Cooling fan options

[ralphr1780]

I am considering a trip to Italy early September.
As the original fan and blade are fitted, have meanwhile been testing the car in traffic with the current prevailing temperatures >30C. Cruising on the open road at 3000rpm, temperature is stable at about 80C. When moving slowly in traffic it creeps up to 90C and stays there stabilised with the fan.
But we are living in a flat country and the car is still moving without luggage, while the road to Italy through France and Switzerland might be another challenge.
So now thinking of fitting an upgrade cooling fan.
The CoolCat one seems quite tempting, but the hassle of imports from the US is rather discouraging. It has the advantage of bolting up right in the same place as the original...
The Revotec-Comex option is proposed by SNGB, looks like a more complex kit but rather complete, and would come up finally to the same costs as the CoolCat.
So what are the opinions around?
And if anyone has other options to propose, or eventually an extra fan hanging on the shelf, would be pleased to read about.
Cheers,

[Heuer]

Ken Verity in the UK stocks and sells the Coolcat. Easy to install and very powerful. Also worth getting the Mitsubishi thermostatic switch and housing conversion. If you want it to look original paint two of the opposing blades silver, a trick that has fooled concours judges!

[ralphr1780]

Thanks David for fast response, how do I get in touch with Ken Verity? Could not trace any web link.

[Heuer]

He does not advertise or have a web site but you can contact him by phone.
Series One Spares - Ken Verity: 01709 838352

Let us know how you get on (and pass on my regards).

[neal herridge]

I have the cool cat fitted to two cars its very good.
Also Ken is very helpful, although if he has not got any in stock its no problem to buy direct it works out about the same price.
Also go for the better temp sender ( also available fro Fossway )
Neal.

[Philk]

As an alternative, I can strongly endorse the Fosseway Fan (and optional solid state Otter Switch replacement).

See http://www.fossewayperformance.co.uk/e- ... oling-fan/

[abowie]

As per the other thread running at the moment I have 2 3.8s running Coolcat fans with stock Otter switches and stock fan relays. They work fine and I am happy with them.

Personally I have found the mounting arrangement a little agricultural and the fan can be a little hard to retrofit in the tight space between the picture frame and the radiator. You need to be sure that the roll pin in the motor shaft fits properly into the slot in the fan otherwise you will find it very hard to do up the nut on the shaft. Apart from this minor irritation, once they are in they cool very well and are very quiet.

[ralphr1780]

Thanks all for response. Have contacted KV: sadly no stock presently and would take few weeks to get one.
Guess it would be the same for a direct purchase at CoolCat.
Has anyone tried to just adapt on the standard motor another more efficient plastic propeller?

[Heuer]

The standard motor would stall with a bigger propeller - not enough torque. If Coolcat have them in stock they could get one to you within a week. Alternatively buy the Fosseway which is a very well thought out integrated solution. It would be my choice if I needed a new fan.
http://www.fossewayperformance.co.uk/e- ... oling-fan/

[ralphr1780]

Indeed Fosseway's is an integrated solution, but what I dislike is that the protective mesh is between the fan and the radiator, should be opposite, no?

[Moeregaard]

The CoolCat and Fosseway fans have the advantage of integrating properly with the fan shroud, making them the most efficient options. I have no experience with the Fosseway, but I did have the CoolCat on my '66 FHC with the stock radiator, and had no problems with overheating in southern California traffic. As others have mentioned, you can run the CoolCat directly through the Otter switch.

[rswaffie]

As my 3.8 rad was a bit leaky, and had the original flymo fan fitted, I went for an upgraded aluminium rad with integrated fan from SNG. No fitting issues and matched to a Cambs Motorsports curved polished header, looks great as well.







Hoping it performs as well as it looks.

[peters3103]

I can recommend the Coolcat fan - powerful, quiet and easy as ever to install:
Firstly fit the blade fully to the motor and then remove. This overcomes the issue with the roll pin. Remove the clamp from the motor and slide the clamp over the original fan motor mount. Slide the motor into the clamp (a little fiddly) and tighten sufficiently so it doesn’t move. Fit the fan blade to the motor (mind your knuckles on the core!) and tighten the nut. Adjust motor so blade rotates without fouling the cowl and tighten the motor clamp - just enough to keep it secure. Connect to original fan motor wires and test. (I did this by bridging the two wires from the otter switch) Paint two opposing blades silver and it’s near invisible ;)
All done!

Cheers,
Pete

[1954Etype]

Ralph, I have a new coolcat in stock.......

[ralphr1780]

Angus, pm sent.

[cactusman]

Coolkat gets my vote too

[James997]

Curious to know what solution you ended up going with in the end? Back then, I was preparing for a similar long-distance trip through France https://gowithguide.com/France and I opted for the Revotec kit from SNGB. Took a bit of fiddling to get everything aligned, and the wiring needed some patience, but once it was in, it held up well even in slow-moving traffic and warm conditions.

I had also looked into retrofitting a modern blade onto the original motor, but as others pointed out, the stock unit just doesn’t have the torque to make it worthwhile.

Hope the trip to Italy went smoothly if you did end up making it!

[Robbiee]

Hi
My ‘62 3.8 has an original “fan” (2 blade)
I fitted a Marston rad from Radtech and the temperature stsys stable even in really hot weather in traffic

[caveman]

I’ve also got Radtec radiator, fan (incl shroud) & header in aluminium on my S1 4.2. Run in hot driving conditions and works faultlessly.

[ralphr1780]

I fitted the Coolcat one, quite easy install, and it works perfect with low noise too.
No more anxiety in slow summer traffic.