How to build a fan shroud. Dial-up beware!

[Woodchomper]

Here are the steps I took to make a fiberglass fan shroud:

Step 1: Use 1" insulating foam to build the buck (form). The foam layers are hot glued to each other and to a 1/4" mdf backer board.



Step 2: Shape the buck with sandpaper:



Step 3: Notice the tilt of the foam. A wedge of foam was glued in to account for the tilt of the engine.



Step 4: Cover the edges with foil tape.



Step 5: Wrap the buck with fleece. Staple fleece to the back of the backer board.



Step 6: Apply two coats of fiberglass resin to the fleece. I used 3M fiberglass resin from Home Depot.



Step 7: Apply three layers of 3M fiberglass mat to form and sand.



Step 8: Apply a layer of body filler and sand.



Step 9: Apply Rust-oleum sandable primer/filler and sand.



Step 10: Apply more body filler and block sand.



Step 11: Remove shroud from buck, sand, fill, sand, fill, sand, fill, sand.



Step 12: Mount brackets to radiator. Notice the shroud mounting tabs on corners.


Step 13: Paint shroud with Rust-oleum hammered metal finish.



Step 14: Mount shroud to radiator.



Step 15: Optional towing option - Mount junkyard Mercedes pusher fan to front of radiator.




Step 16: Enjoy the highway cooling that can only be obtained with a mechanical fan. Previous running temps with the Ford Taurus fan were 210 degrees. Also note I'm running a .040 over 401. You know the ones that always run hot if you bore them anything over .020.

[mdill]

Looks good, It will be interesting to see how it holds up. The glass transition temp of Polyester resin is on the order of 50 degees C or ~122 Degrees F and tends to degrade with moisture.

Let us know how it does.

[Blake]

Very nice!

GREAT Oil Pressure too!

[j2sax]

Mdill, what would be a better material to use for making a shroud that is going to be subjected to such intense temp swings?

BTW, having seen this Rad/Fan/Shroud up close and personal, I can tell you Rich takes pride in a job well done and it shows! All looks better than factory and is obviously effective! Way to go big Rich!

Still think you and Del need to square off and see who is the Dominant 401 Waggie in the St Louis area!

[grand_wag_85]

That's pretty slick, thanks for posting!

[billyj7175]

Looks good Rich.

[men in black]

Nice job

Another use for action fleece

[Mars]

sweeeet!

[Achilles]

Nice looking Shroud>

[Southern Gorilla]

That is awesome.

[81cherokee laredo]

Nice write-up,'where do you get the fleece?

[Ghinmi]

Saw this in person this weekend! The pictures do not do it justice, Rich does some nice work. Add this to the 'future project' list.

[j20owner]

Stuff like this needs to get posted over on the 'network' so it's not lost.

[jamesdart]

this works good. ive made them for my hotrods, where there is no factory shroud. never used foam as a shape, just 2 pieces of masonite and streched the fleece over them to shape then resin and a few layers of fiberglass cloth. same technique as speaker enclosures.

[mdill]

I am not up on my composite materials, so I am not sure if there is any good room temp cure resins for high temp use.
One of the reasons (the smart ones anyway) home built composite aircraft are painted white, you don't want to lose a wing taking off after sitting on the tarmac in the sun on in the south on a hot summer day.
His work looks great and I do like the idea, I am just unsure that it will hold up to real use, it might work great and last long enough in a low use application.

Mdill, what would be a better material to use for making a shroud that is going to be subjected to such intense temp swings?

BTW, having seen this Rad/Fan/Shroud up close and personal, I can tell you Rich takes pride in a job well done and it shows! All looks better than factory and is obviously effective! Way to go big Rich!

Still think you and Del need to square off and see who is the Dominant 401 Waggie in the St Louis area!