The Saga of a Small Block Fan Shroud
Thought I'd share my fan shroud saga for posterity:
Prologue: A decade ago, my brother and I bought a '67 Barracuda convertible. The original 273 was long gone, replaced by a mid-'70s 318 at some point. A few years ago, we had a reconditioned 340 put in. (Read more about that story here:
https://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/threads/1967-barracuda-gets-the-340-it-deserves.409648/#post-1972109263).
The car didn't have a fan shroud when we bought it. With the 340 going in, we started researching radiators and shrouds -- mainly here on FABO. Idea was to figure out which shroud would match our existing radiator. Turns out we have the 22" 2785929, which the forum seems to tell us was for the big block 383 (even though our car was originally a 273). That radiator paired with the dreaded "one-year only" shroud 2785312. More research quickly indicated that this shroud is a rare part, or "unobtainium" as I've heard said.
We considered going with a bigger radiator and an aluminum shroud, but chose not to because we wanted to keep the stock look on the 340.
At some point, I set up an eBay alert for the 2785312 shroud. Forgot about it, of course, until one day eBay pinged me two years later about an auction. The shround on sale was in rough shape, with a bolted on metal patch and a big crack in another spot. No one was bidding (big surprise considering this was a 50-year-old hunk of broken plastic), and I nabbed the shroud for $25.
I took delivery and spent a day refurbishing -- fiberglass, epoxy and paint. Turned out pretty good.
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Then my brother and I got lazy and set the shroud aside for a year. Finally this past week I got motivated. Bolt on part -- how hard could it be?
Ha. First order of business was thinking about the mounting bolts. At first, I naively thought I would just use regular bolts, lock washers and nuts. Then I realized there would be no way to reach inside the shroud to get the bolt/nut combo started and get a wrench on the nut. It became apparent I'd need some kind of mounted nut on the mounting holes of the metal radiator frame.
I saw some $60 kits referenced on FABO. But helpfully someone suggested just getting 1/4" U-bolt clips and 3/4" length bolts from the hardware store. My local Ace came through. Yay!
Time to test out the clips. First issue was that the mounting holes were too small for my 1/4" bolts. OK, time to widen the holes. The upper holes were easy peasy with a drill. But there was no way to get a drill in position for the lower holes... so back to the hardware store for a narrow round file. A few minutes on each hole and success!
Now time to test out the clips again... but wait, what's this? The clip won't go on far enough for the clip nut to line up with the mounting hole on the radiator frame. So it's time to put each clip into the vice and use a Dremel to shave off some metal. Again: success!
The clips fit now and it's time to bolt on the shroud. Remove the fan and fan clutch. Disconnect the upper radiator hose. Practice fit the shroud.
What the hell? I can't quite get the shroud into position... it won't seat down far enough for the holes on the shroud to line up with the radiator mounting holes. Time to file off some of the plastic on the bottom of the shroud. Success!
Shroud back in place, I struggled to get the bolts started into each nut clip. After much cursing, I get three of the bolts going. The fourth one -- lower passenger side -- there's no chance. The holes don't line up at all -- maybe 1/4 inch off. I think the radiator mounting frame is bent and there's no way to get leverage to bend it back. Or maybe the shroud itself is twisted from my fiberglass repair job. Either way, there's no getting that bolt it... so I skipped it.
With 3 of the 4 mounting bolts started, the shround is feeling pretty tight. Am I done?
Ha, ha. No. When I hand turn the fan, it hits the shroud on the bottom. OMG how can this be?
Now I'm in WTF mode. I'm just going to leave the shroud in place and shave it down. Drill with filing bit. Dremel. Hand file. I'm just going to town.
Eventually I get there. The fan turns freely. The shroud is tight.
Reattach the fan. Reattach the radiator hose.
Now I'm worried that somehow when I fire up the motor, it will rumble and send the fan blades ripping into the shroud.
But turn the key and we're good. I take a tepid ride around the block. Still good.
Now I've been driving in unseasonably nice October weather here in Minnesota -- and everything's fine!
The end... or is it?
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