Unless you're going for originality (concourse), I
would ditch the mechanical fan. Not only do the
friction sleeves get worn and allow the fan to fly-off
into the radiator, but they rob a lot of valuable
horsepower from our measely engines. Mike Lewis just
wrote a very laborious (I mean detailed and timely)
article about this in the most recent NASS news letter
(JK Michael!).
Get a solid state thermostatic switch and
fuh-gedda'bah-dit. You only need to run 1 wire to an
inline fuse then to the assembly (a little more to it
then that, but is less than 2 hr worth of work start
to finish).
I think I paid $85 for an electric fan (3-4 years ago)
from a hotrod shop and $45 for a solid state
thermostat last year. Michael (Protius Engine
development) was offering them for less: $55 for a 10"
universal fit fan! And $25 for a thermostat (probably
mechanical switch). If he doesn't sell the solid state
thermostats, spend the extra $25 and get the solid
state unit from JC Whitney. It's worth every penny.
I certainly wouldn't keep both fans on the car. You're
sacrificing fuel economy and horses for an item that
is just biding it's time until you're in the middle of
nowhere on a long drive, when it flies off into your
radiator. A proper kit is still cheaper than a new
radiator.
But that's just my theory,
-Terry
P.S. You can probably get a fan for $25 at a salvage
yard, but it might be worth the extra $30 to get a
universal fit. It could save you hours and many trips
to the hardware store trying to fabricate special
brackets. Not to mention wiring the current in the
correct direction. You do NOT want to wire some fans backwards.
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