Hi Buick Family! Newbie here, I just bought a 71 Skylark with a 455 that is having over heating issues. The guy that I bought it from put a generic electric fan on it (to make the sale) that is not keeping up and I am currently running temps of 210-240 just driving up the street and back. I have done the thermostat, water pump, flush, and timing. My mechanic says I need to go back to the original clutch fan and shroud so I am look for fan blades, shroud, and clutch if you have it. But I can source the clutch from NAPA if needed. My main focus are the blades and shroud. I am also looking for a grille so I can close my Skylarks mouth lol. Any help would be appreciated since I've had the car for a month now and can only look at it and drive to the corner store.... Thanks, Skylark Guy
Got the fan shroud. Let me see what I have for fans. I'll also check on 71 grilles. 72 will work as well, but I'm guessing you want to stay all 71. Fred
My man Fred! Let me know what you have and as far as grilles i'm not particular on the year as long as it's not banged up (too bad). I don't plan on selling the car so matching years parts isn't that big to me. I have a grille that came with it but the previous owner cut a hole in it like a dummy and two of the tabs are broken.
A 70 grille would require you to make additional changes to like the headlight doors and hood lip molding. Also a post 70 set up requires the use of the long neck water pump so the fan projects the correct distance into the fan shroud.
71 455 FAN SHROUDS can be found on big block Buick cars. (Everybody WISHES it was that way for 1970, but, alas, it is not to be. Where at in NC are you? Local yard has several old Buicks! (Hint: Update your profile with your location. I am assuming you are in North Carolina. Plenty of us on here in the Carolina's chapter...)
Thanks Steve, it's hard finding those at my local yards. I'm right outside of Charlotte. Chapter? What do you mean, y'all meet up?
My man Fred! Let me know what you have and as far as grilles i'm not particular on the year as long as it's not banged up (too bad). I don't plan on selling the car so matching years parts isn't that big to me. I have a grille that came with it but the previous owner cut a hole in it like a dummy and two of the tabs are broken.
I have a 71 GS 455 Skylark. Much like you I chased the overheating issue for many years. As of now it is no longer an issue. Very first thing I did was get a 180 degree thermostat. It help a little but it just made it take a little longer to heat up. Second thing was to purchase a Griffin aluminum radiator. One that has the larger tubes inside of it. Same dimensions as a stock radiator. Made a big difference. But in heavy traffic it still would creep up to 200 to 210. Third, I bought a TA Performance Hi Volume water pump. Helped a lot, especially in traffic. My radiator shroud was showing its age. Looked more gray/black, than black. So I bought a replacement also from TA Performance. It wasn't identical but close enough. Also the diameter of the shroud they sold me was an inch smaller. No problem, it fit and there were no interference issues. However I did notice the fan tip to shroud distance was about 2.5 inches. It was half in the shroud like it's supposed to be but a little too much space otherwise. So I measured my fan. It was a seven blade at 17 inches. I know the Chevelle uses the same fan and there are larger sizes available. I found a 19 inch seven blade fan off a Chevelle on Ebay and bought it. Restored the finish on it and installed it along with a new fan clutch. At the most I had a 1/2 inch clearance fan tip to shroud all the way around. I was a little worried as that's a bit tight. But with no open gaps anywhere around the shroud ( all sealed up ) it should pull more air. Results, success !!! No fan rubbing or any interference issues. Especially at full throttle. The engine temps on hot days in heavy traffic won't go over 190. It regularly stays at 180 pretty much all the time. That's what worked for me. I hope maybe my results can help you or someone else in need. Good luck. John Biggs.
http://www.v8buick.com/index.php?threads/72-buick-riviera-fan-shroud-1238973.346315/ If you need another option
Now THATS what i'm talking about John! I appreciate everything that you have broken down in your response. I am starting to love this forum more and more every day. Just a really great group of guys! Since your response I have found out that the electric fans are not running as they should be. Actually they are not really running at all. So i'm getting them looked at on Monday along with a few other things. Hopefully its just a wiring issue because honestly im tired of spending money on this phase of my "project". I just want to drive the darn thing. I didn't know I was going to have to spend almost half of what I bought it for to get it there! But anywho if its not the wiring I'll try a few of the things you listed above. It's golden knowledge!
Thank you everyone for your input and support. I'm having an engine issue at the moment but I'll keep you posted on what the problem actually was/is.
