My 71 has a custom 5-row radiator. It's a combination of a 2 and 3 row with custom end caps. It's pretty fat and definately fatter than a stock one. My problem is the fan wore a hole through the top of the shroud. It used to hit (until it wore through) when the motor would twist from high torque, such as take-offs. Seems the shroud is a tad too close towards the engine and the fan hits the front sloped part when under torque.

I bought the same shroud thinking I could just move it up a tad. Well, the shroud they sent me is warped all to hell and won't work(same repro). It just wouldn't look right if the front edge sat higher than the radiator cover anyways. What can I do? Would a different shroud work better? Maybe a 70 style or a better 2-peice repro of the 71-72? Current one is a one peice repro from NPD listed as 71-75 BB. Previous owner said he had a chrome one but it affected temp too much. I tried to measure the fan and it seems to be 18-19 inches.

Any suggestions?

http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/1094/shroud0030qs.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img78.imageshack.us/img78/3918/shroud0040nf.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

couple of Idea's .... 17inch 7blade fan off of a earlier AC car or Electric fans...

The car actually has an electric fan on one side in front of the radiator. It's there to assist if I were to get stuck in traffic or something. Don't want to go with the other electric fans though.

So a 17 inch 7 blade fan would be enough cooling power for a 502 BB?

Is your tranny mount saggy causing the front of the engine to go up from pivoting on the engine mounts. :confused:

The tranny mount was replaced in 2000 with an urethane mount. It's not saggy.

What about a flex fan that is an inch shorter than what I have? I'm talking about a good stainless steel one, no junk.

The car actually has an electric fan on one side in front of the radiator. It's there to assist if I were to get stuck in traffic or something. Don't want to go with the other electric fans though.

So a 17 inch 7 blade fan would be enough cooling power for a 502 BB?
17 1/2 inch 7 blade should cool it just fine & be quite as its fixed pitch & will bolt to your clutch fan just like you're running now.... if you go to a SS FLEX fan you will pickup a lot of noise ... where to look for a original 17 1/2 inch chevy 7 blade fan... hum I've got one on my 68 AC equiped El camino its a clutch fan original easy to tell from its larger brothers as the end on the blades are curved kind of like a prop ... not square like the one your running now .. number on fan is 913894e68 over 3931002 ask some one board for interchange #s it shouldn't be that hard to come up with :)

If your really thinking about going with electric fan heres some options.

we just came up with a new twin 14 inch Spal set up 1700 cfm each providing your rad has the hat style channels
check these links out

http://www.chevellecooling.com/m3.html?form_name=ecom_ecl_product_details 14 inch twin

http://www.chevellecooling.com/m3.html?form_name=ecom_ecl_product_details twin 11 inch

the fan kits can be sold sepperate

Don

Try this link and scroll to the bottom:
https://secure.wf-api.com/www.chevellecooling.com/52.html?psid=FMFpSoQ2yeptoUuzszAg&sm=14001

I don't want to go electric right now. I'm gonna go with the GM 7 blade or a flex fan.

If you have room at the bottom of the shroud on your current setup, add 1/2" of spacers to your tranny mount or to your crossmember. It won't show and will fix your problem. That's the easiest solution.

What's likely happened is that your body bushings under the radiator support are as trashed as the rest of your body bushings, and the whole radiator setup sits lower than it did stock - causing the fan to hit. Mine did the same thing until I moved up my tranny mount. Once I replace bushings I hope this issue will resolve itself.