Thread: flat faced fan blade?

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Who makes a decent flat faced fan blade (for GM)?
I'm collecting 1/2"s and a flat faced fan seems like an obvious place to look for another one. I see some cheep flex fans that are flat faced, but I remember those were very noisy (30 years ago anyway ).

swapping a 215 Buick into our model A (without cutting the firewall).
Russ

I don't know about the other 14 guys who have looked at your post and not responded, but as for me, I have no idea what you're talking about.

a flat face will move no air dont you know

flex fan they go flat at hi rpms ? low drag. is that what you want stain less steel blade flex lite fans are what i have used

Ha ha. well.... it doesn't surprise me that techinspector didn't understand the question, but I figured some of you other guys would know what I'm after.

A flat faced fan is when all the twist in the fan blades is towards the back of the fan. this makes for a bit more clearance between the fan and the radiator for tight installs.
Most OEM fans have an equal amount of blade in front of the mounting face as behind.
kapish??

Russ

These don't make a lot of noise, are flat to the front, but to deal with what Hoss was talking about, they have to have a shroud. Any flat face one will, metal or nylon. http://www.flex-a-lite.com/auto/html...s-economy.html

Originally Posted by Bob Parmenter

These don't make a lot of noise, are flat to the front, but to deal with what Hoss was talking about, they have to have a shroud. Any flat face one will, metal or nylon. http://www.flex-a-lite.com/auto/html...s-economy.html

i used many of there 1300 and they are very sharp i tape the fan blades edge up on them and use leather gloves putting the fan on or you will be leaking all over

Have you consided electric? A puller can be biased high or low to help with clearance, or a pusher is even more forgiving.

Thanks very much for the feedback guys. I guess I'll order up a flexilite. I had remembered them being very noisy, but perhaps they've improved in the 40 years or so since I last used one. .
I've gathered up enough 1/2 inches to cram this thing in there with only a couple very small modifications to the firewall. (I'm over 6' and need the legroom to operate the clutch). the stock fan has about 1/2" clearance now, so I figure a flat faced fan fan will give me some "wiggle room".

Cheers,
Russ

I chucked my stainless flex fan after a guy at a car show showed me his hand. He got too chummy with one on a running engine, and whacked chunks out of the meaty part by his little finger. Lucky he still had all his fingers. If I want a baloney slicer, I want it in the kitchen, not under the hood! And in your case, no hood.
They look wrong, but some fans have a ring around the outside edge for just that reason. Or a close-fitting shroud will keep fingers out.

Originally Posted by R Pope

I chucked my stainless flex fan after a guy at a car show showed me his hand. He got too chummy with one on a running engine, and whacked chunks out of the meaty part by his little finger. Lucky he still had all his fingers. If I want a baloney slicer, I want it in the kitchen, not under the hood! And in your case, no hood.
They look wrong, but some fans have a ring around the outside edge for just that reason. Or a close-fitting shroud will keep fingers out.

Another reason for electric... Don (Itoldyouso) mentioned the dangers of a spinning fan with no hood a few days back, too. Could even be a liability but maybe you plan to run a full hood?

Originally Posted by rspears

Another reason for electric... Don (Itoldyouso) mentioned the dangers of a spinning fan with no hood a few days back, too. Could even be a liability but maybe you plan to run a full hood?

Ya. I just have the hood and front fenders off now to make it easier to do the engine swap (see avitar pic). I'll bet a stock steel fan wouldn't be any more forgiving of sticking fingers into it when running BTW.
Worst fan accedent I've heard of was 30+ years ago. a local guy was hanging over his fender reving the engine in an attempt to find the "weird noise" under the hood. when the fan blade flew off and stuck in his chest he most likely knew what the noise had been..... as he lay there dead..... in a pool of blood.

be safe,
Russ

i broke two of my finger tips split them with a flex fan.i was at the drag strip. my friend walk me over to the meat wagon ask me if they hurt i told him only when the wind blew thru them. they gave me a ride to get them stitch back up . i was young then. i was in a big hurry to get the car to the track . left the top guard off the Gto and took the rad cap off with engine running. it sounded just like playing cards in a kids bike spokes