit to get the wiring ready but I'm eager to get it in.

Onward and upward.

 

Budget Dual Fan Controller Setup / Taurus Fan Setup - NastyZ28.com

You may want to check out this method of controlling your two speed fan. The good thing about this set up is your fan will turn on low automatically and also switch to high automatically. There are two different temp sensors that you can use 180/195 for low speed and 195/210 for high speed. I have not done this but it does not look to difficult to wire up.

 

Awesome! I'll bet I can get that stuff!

I'm thinking I might need a lower temp thermostat though. The oem spec I put in was a 192*, the alternate is 180*.

 

I just went to the wrecking yard with mixed results.

Bummer; The '78 I took the fan out of last week was gone. It's a terrible shame, it looked like it had only been there a short while and had a ton of good parts on it still. I was going to take both of it's doors.

Good; there was another '78 there that still had a 180* thermostat and good housing on it. Someone had torn apart the dash and made a real mess but left almost all of the gauges, lord knows what they were after. I took the ammeter to send to Rocketman's Classic Cougar Innovations for a volt meter core. The right door was in good enough condition that I decided to take it. I also found an early '90s Mustang that had the alternator harness I need.

Really good; I found the Volvo fan relay! I also found a BMW 3 series with the temp switch, I'm not sure which one it is but since I found it I figured I might as well take it. Edit*** I just realized it is marked on the outside of the switch, it's marked 91*/99* (195/210). Score!

 

Ok here is my dumbie question of the day:

If I have a 195* sensor and 195* thermostat wont they just be dueling back and forth and causing the fan to trip then the the thrmostat to close in an endless cycle? It seems this would kind of defeat the purpose. Should I put the 180* thermostat in when I put the fan all together so the fan wont trip untiil 195* which might not happen at all during cooler conditions or leave the 195 thermo in knowing it will trip the fan more often?

Dumbie question #2:

Do I have to mount the switch on the radiator? There are 2 "ports" on the thermostat housing itself for the mounting of vacuum control valves. Couldn't I just put it there? Wouldn't it most likely get a more consistent reading?

 

I still haven't gotten everything together yet. I but I've been studying the thread 1978Quinn linked to and I think it will work great set up like this.

I think I'm going to find a power control box from a mid 90s T-bird. It will clean up my wiring a bunch and give me all kinds of options for future add-ons.



EDIT***

Just to summarize what I have or plan to have:

Ford 3g 130 amp alternator https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/9...g-upgrade.html

T-bird power control box with 175 Mega fuse bar and a good amount of fuse slots and 2 relay blocks.

Cougar 2 speed electric fan (aka MkVIII fan)

BMW double temp 91*/99*C (195*/210*F) coolant sensor switch mounted to the thermostat housing w/180* thermostat.

Volvo dual speed fan controller relay.

 

Doing this mod this weekend on my 460 with a new 3-core radiator (the big 24" X 26" one) from Vatozone because it is the only copper & brass radiator I could find locally. I got the Volvo 2-spd controller and the BMW 2-stage temp switch at the local JY for $6.00 total... I've had the 3G and the Mark VIII 2-spd fan for a couple of months but I got them from the same yard for $25 (fan) and $17 (3G alt). finally got time this weekend, so I'm going for it. I still need to re-tap the water neck to M14-1.5 for the BMW temp switch but that is a quick job. waiting for the replacement plug parts to show up but hopefully before Saturday.

 

AWESOME!!

I hope this thread helped. Let us know and see how it turned out.

I'm into the the controller and switch about $5. I need to find the tap for the switch, I'm pretty sure I know where to get it but haven't had the time to get over there. I'm waiting for the switch connections and I haven't found the fan connector, I'm not going to buy a new one. I'll try a Taurus connector and if that doesn't fit I'm just going to use spade connectors. I really would like to get the T-bird box before I hook everything up. I need to get the LEDs and figure out the best way to hook them up. I've decided I can probably mount them on right side of the actual water temp gauge, that should work pretty good there.

I also got my converted volt meter last night to round out my alternator upgrade so I'll put that in the same time I put in the LEDs.

 

I don't know why the previous post didn't post with line breaks.

Weird.

OK fixed it

 

Those two speed fans are controlled from the factory by 70 amp relays. I do not know the amp rating on the Volvo fan control but I would guess it is not rated at 70 amps. If it were me I would look in to having the red c2 and the green c1 as control wires on a two 70 amp relays and have fused power coming directly from the battery. You may be able to control the low speed side with the volvo controller but that high speed side of the fan draws quite a bit of power. Again I have not researched this that much but I think it is something that may need to be considered.

Quinn

 

It doesn't come up in the nastyz28 thread but in reading up on the mod it is discussed in at least one of these FTE threads.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...ctric-fan.html

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...n-upgrade.html

It appears the Mk VIII fan can draw a momentary start up current of 70 Amp IF it starts directly in high speed. When it starts on low it draws something in the neighborhood of 30 Amp at starting then settles down to around 20 Amp running. When the high takes over from low it will start up and run with +2 to 5 Amps over low.

The power control box is going to be the first thing past the battery side of the solenoid and will be drawing directly off the alternator when the fan kicks on. The markings on the Volvo controller indicate the input is 30 Amps and most the users on nastyz28 are using 40 Amp fuses or breakers. I think I'll start out with a 30 and see what happens.

 

Looks like you have done your homework on the electric fan front. It sounds like you should be good with a standard relay, at least on low. Good luck.

Quinn

 

I should be good on both speeds If the system works as it's supposed to. The highest momentary draw will only be around 30 Amps as the High setting will not pull 70 because the fan will already be turning and pulling power. The normal running current on high should only be about 22 amps or so.

I doubt the high setting will ever actually kick in but it will be there if it's ever needed. If it does become a problem I'll have a plan b and c. I'll have spare fuses and have some bypass wires ready if I need them. Then I'll rearrange the wiring to address any problems. Like adding a 70 Amp relay to the high circuit.

I really don't think it will be necessary. I'm sure someone would have jumped onto at least one of the threads I've been studying, some of which are several years old and have posts that are very recent, by now and indicated if anything more than a 40 Amp fuse or breaker would be needed.