HERE'S A THING .....

[FarCanal]

Howdy Folks
My Imported to DownUnder, 1 Owner, 1976 Chrysler New Yorker Brougham Coupe 440 V8, recently lost (Broke off) the top 4" of 1 of the 8 Blades on my Clutch Fan. Looked at replacements because it put a MASSIVE vibration through the whole car, which would've killed the Water Pump Shaft Bearing in about 5 miles, and went WOW .... how freaking much ?!! So ... I opted for the biggest / best "FlexFan" I could buy. Had to also get a 2'' Mopar water pump pulley extension, to get the fan back into my Shroud for proper fitment. As my car has 58k miles on it, the Clutch is in perfect working order .... BUT .... now removed - I have now picked up AT LEAST 25Hp, the Car runs 2 needle widths cooler, revs cleaner, leaves an extra 15 foot of rubber just booting it off the line and is now chirping 6' blackies, as it hits Second Gear. !!! I am telling you, it is the BEST, cheapest upgrade I think I have ever gotten from ANY of my myriad of Mopars I've owned. Seriously, chuck that freaking old thing out, go for what I did, or even better, go electric .... and to top it off, I reckon I've gained @ 4mpg. Try it, you won't be sorry ! Freaked me out ! Cheers, Jim - Adelaide, South OZ - DownUnder

 

[Big_John]

Having seen a blade of a flex fan go through the hood of a friend's Nova and reading the local newspaper of a guy getting killed when a blade went into his neck while timing his car, I'll say that I'm not going to ever use a flex fan.

 

[Newport 66]

I have a flex fan on the '66 Newport and it does run cooler, not sure abt the HP gains.....BTW, beautiful New Yorker!!

 

[CBODY67]

The stainless steel flex fan I had on my '66 Newport for a while was NOISY. At about 55mph, it sounded like an airplane getting ready for take-off. DID keep the air cleaner and underhood much cooler in TX July heat, though. But not worth the added noise. NO increase in power or mpg, either. Even after I made sure the snorkel was better positioned into the air stream from the fan. Went back to a fan clutch. Returned the flex fan and spacers, too!

Glad it's working for you, though.

What caused the issue with the fan anyway?

CBODY67

 

[FarCanal]

Having seen a blade of a flex fan go through the hood of a friend's Nova and reading the local newspaper of a guy getting killed when a blade went into his neck while timing his car, I'll say that I'm not going to ever use a flex fan.

Like all things .... Parts wear ! A visual inspection before both the above calamities, it probably would not have happened. Ergo, who would check their Standard 8 blader ? When it let go (and who knows why / where it got damaged), both the above occurences could have occurred with a stock fan. Like I say - look for and purchase the BEST quality fan you can - and I also recommended "Electric" .... but what I'm trying to get across - is if your looking for better mileage and more Hp, give it a try ! Cheers

 

[crv]

The NY sure is nice, not sure if the same one at the SA All Chrysler Day cruise a couple of years ago (?).

 

[Ross Wooldridge]

Lovely car. Be careful about flex fans - too many bad news stories outweigh the good ones IMO.

In nearly 40 years of C body ownership, I've never had a fan fail - there must have been prior damage that lead to it.

NEVER NEVER (with a flex fan) stand over it while it's running - IE making carb adjustments/timing etc... They can and will cut your head off if they fail, even at idle.

 

[Big_John]

Like all things .... Parts wear ! A visual inspection before both the above calamities, it probably would not have happened. Ergo, who would check their Standard 8 blader ? When it let go (and who knows why / where it got damaged), both the above occurences could have occurred with a stock fan. Like I say - look for and purchase the BEST quality fan you can - and I also recommended "Electric" .... but what I'm trying to get across - is if your looking for better mileage and more Hp, give it a try ! Cheers

I can't speak for the fan that killed the guy, but the one I saw blow up was a brand new Moroso fan. At the time, Moroso was supplying quality racing parts and I'll say that this wasn't some cheap offshore unit. I saw him bolt it on the day before and was less than fifty feet away when it grenaded.

To have your fan fail makes me question a lot of things. In many, many year, including a lot of drag racing, I've never seen a factory Mopar fan come apart. I have seen failed flex fans, although not as spectacular or gruesome as the ones I noted.

It is not unusual to have fan clutches stop functioning. A 43 year old unit would surprise me if it still worked correctly, regardless of mileage. The seals on the hub dry out and the silicone base fluid will drip out and fling onto the hood. Even storing a used unit incorrectly for a short time (never store laying down) will ruin the unit, evidenced by the oil spot under the clutch.

IMHO, your experience is that your car is either the car is running cooler because the clutch wasn't working or the clutch was locked up. I'm thinking it was locked up due to your fan blade failure. The fans used with a clutch are heavy, massive pieces that probably wouldn't do well if the clutch locked up and it spun at high RPM (evidenced by your examples of driving LOL!). If it was locked up, it would draw a lot of hp to turn it.

That said, I haven't seen the evidence of what exactly happened with your car other than reading of a blade failure and your seat of the pants dyno report.

Quite frankly, if you really were looking for a gain in horsepower, then yep, change to an electric fan. I really have never seen real evidence of hp gains with flex fans over clutch fans, other than claims by sellers and they seem to be using a fixed fan versus a flex fan. I have watched a couple videos on different things and from the examples I've seen, there maybe a few hp to gain with a flex fan, but I've never seen real world chassis dyno pulls, done back to back, where the difference was greater than the measurement uncertainty of the dyno.

But, if you are happy with the results, that's great. As mentioned, please don't get in the line of fire for the flex fan. Now go out and have some fun with that beautiful car. I'm done here.

 

[commando1]

I have now picked up AT LEAST 25Hp,

 

[commando1]

Even an STP decal is only good for 5hp.

 

[FarCanal]

The NY sure is nice, not sure if the same one at the SA All Chrysler Day cruise a couple of years ago (?).

It's the ONLY one in Australia .... so yes it WAS the one you saw .... and still terrorises the S.A. roads to this day, as I'm an Adelaideian, and S.A. Chrysler Club Member !

 

[FarCanal]

Wanna Bet MotorMouth. the car has COMPLETELY changed, and have you EVER tried turning the shaft on a Clutch Fan ? Possibly mine was extra stiff (leaving myself open for derogatory comments there) or worn, but I'm TELLING YOU, I have at least that. Just a normal fan can use @ 15 Hp, so WHY couldn't a big 8 Blader use more ? Instead of hiding behind your Computer, blabbing about everyone's posts, why don't you try it for yourself, or don't you know 1 end of a spanner from the other ! Dickhead.

 

[commando1]

don't you know 1 end of a spanner from the other ! Dickhead.

You're right. I know absolutely nothing about automotive mechanics.

My first race car Circa 1968...

 

[LocuMob]

Wanna Bet MotorMouth. the car has COMPLETELY changed, and have you EVER tried turning the shaft on a Clutch Fan ? Possibly mine was extra stiff (leaving myself open for derogatory comments there) or worn, but I'm TELLING YOU, I have at least that. Just a normal fan can use @ 15 Hp, so WHY couldn't a big 8 Blader use more ? Instead of hiding behind your Computer, blabbing about everyone's posts, why don't you try it for yourself, or don't you know 1 end of a spanner from the other ! Dickhead.

Whoa, slow down. I'm sure you can pick up 1, maybe 2 hp with a flex fan, they are lighter. But 25? I'm not buying it without some dyno sheet to prove it.

So i looked it up to back up my claim. Hate to say i had to go to a Corvette forum, but the results were not what i was expecting.

Flex Fan Better than a Clutch Fan? - CorvetteForum - Chevrolet Corvette Forum Discussion

The flex fan took 19-26 HP more to turn than a clutch fan! I wouldn't have thought that, but apparently 200 Dyno runs with 6 different fans and whatnot, that's the numbers recorded. There could be other numbers out there, but that is what I found in a Buick search.

I'm glad the car feels more lively, always a good feeling.

 

[1978 NYB]

Flex fan, clutch fan. Yeah right.....

 

[LocuMob]

How much hp those electrics take to run? Does the billet take up the free hp?

 

[70bigblockdodge]

Engine masters did the same type test. Up to the 30+ horsepower lost from a direct drive straight blade. Electric is the way to go for HP, everything else is sapping hp more than the 10 your alternator uses at 50-60 amps.

 

[FarCanal]

I always thought "Forums" were for Owners of similar type vehicles to discuss what works for them, and after trying, installing, what doesn't ?
What annoys me is people hiding behind their computers, immediately being derogatory about a comment made, without even doing ANY research into the subject, what-so-ever. I believe my vehicle has picked up about 20+Hp because before the fan change, if floored of the line, it would simply drive off, no wheel-spin to speak of, unless there was loose gravel, or the road was wet. It NOW peels out a 20 foot line (passenger tyre) EVERY TIME and Chirps about 6' into second. it MUST have gained at least that much Hp to do this. I'm just saying try it / beware all the wives tales about Flex Fans / go electric if you wish, BUT one thing I can Guarantee you, is you WILL notice a difference, and if it's giving more MPG, which is the killer of these beasts, and at under $80 it'll pay for itself, so WHY NOT TRY it ??? Sadly, it looks as if anything new I discover, I'll keep to myself, coz it just ain't worth the aggravation !!! I would have liked to tell ya's how my new (about to be fitted) 500Hp 440 went in and goes, and wanted some help, advice with getting a 3.55 geared LSD out of my 9.25 style Diff ..... But I guess I'll just play locally, and keep the "sleeper" it's about to become, to myself !!!

 

[LocuMob]

I always thought "Forums" were for Owners of similar type vehicles to discuss what works for them, and after trying, installing, what doesn't ?
What annoys me is people hiding behind their computers, immediately being derogatory about a comment made, without even doing ANY research into the subject, what-so-ever. I believe my vehicle has picked up about 20+Hp because before the fan change, if floored of the line, it would simply drive off, no wheel-spin to speak of, unless there was loose gravel, or the road was wet. It NOW peels out a 20 foot line (passenger tyre) EVERY TIME and Chirps about 6' into second. it MUST have gained at least that much Hp to do this. I'm just saying try it / beware all the wives tales about Flex Fans / go electric if you wish, BUT one thing I can Guarantee you, is you WILL notice a difference, and if it's giving more MPG, which is the killer of these beasts, and at under $80 it'll pay for itself, so WHY NOT TRY it ??? Sadly, it looks as if anything new I discover, I'll keep to myself, coz it just ain't worth the aggravation !!! I would have liked to tell ya's how my new (about to be fitted) 500Hp 440 went in and goes, and wanted some help, advice with getting a 3.55 geared LSD out of my 9.25 style Diff ..... But I guess I'll just play locally, and keep the "sleeper" it's about to become, to myself !!!View attachment 282056

It now peels out because of a fan? I put a cam, aluminum heads and headers on my car and it didn't just turn into a tire roasting monster. I'm hiding behind a phone, just like your giving behind whatever device you're using. I'm not calling you a liar, just think your initial and subsequent posts about the HP gains are off. Why not ask the an engine builder(s) what he (they) think about the subject? I put one on because it's what I had.

 

[70bigblockdodge]

You didn't make 20 hp, your not wasting 20hp with a broken fan clutch.
No doubt it feels faster because it was most likely wrong with the locked up fan clutch.
Your lower pulley is ~ 6.5/7" in diameter your water pump pulley is no more than 2/3 this size which means it is overdriven. That means at 4500rpm that fan is turning almost 7500 rpm, that's a lot to ask from a Chinese made fan. The fan clutch working properly spins slower than water pump rpm and actually uses less power.
Glad your flex fan is working for you. We are just warning the dangers that lurk with a direct drive where it was not supposed to be. Would hate to see that pretty hood damaged since it dodged a bullet/blade once.