Fan shroud adjustment

[red66toy]

I took my fan shroud off recently while replacing my waterpump and painted it. Anyways I put it all back together and was driving down the road and hit a bump and well the fan hit the top of the shroud producing a horrible sound. I tried to adjust the shroud as far as I could up but there is still to little space inbetween it and the fan. It had perfect clearence before I took it off and now I can't get it anyhigher. Is there anyway to adjust it more other that loosening the 6 bolts that hold it on? Thanks.

 

[e rock]

What drivetrain are you running? If it's stock, check out your motor mounts. Mine has started to do the same thing, but only on pretty big bumps, because I swapped in an SM420 which cantilevers more weight off the back of the motor. There isn't any support aft of the bellhousing, so the added weight back there bounces the fan up occasionally.

Some day I'll get around to buying or building an AA tcase support brace to solve it.

Or maybe I'll just trim 1/2" off the end of the fan blades.

 

[Desertdave]

I also had this issue. I eventually ended up 'expanding' the shroud a bit at the top, by cutting it apart (front to back) and welding in a bit of extra material in the gap.

I did the entire 'replace motor mounts, change the tranny mount (I have an SM420, like the fellow above, but have a crossmember supporting below the old-school adapter), and a lot of other stuff,' and I still had contact when I was off-road. I really was surprised that this suddenly appeared, and that I couldn't adjust it away.

It does make a god-awful sound when the fan contacts it, doesn't it?

 

[red66toy]

Yeah, I am running the stock motor. Wouldn't the engine sit lower and not higher if the motor mounts where bad? The fan sits pretty close to the top of the fan shroud, I can barely get my finger inbetween the fan and the top of the shroud.

 

[Desertdave]

If the rear mounts (the ones off the bellhousing) have settled, they would allow the rear of the drivetrain to drop a wee tad, which would pivot the front of the engine up. Imagine a teeter-totter effect, with the front motor mount location as the fulcrum....

 

[red66toy]

Damn, now the motor mounts need to be replaced. I love my cruiser but sometimes all these little things that need to be replaced all of a sudden kinda get to me. Well, I guess I have a little grinding to do so I can adjust the shroud a little more up. Thanks for the help guys.

 

[CruisinGA]

I just call it "self-clearancing. "

 

[65swb45]

Chase, do you still have the support rod going from the radiator core support, over the battery, to the passenger side firewall brace. If you do, the end at the firewall is slotted to help position as well as stabilize the radiator, shroud and core support. If you don't have the support rod, get one.

There is also a woven mesh insulator that goes between the core support and the frame tabs. If you find you have a lot more room at the bottom of the fan, you might want to consider undoing the two bolts that hold the core support down and inserting additional spacers between the core support and the frame. I think there's an extra 1/4" to play with down there, which should get you close to centered.

Don't use this as an excuse to avoid doing a thorough inspection of your motor mounts! ;p

Mark

 

[red66toy]

Mark,
I do still have the support rod on there. I will mess with it and the core support bolts tomorrow, oh and check the motor mounts Thanks for all the help.