3rdgenmaro

iTrader: (9)

Fans serve one purpose, to pull air across the radiator. In order to get the most out of the fan, a shroud is used to enable the fan to pull air from across the radiator, and not from just around the fan.

Now lets think about things. A shroud increases the efficiency of the fan. However at cruising speed, a fan isnt needed since you are getting enough air across the radiator.

So if you had a fan shroud that covered the full radiator, at cruising speed, could it hinder cooling?

I am planning on using a baking sheet (18x26) along with the taurus fan. This should work great at idle, but when Im cruising is the baking sheet going to block flow across the radiator? In a perfect world, the fan would kick on at idle, then when the car gets moving, it would kick off. Would a baking sheet shroud block enough air at cruise that it wouldnt cool and thus the fan would have to kick on? Opinions please.

I guess you could cut a section out of the shroud and put a heavy piece of sheeting or rubber over it so that air could flow across it, but if the fan caused suction it would suck back against the shroud, thus sealing it off and pulling all the air across the radiator.

Has my rambling confused anyone yet?

one92rs

iTrader: (5)

how far off the radiator is the baking sheet going to be? how much of the baking sheet is going to be cut for the taurus fan? i would think that if it were at least an inch from the radiator then it should be ok. i have a set of ls fans on mine and the shroud is about 1 1/2 inches from the radiator and they work great. but my fans do have the reliefs in them to where the fans are not at.

3rdgenmaro

iTrader: (9)

Sheet I found is 18" x 26" x 1". So it would cover the entire opening of the radiator. Throw in a rubber isolator between the sheet and the radiator, the fan would be ~1.25" away. Just enough of the sheet would be cut for the fan. In other words, if the fan is 14", then only 14" would be cut out. (Or whatever it took to mate the sheet and the factory taurus fan shroud after some mild triming for looks and form)

TreeFiddy

The idea of the shroud is to encourage airflow from across the entire core. Ideally the shroud would not be flat, but rather a kind of cone shape (single or dual) that transitions from the rectangular shape of the rad to the round shape of the fan(s). Ie it should slope away from the rad toward the fan opening, to encourage air movement. Your flat sheet may or may not prove a hindrance. As mentioned above, make sure there is 1-2" between the back of the core and your sheet, to give the air room to exit the core and turn toward the fan exit.

Then the fan blades themselves should then be enclosed with a ring, perpendicular to this 'blocking' part of the shroud. The ring should be at least as deep as the blades, and as close to their diameter as practical to stop air from being pulled around the edge of the blades.

built91Z28

If you look at some of the aftermarket single fans with huge shrouds, they have built in vents basically that open when pressure forms between the radiator and the shroud exactly for that reason. Just a simple cut out area on a hinge with a light spring to keep it shut normally.

However, on our size radiators with a 14" fan, you wont have a problem. My radiator is larger than factory by a few inches, and I use a single 16" fan that I turn off if I'm going over 35 mph and I have no problems. I have noticed that it may run 3-5 degrees warmer while cruising if the fan is off instead of on, but the car still runs under 190 no matter how hot it is outside.

Here's a pic of one I found. This doesnt even have a spring loaded door. Even simpler.

3rdgenmaro

iTrader: (9)

Thanks, that is what I wanted to hear. Thanks for the picture.