Which cooling fan should you run on your Buick 350?

Discussion in 'Small Block Tech' started by Gary Farmer, May 9, 2017.

  1. Extended Power

    Extended Power Well-Known Member

    Electric fans all the way.
    If you race, they can be turned off, hence, no power lose.
    On the return road, turn them on, who cares how much power they use then, and then they can be kept running while the engine is off...even better for faster cool downs between rounds.

    On the street, turn them on for stop and go traffic...on the highway, shut them off.

    Like mentioned earlier, it's a no brainer.
     
    Lucy Fair and Gary Farmer like this.
  2. Fox's Den

    Fox's Den 355Xrs

    But do you know how big of a fan you need and how much cfm is needed to keep it cool? That little piss ant one on new cars won't cut it.
     
  3. Extended Power

    Extended Power Well-Known Member

    We got the biggest twin fan setup we could fit on the four core rad.
    Bought a controller for it, no issues so far.
    We were running a single Mark VIII fan on high with a controller, but I had to take it back for my truck, as the rear tires threw a rock or two, and broke/seized up my other one I was using for my transmission cooler fan. (Rear mounted)
     
  4. 87GN_70GS

    87GN_70GS Well-Known Member

    There is also a GM 20" 7-blade fan used on big cars, later 70's. Thats what I use with the bigger shroud opening
     
  5. Gary Farmer

    Gary Farmer "The Paradigm Shifter"

    Who would put a tiny fan from a 4 cylinder on to a large radiator intended to cool a racing engine??

    Set it up to be controlled off the temperature sensor so it's automatic during normal driving, or manually controlled as mentioned previously.
     
  6. Ryans-GSX

    Ryans-GSX Have fun, life is short.

    Very informative video. I now wonder what fan setup to buy that would work great on my convertible. When you have a 350 you want as much power as you can get to the rear wheels and to me this is a significant amount of HP loss.
     
  7. 1987Regal

    1987Regal Well-Known Member

    Money and fitment can play a factor on electric fans and along a proper radiator/good fictionin one, I have the dual 11" spal fans with a northern 2 row 1" wide tubes aluminum radiator. It works beautifully, on hot days it say cool running and in town stop and go it never overheats at the red lights. It your looking for a upgrade, I would recommend those 2 items. I had a 2 row aluminum champion radiator with 3/4 wide tubes, it sucked, it was a total waste of money I chased my tail doing this and that and it the end the radiator wouldn't keep the car cool running 70 mph. Josh
     
  8. patwhac

    patwhac Well-Known Member

    Well put Gary, I guess I'll have to start saving for an electric fan setup then!!

    A good US made Al radiator is already on my list, stock one can't keep up.
     
  9. Dr. Evil

    Dr. Evil Silver Level contributor

    On another vehicle, in another galaxy a long, long time ago I used an electric fan from a Ford Taurus with the 3.8L. Its huge and moves a lot of air. It also has a high/low speed setting. Cheap parts from pull a part. Wire it up with a relay and a thermocouple and you can adjust what temp you want it to come on and shut off at. Works like a charm.
     
  10. Extended Power

    Extended Power Well-Known Member

    That's the same Mark VIII fan we used earlier on my son's car.
    We just used the high setting.
     
  11. patwhac

    patwhac Well-Known Member

    Just curious, does running electric fans with the engine off work even if you don't have the water pump going or would you need an electric water pump that you can turn on independent of the engine in this case?
     
  12. Extended Power

    Extended Power Well-Known Member

    If you have an electric water pump, yes, it would help cool the entire engine off...with just the electric fan, it just cools off the coolant in the rad.....and I guess whatever cooler air, after awhile, over the engine. Lol
     
  13. Dr. Evil

    Dr. Evil Silver Level contributor

    Its a great setup. I plan to put one on my 65 next trip I make to pull a part I need to remember to pick one up. Those things move a lot of air. Theres no penalty for using it and it gives you more room in the front as a side benefit.
     
  14. TABuickMike

    TABuickMike Michael Tomaszewski Jr

    The electric fans from a 2005-2006 GTO fit our radiators perfectly. I got some flat brass bar stock and bent it into an S shape for the electric fan mounting tabs to slide into (mimicking the GTO radiator) and brazed it onto the side tanks. The radiator top cover fits over the top of the fans. It's so perfect, it looks factory.
     
  15. Extended Power

    Extended Power Well-Known Member


    Pictures, or it didn't happen! Lol:D
     
  16. TWO72"s

    TWO72"s Silver Level contributor

    Take off your fan/shroud , store in a safe place. Install dual electric fans with thermostat and over ride toggle switch under dash. Never look back , one of the best moves I made
     
    300sbb_overkill likes this.
  17. sean Buick 76

    sean Buick 76 Buick Nut

    Plus going to an electric fan was one of the reasons Mark was able to move my rad and intercooler in toward the engine... With the rad in the stock location fitting an intercooler is a lot tighter.
     

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