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>!

Four Letter F-word

So the original plan to use a thermo fan from a VS V6 Commodore (see here) wasn't going to work.

Once we started dummying-up the intake, it soon became obvious that the massive shroud over the top of the VS fan was going to foul the pipe to the throttle body.

After a bit of research, it was decided to go with a thermo fan from the dark side... a big single from a FG Falcon...







J

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