[1937Mark]

Can someone with a 65/66 w/ 289 measure their fan spacer & distance from radiator to fan. I have a fairly long spacer (4"?) on there already and it is still 2" or more from the fan.

Thanks
Mark

 

[PSIG]

I don't have that measurement for you, but it doesn't matter. The important measurement is how far into the fan shroud it is. Generally, 1/3 to 1/2 of the blades should be covered by the shroud ring. Also, the rule is to keep the spacer as short as possible while meeting the depth requirement.

David

 

[1937Mark]

I'm not sure that the 289 came with a shroud. I not not seen one. I wonder if maybe a Mustang or Falcon would work.

 

[Tschwinn]

I'm not sure that the 289 came with a shroud. I not not seen one. I wonder if maybe a Mustang or Falcon would work.

My '66 with a 289 did not have one when I got it and the previous owner said it didn't have one when they received it. Doesn't mean it never came with one though. I did have a buddy make one for me though, seems to help a little.

 

[pride63]

my 63 country sedan 289 gets warm in rush hour traffic so i did some research on wether it should have a shroud and found out they were not fitted as the rad surface area is big enough to cool without a shroud. i fitted a blow thru electric fan on outside of rad with a kenlowe adjustable thermo stat controller, a 160 thermostat and 50/50 antifreeze/coolant this helped a bit but in the end i had my radiator dipped by a local rad company and it now sits as cool as it should be with no problem at all.
hope this helps

 

[wingnut_rb]

289 didn't have a shroud. I swapped in a very thick 2 core aluminum rad for a 66 mustang and an electric fan on mine.

 

[PSIG]

'65 and '66 were factory equipped with shrouds. Non-AC 6-cylinder models did not get shrouds, but instead had rubber sealing strips added to the radiator support to increase airflow through the radiator. They were some of the first to get them, as previous years (except heavy-duty applications) did not have them. As shrouds were a 'new thing' to many mechanics and owners, they were often left off when the first V-belt change, hose change, or other work was done, as they were 'in the way'. Why not - earlier cars didn't have them, right? So, many cars lost them in the first few months, and it didn't matter so much as everything was all fresh, new, and still worked well with no bugs in the rad, corrosion or scale to interfere. That was almost 50 years ago, and things are not so fresh now.

If you look at concourse restorations, you'll see the shrouds that came on them originally. Finally, whether you care about that or not, fan shrouds are enormously helpful in increasing cooling, and should be used whenever possible.
:tup:
David

Original steel shroud - V8 only - part number C3DZ-8146-D:

Plastic version also used on I6s with AC - part number C3DZ-8146-F: