Intake + Thermo Fan Finalised

The most annoying work is having to do work a second time. This was what was before us in having to remove the Commodore thermo fan and start the mounting process from scratch with the Falcon fan.

JtC made the trip up and got stuck in.

Thankfully, it was more material removal required than making a shroud. The Falcon fan sat well, hard against the radiator core with a slim profile, allowing the intake pipe to thread its way between the radiator and the power steeering reservior...






The MAF/pod filter assembly is supported and held in position by a bracket off the radiator support.

Note the exposed length of alloy pipe at the throttle body inlet.

Clearance everywhere... a work of art!

BIG thanks to JtC in enduring the pain of doing a task twice-over, all the while taking his time to do it right!

J

P.S.
While inlet + thermo fan was happening, I wire-brushed and painted the battery tray ready for refitting.

P.S.S.

The photos above were taken before the steam pipe was connected, but JtC connected it as well <phew>!

CSI: Radiator Hose Unit

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: John
Date: Tue, Oct 18, 2016 at 11:00 PM
Subject: CSI: Radiator Hose Unit
To: JtC

1.

After a bit of measuring down in the garage, the attached "Top Radiator Hose Drawing" is going to be in the ball-park of what we are looking for. Printed out on A3 will give me a 1:1 template I can take with me to a parts store.

2.

Mackay Automotive have put out an AWESOME catalog which lists their hoses by ID, then length...

http://www.mackayrubber.com.au/pdf/hose_ID_listing.pdf

The top hose needs to be 33 mm ID. There looks to be a few which are promising, with CH1848 one of the best (with some trimming to length).

3.

Did a quick search for CH1848 on Supercheap Auto's website...

http://www.supercheapauto.com.au/Product/Mackay-Top-Hose-CH1848/105856

Now to go have a look!

It just happens to be the top radiator hose off a V6 VN-VR with ABS... did you salvage the top hose off the VR you bought?

J

Other promising ones...

---

Mackay

33 mm ID x 424 mm long as the basis...

---

CH3420

CH3539

CH3730

CH4822

CH1368

CH2552

CH3336

CH4274

CH3900

CH4009

CH1365

CH4954

CH1848 <-- 05-0922 <-- 92046089

Thermo Fan + ATF Cooler Lines + Bottom Radiator Hose (phew!)

BIG weekend spent on the Chev... and another BIG effort from JtC!

Saturday started with choosing a thermo fan from the pool of fans (what is the collective noun for electric thermo radiator fans?) we had lying around the place.

We settled on a VS V6 Commodore fan; will it draw enough air? We'll see! At the very least we put 12V across it and it certainly works.

Time to fabricate a shroud and get it mounted. Scavenged plastic sheet from old radiator shrouds and self-tappers FTW!




Folded gal steel sheet was used as bracket material, salvaged from a bash/splash plate from the underside of the VZ ute...






The shroud and brackets were hit with satin black in the evening, ready for Sunday.

A new day and new challenges.

The bottom radiator hose arrangement was adapted from the VT II/VX/VY setup we used on the test frame. This meant:

• U-shaped hose out of the water pump (Mackay Rubber part number CH2956),
• VT II/VX/VY transfer pipe (sourced second-hand from a wrecker) and
• 90 deg. hose into the radiator (Mackay Rubber part number CH3028... cut-down for the narrower Chev radiator).

The transfer pipe has mounting tabs which we bolted to the radiator support panel using more brackets fabb'ed from the VZ splash plate material. Bit dark, but it's there I promise!..






The last photo also shows the ATF cooler hose sitting on top of one of the transfer pipe brackets. The cooler hoses were connected to the radiator using Speedflow fittings/barbs and standard ATF cooler hose, retained with hose clamps. Might swap to hose with AN hose ends in the future when the wallet recovers.

More ATF cooler hose goodness...






Finally, the finished product...






Massive thanks once again to JtC who did the majority of the work; excellent workmanship yet again!

We are getting close now...

J

Radiator Support

With the radiator left getting modified, I took the mounting strap/flanges home to be modified to mount the Chev's radiator support panel without using the spacer.

The spacer was a handy template, obviously having the bolt patterns for both the existing radiator mounts, as well as the radiator support panel.

Without the radiator to hold the correct bolt spacing, I bolted the support strap to the inside of the spacer and use threaded rod to hold the two sides at the correct spacing.

Then flip over the spacer and determine the width of flange required. Here it is with the flanges already cut out of galvanised steel scrap...




Holes were drilled in the flanges to match the radiator support bolt spacing, then bolted into the car...




...before lowering in the radiator mounting strap, locating it against the flanges in the final position and marking where the welds were to go...




Then it was time to break-out the welder!






Trial-fit in the Chev... all good!



Then a quick dress of the welds, prime and paint with satin black (no photos).

Now to drop the modified mounting strap off to Merrylands Radiator so it can be reunited with the modified radiator.

J

What's missing?

Stopped in at Merrylands Radiators this morning and explained the plan.

Ray was all good and will put Commodore-sized ports as far in the corners as possible, plus add the little steam vent port... all for $100! And could be finished this 'arvo!

He was just a bit unsure about the wider mounting flange so came up with the idea in the photo. Within a couple of minutes he had melted the solder holding the mounting strap and whipped it off the radiator. Now I can take the mounting strap home and weld a wider flange to it. He will remount it, all included in the $100.

He'll give the radiator a clean as well.

J

Radiator and Thermo Fan Clearance Dimensions

Scratch below! We are deleting the spacer (decided 02.10.2016).

From: John
Date: Wed, Sep 28, 2016 at 12:08 PM
Subject: Radiator and Thermo Fan Clearance Dimensions
To: JtC

See here...

So spacer + radiator = 122 mm + 55 mm = 177 mm.

Radiator support to water pump pulley is 245 mm.

That gives an absolute maximum radiator width of 63 mm (which only leaves 5 mm to the water pump).

Now... Summit has a nice search feature where you can search by thickness of thermo fan.

It looks like there are a few options:

2.480" thick (63 mm thick)

2.444" thick (62 mm thick)

2.031" thick (52 mm thick)

2.000" thick (51 mm thick)

The 2.000" and 2.031" versions look like the go.

The other factor to keep in mind is the hose lengths. That will be another factor in keeping/omitting the spacer.

J

Cooling System Part 2 + Fuel

Cooling system topped-off with a reservoir from a VY SS and heater hoses salvaged from the VZ were used to connect it up.

The steam pipe is temporarily blanked off in the photo, but we'll buy a hose and plumb it to the radiator...




The fuel system was easy; we simply plumbed the fuel pump + filter from the VZ, using the stock lines...




Complete, ready for wiring...



J

Test Bed Cooling Plumbed

Radiator + thermo fans out of a VT Series 2 SS (thanks eBay) and radiator hoses to suit...








We sat the radiator in some C-rail to pick up 2 x pegs in the base, on rubber pads to reduce vibration. A wooden block under the C-rail to give the right height, all tied-down with a mini ratchet strap and diagonally braced with some cable ladder...



J

Ramblings re. Cooling

From: John
Sent: Tuesday, 7 February 2012 2:26 PM
To: JtC
Subject: Fan Shroud
I need to check it for myself, but it looks like the ’65 only had a shroud with the small block if it was air con (or “heavy duty cooling” optioned)…
http://www.impalas.net/forums/showpost.php?p=20135&postcount=17

John

From: JtC
Sent: Tuesday, 7 February 2012 2:17 PM
To: Driver, John
Subject: Re: Thanks!

Clutch fans certainly came later on. I honestly think we try source a fixed one for now, even if from a Holden wrecker - we can take the old pump with us to make sure it bolts up. Take fan too, to check diameter of blades.

Actually: you can buy good plastic multi blade units from Rare's, I put one on the Monaro.

Shroud? See if the plastic ones sold by Rare Spares are still avail- I also fitted one of these to the Munro. We will need to check radiator size against dad's HK's radiator... I think it's the same.
Sent from my CincoPhone



On 07/02/2012, at 1:57 PM, John wrote:
I have also done a bit of research (read asking Mr Chev Parts at Yennora) about fans, fan clutches and shrouds.

He didn’t think the ’65 came with a clutch fan, but couldn’t be sure.

A quick dig on the Impala Bob website didn’t come up with any clutch style fans so my guess is a simple mechanical fan w/o clutch.

I sooo don’t have the original fan…
http://www.impalas.com/1955-1966-bel-air-engine-fan-blade-4-blade-v8-6-cyl/bl225.html
But if mine was locked solid, you would think it would flow better than the one in the link.

Mr Yennora also checked to see if he had a shroud, but no luck there, even 2nd hand.

You can get them from Impala Bobs, but I am not sure the small block came with them standard…
http://www.impalas.com/1965-1966-impala-fiberglass-fan-shroud-283-327-small-block/170001.html

The listing for the big block shroud refers to it as “…a nice fiberglass reproduction of the original GM part…” but not so for the small block one.

John

Progress

Reverse flushed the engine block, and the heater core (seperately). Both were pretty darn clean... but now even cleaner. The more I work on it, the more I realise the Chev has been well maintained in its previous life.

Fitted the recored radiator and connected it up, save the top hose and thermostat housing; still need to clean up the gasket surfaces a bit more and get some gasket paper.

Tip:
Protect the core when sliding it in past the fan by covering it in thick cardboard from the box the radiator came in (see below).



Keen to degrease and pressure clean soon.

Recored Radiator

It's here!

Picked up the recored radiator from Merrylands Radiators this 'arvo. Quoted $380, charged $350... noice!



They left the short length of transmission cooler line in the bottom tank, which is good, so should be good to bolt straight back in.

It looks good! Mmmm... shiny...







Now to find some time on the weekend to drop it in.

Tell him the price son

$380.

No cores in Sydney. Will need to get one from Melbourne.

Radiator Removal

The radiator is out, ready for recore.






You can see in the picture below the large patch, smack in the centre of the cores.




You can also see the top tank connection is above the bottom tank connection. Hmmm... it would be nice for them to be diagonally opposite. Might look at putting the top tank connection on the left like this 1966 Impala.




Each time I work on the Impala, I am amazed at the acres of real estate available under the bonnet... well, anywhere for that matter.

Kicking Goals

After a quick zap on the charger, the charger's magic green LED is gleaming, indicating the battery as fully charged... which is good news! I was worried the battery was damaged and wouldn't take a charge, but all looks good. Need to drop it in and see how it goes cranking the Chev over.

The other good news is managing to track-down the Factory Assembly Manual, Chassis Service Manual and Wiring Diagram... thanks ChevyTalk!

The radiator is currently draining in readiness for removal, then a re-core.