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CorvettesDual
Spal Install and test results in the Florida heat (tons
of pics)

FroDaddy
Senior
Member

588 posts [100%]
Green Cove Springs
FL

Dual Spal Install
and test results in the Florida heat (tons of
pics)

12:47
PM 6/1/2002

Read this to reference my problem: http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=293359

I want to start out by thanking the forum. If it weren't
for a great place like this, I would be lost in the dark!! Big
thanks to Mike69, 73 454, 467-Ratman, zwede, Taijutsu,
GrandSportC3, GWhite75, and IT STINGS. The BIGGEST thanks goes
to my Dad for taking on this project with me!!! Thanks Dad!
Read on to go over the install or scroll down to read my test
results in the 100deg FL heat.

Install:

Here is how things looked to start out with. An innocent
looking clutch fan, shroud, and stock auxilary electric fan.
The aux fan did absolutely nothing to cool, it only blocked
airflow. Following the Hayes manual, the clutch fan was bad.

Time to start ripping things apart! Unbolt the clutch fan,
carefully remove it, take the brackets off from the radiator,
unbolt the shroud, and put the bolts back in and make sure
they are tight. Drain the coolant, remove the lower and upper
radiator hoses, and remove the coolant reservoir hose. Now you
should have enough free play in the radiator to remove the
shroud. After it's off, take the radiator out. Now is the
perfect time to replace the lower radiator hose and clean the
radiator out. Also, if you want to detail the front of the
engine compartment, then knock yourself out! You've got plenty
of room now. Here are some pix:

I've got some bad news coming up. It looks like the
radiator has been patched in the upper right hand corner, and
that the radiator is stock? It has a 1980 date on it, but is a
3-core? I thought stock 350 radiators were 2 core? I have a receipt where one of the previous
owners re-cored the radiator. Is it possible they modded it to
a 3-core from a 2-core? Regardless, that's the only radiator
I've got so might as well put the fans on and test it out.
From my research (see above link), a stock radiator should be
just fine with the dual spals on a small block. The dual spals
bolt right up to a stock radiator. Here are the pix:

Putting everything back in was a little tighter than we
anticipated. Make sure when you put the radiator back in that
you don't "slosh around" the leftover coolant too much. It
doesn't to nice things to paint! "oops, hurry get a wet rag!"
No damage done though! Here are a couple
of pix of how tight it was. Notice the left side fan and how
it comes in contact with the front of the frame.

It's a little tricky to get the radiator seated in the core
support, but work at it until it's in there. Bolt on the top
radiator brackets. Now hook back your lower and upper radiator
hoses and the coolant resevior hose. We filled the radiator
back up with antifreeze, water, water wetter, and some water
pump lube for good measure. Look for leaks, make sure no wires
can get tangled in the belts, and start up your vette to get
cycle the coolant around. Shut it off before it gets too hot.
This is where we stopped for the day.

Now you'll have to read the wiring diagram that comes with
the dual spal fans. We powered the fans by running the yellow
wire into the fuse panel. There were two open spots on our
fuse panel that were hooked straight into the battery. We
grounded the fans on the closest bracket mount on the
radiator. This was all tested thoroughly with a volt meter.

We wired each fan & relay seperately so that one is on
all the time and the other comes on at 185 and shuts down at
165. Both relays were tied into the ACC for power. When the
relay is grounded, that's when it is activated. So when you
wire a fan to stay on all the time, you will have to wire the
gray wire to permenant ground. The other relay's gray wire
(controlling the 2nd fan) was wired directly to the thermostat
mounted in the head on the intake manifold. When it gets 185
in the head, the thermo grounds and turns on the 2nd fan.

The relays were mounted on the passenger side wheel well,
but I would suggest doing it on the drivers side. It would
look a lot cleaner and would get the relays away from the AC
and cooling on the passenger side. We cleaned all the wiring
up by wire ties, but we're going to get some covers soon. Here
are the pictures!

Now it's time to test everything. We tested the wiring and
it was good, so it was a matter of waiting for a hot day to
see if it will cool.

Results:

For a "before", please read the original post that I have
linked at the top. It gives you an idea of my previous setup
and my problem.

It was a little toasty outside today. Our hanging
thermometer read 96deg in the shade, barely a breeze, and
medium humidity. Not quite as hot as it would get in the
hottest summer days, but it warranted testing! Here is what I
did:

I let the vette idle in the sun with the AC running for
about 20 minutes. It got to 185 and wouldn't go any higher.
From what I've read, the dual spals will cool better at idle
than at speed. Time for a long test drive! I'm lucky that I
can drive 2 min and have access to a four lane road with a
speed limit of 60mph for miles. My 4 speed keeps me about
3150rpm going 55mph and about 3400rpm going 65mph. I drove
60mph to check for any cops, and then 65mph after I found
where one was hiding.

The result? I couldn't get the vette to go over 200deg! I
tried for an hour, but it would not budge. Rock solid 200deg
threshold!

So I came home and let it idle in the sun with the AC on
for another 15min or so. It actually got COOLER and went down
to 185! Nice cold air coming out of the vents too! Before I
would only get hot air out of the vents at idle with the AC,
even if the vette wasn't overheating.

How about the increase in HP when dropping the clutch fan?
Okay, I had to test this out and found that it might have got
me a little bit more HP but it was hard to tell. I did notice
that the vette seemed to pull stronger at higher RPMs than
before. I can't really tell unless I race my friend on the
highway though.

Are the dual spal's lighter than the clutch fan assembly?
No. I weighed the shroud, clutch fan, and stock aux electric
fan and they were 15lbs. The dual spal's shipping weight was
18lbs.

Are they loud? Heck yea and I love it! It sounds like a new
car with their loud electric fans. Honestly, my exhaust is so
loud that the dual spals get drowned out. It's still cool to
hear it sound like it's going to take off underneath my
exhaust note!

I think that's about it. My gf is yelling at me to get
ready now, so I guess I better go.

[Modified by FroDaddy, 3:48 PM
6/1/2002]
_______

'81 Vette: The 61st
born at Bowling Green : Flywheel Est 470 ft/lbs @
4500rpm

flynhi
Senior
Member

1717
posts [100%]
Austin, TX

Re: Dual Spal
Install and test results in the Florida heat
(FroDaddy)

3:41
PM 6/1/2002

Nice looking job!
Is it possible to install
the Spals without removing the
radiator?
_______

"Every true and precious thing
worth having stands on the razor's edge of being lost and must
be fought for"
71 Black on red Conv, Lingenfelter 383, 44mm
runner tpi, 52mm TB, 24# injectors,custom chip,409 BHP, 509
BTRQ, Muncie 4sp, 3.55, coated headers, mandrel pipes w/ x
crossover, 1 1/8 front, 5/8 rear stabar, fiberglass springs
front and rear, Bilsteins, 80
seats

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