my 84 305 camaro's radiator fan is powered by the engine, is there any way I can put an electric fan there instead of the one connected to the engine, and my main question is, will it free up any horse power? My Bfriend brother told me "he has a 89 305 RS", that puttting an electric fan in its place would free up 10-20 hp. is this true, I need to know ASAP.


also, my engine has like 4 diff. belts, is there anyway to make it a serpentine???

 

as for the pullies, just pick up the pullies from and 86 up model for the swap. as for the fan, it will make a noticable difference.

 

Grab all the pullies off the same donor car for a serpentine swap... don't forget the alternator too

A fan won't free much useable horsepower... but they do cool better

 

How much cfm is needed for a decent street motor. My 305 is stock now, but i plan on a 350+ hp 35o, so is 2100cfm enough???

 

I had a 2400cfm fan on there and it didn't do anything. But it was only 12" plus I have no shroud. So just make sure the fan is large enough, or get 2 12" fans.

 

I just did this in the firebird but havent got the bugs out of the system yet. I Used a stock electric fan from an 89 firebird for my 82 and a electric adjustable relay switch. I got the fan and brackets for $30.
I did notice it smoothed out the engine a little bit. Anyone know the CFM difference between electric and clutch??? I was just going to post a thread about this. In fact im going to.

 

Depending on the style of fan and the # of blades, you can free up to 50 hp from removing it. (see "Fan Power Test" May 2000 Car Craft, they made 45 hp.)

This is proven on the dyno, not hearsay.

Check out the Feb 2002 Car Craft, pg. 44. They did a small test on the dyno, gained 8hp and 9ft lbs at the rear wheels by removing a small 5 blade fan.

Granted, the 8 hp gain isnt much, but thats at the rear wheels, and clutch fans will draw more power than that little 5 blade when locked up.

Its definatly a worth while swap.

 

How can testing a fan on a dyno be accurate? Once you get moving the air forced through the radiator from the air dam reduces the hp loss from an engine run fan. How come they never show the results from back to back quarter mile runs(with and without a fan)? Magazines make money from advertising. I've seen back to back runs with and without a fan on an old Chevelle with a 327. 3 with a fan and 3 without a fan--no difference. Why did he do it? He wanted an electric fan only if it was going to make his car faster. Around town electric fans are nice since they run at full rpm, even when the engine is idling. They can run cooler than a regular fan if they kick on soon enough.

 

thanks guys!, well im happy knowing this swap will be well worth it, one more thing. when I went too checkers, they told me I needed to buy 2 fans in order to cool then engine properly, the fans were about 13 inch, and 75 bucks each!, im going to don's hot rod after school today and check if they have any better prices.

thanks again guys.

 

Well two would work better than one but two are not needed, I doubt two 13's would fit. The best solution is to get an Fbody electric fan setup either dual or single. The GM electric fan has a better motor on it for sure and has proven to be effective. You could get a used fan, mounting brackets then run over to checker and get the electric thermostate relay switch $18 and you will be under the price of 1 aftermarket fan and probably cool just as good. And if you were wanting another fan, dodge carivans have a small fan used on the ac circut 8x8 6 blade 6cyl and the 4cyl carivans have an 8 blade. This fan is small enough to mount infront of the radiator and I think it pulls 1500 cfm again a more reliable fan then aftermarket.

SSC

 

wow, i just went to dons hot rod today and on of the associates there told me they dont mak an electric fan good enough to cool down my engine!!! WTF is this true?

for the record I have a 1984 305ci engine "not the H.O."

 

Since you're in Arizona you can probably use all the cooling you can get. A small blade may make some marginal hp difference, but I agree with 82camaro that the magazine is pumping the advertising dollar.

I'd go the dual fan route SSC said

 

you can remove the freakin fan and not gain 50 hp. Thats inflated. I have about 340 crank HP, stock pep boy's radiator, Kragen waterpump, 180* stat, and the electric single fan found on 85+ camaros. I don't have any overheating problems. I didn't even when I had a 195* stat. Just get the stock single electric fan and shrouds (85-92) from ebay or at a local junkyard and install it. If you need help wiring it people here can help you out.

The electric fan will free up hp and you're motor will seem to rev more easily.

http://search.ebay.com/search/search...t&BasicSearch=

on that search:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/aw-cg...038551&r=0&t=0

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/aw-cg...954678&r=0&t=0

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/aw-cg...667415&r=0&t=0

 

I wasn't trying to say that you can get 50 hp by removing the fan in a 3rd gen, and I wasnt trying to imply that I belive everything in mags..

I was just stating that there is power to be gained by the fan removal. How much depends on the car and fan thats being removed.

removal of the low drag clutch fans on the third gens won't free up that much, but removing a solid blade fan will free up alot more.

Just my 2 cents