Ughhhh, fate rears it's ugly head. Basically, I began doing the very annoying task of starting to fill out even more applications for some car-related job again since I got fired not for being late, not for not working hard(believe me, I work my butt off and liked everyone there) but because of my age... Once again it has cursed me since I'm not insured till 18 and advisor came in, advised my boss to give me the boot, he thought about it and ultimately did. Anyway, I got stuck in traffic once again and ohhh boy. I almost hit the magic 230* where I ultimately began to freak out about my engine(454). Had to make a mad dash for a gas station close by and immediately shut it off and walked to my destination about 2 miles away . I haven't gotten that hot b4 but have gotten close and if I had been stuck on the interstate in some 40 min traffic jam, not good... I know that nothing overheated but it was getting to that danger zone so just decided to cut power to the engine instead of risking it through traffic. Anyway, I have known the source for my overheating problems in traffic for quite some time due to a slightly undersized aluminum radiator w/ a built in tranny cooler combined with some weak, definately overrated ebay fans(4000 cfm my ***, probably more like 2000 combined I bet ) Anyway, I have been researching my fans/radiator options and I know what radiator I'm going to purchase, fans... another story. I did come across some zirgo fans that had air charts and everything. Along with that, they were already rated at 1" of static pressure and only dropped a total of 300-500 cfm through almost 6 in. Very nice if those charts hold true (one I was lookin at pulled/pushed 3300 cfm, highest does 3950 I believe). Anyway, my buds at my former work just told me to check out some junkyards for like a late 70s model buick's electric fans since they definately flow some good air. Also, I remember reading a post from here about the lincoln mark 8 fan. I did find one online that gave some specs about it. Only thing I don't like is how much amps it uses (almost 30!!! holy crap but more than makes up for it with around 4000 cfm flowing ) which I'm not sure if running 2 would be wise, too much strain on alternator? Maybe, iono. Anyway, after this incident I'm going on the mother of hunts for a really good (not any other aftermarket fan besides zirgo since they are the best of the aftermarkets) production fan like that lincoln mark 8 and I was wondering if I could get some suggestions on different fans that you guys find, perhaps give a site that could sell those, and whether or not I would strain the heck outta my alternator using two of those lincoln fans (I believe alternator puts out around lower 100s) or whatever fans you guys suggest? Thankkkksssss very much for any of your inputs.

If ya want a reliable cooling system, use your aluminum radiator but, trash all the other stuff, find yourself a stock steel fan and a stock shroud for your car, get a thermal clutch if you can, plug the trans cooler lines and run an external frame rail mount cooler. Even tho the electric fans sound better, most of the time when money is an issue and you have adaquate space, the " Stock " systems will work better. I'v heard that flex fans will work like a wall when they flatten out. I don't know any truth to that, as I have run cluchless stock steel mechanicl fans on both my cars, but there cooling systems are stock.

Forgot to mention that I was using a mechanically driven fan w/ shroud combo b4 I switched over to electric fans. I want to avoid going back to that setup at all costs, even if they do alright on cooling. The problem is finding an electric fan that pulls a motherload of air that was already put into vehicle production a while back(like I mentioned b4, the lincoln one but I'm sure there are many more) and they do very well at cooling. Want to find something like that, any takers and possible results from this or maybe an aftermarket fan that's even godlier than zirgo's?

Many people do run the fans from Linclion Mark IV's, they are good fans, get 1 if you want to stay electric. Put a large puller in front of the radiator as an overheat fan, get a sensor for like 220* for it, have the regular fan run from like 165* or 185* or somewhere in the middle.

I dunno if they had any e-fans for the mark IV's but iono. You got any sites that actually sells mark VIII fans that are in good shape still, possibly remakes them and sells for a reasonable price, not something like 300 bucks?

Lincoln Mark 8 , 93-98.

Biggest problem with stock engine driven fans etc.. is that you must have a good fan clutch with the spring on the front... good blade..... and the shroud must be installed properly...... and here's the kicker....... when you put in a thicker radiator.... the fan usually is too far into the shroud and the blade tips throw air back in front of the shroud instead of moving it rearward... seen lots of them poorly installed like this.. blade must only stick into shroud about 3/4 inch....

check out www.readershotrods.com drag cars/georges

Ive heads the fans off of thunder birds were good. There supposed to have a 2 speed motor thats thermastatically controlled i believe.P.S. Iknow how hard it is when your young and no one wants to hire you. they consider you a risk and under experienced. I got my current job by having the guy call my shop teacher and he decided to hire me.

The Mark and the Bird are siblings, but the Mark has the DOHC 4.6 (Cobra type engine..... actually the Cobra has a Mark 8 engine).

The Ford fan is a good quality unit, never seen a bad one. Aftermarket.... who knows..... It only costs a little more to go first class... and peace of mind.

How and why would you use 2 Mark 8 fans......?????

www.readershotrods.com

Ha, no kidding about getting a job at my age, it's unbelievable since everyone thinks you can't do anything if you are under 18 or whatever they believe. I have tried to get my auto tech teacher to help me out but he doesn't have any close ties with someone surprisingly... Anyway, to answer xtrik's question about running two mark 8 fans, I just want to run the most insane amount of cfm possible through the new radiator I'm going to purchase sometime around christmas probably(new gifts=new "toys" for muah to help me out with project ). Im going to offset both fans by putting one as a pusher to the left of the radiator, then use the other as a puller to the right of the radiator to ensure full coverage. I'd have to offset one anyway because my waterpump shaft sticks out purty close to my current griffin radiator. You could say that I want to have the most cooling possible and I might have to upgrade my alternator although I'm only running basically the e-fans I have right now, headlights, guages, and turning signals off of the battery and alternator, lol. Not much at all. Anyway, got any online stores that can help me out with purchasing these fans orrrr is it possible that a lincoln dealer could have the treasures I'm looking for ?

I meant linclion Mark 8, just got confused with the roman numerals

Haha, it's fine. Although I have decided what I'm going to do. Going to find a lincoln mark 8 fan (preferably new but I am willing to go to a junkyard but do risk it failing). Checked out lincoln dealership and voila, they do have it for a measily $438!!! Man, and I thought 150 dollar fans were expensive but I guess the saying "you get what you pay for" really applies to this situation here. I did find one site that has a bunch of production car parts for sale and I managed to find one for 240 bucks which I'm still not happy about but apparently, this fan is godly and ultimately screws all the other weak aftermarket fans out(aftermarket=highly overrated, perhaps even the zirgo fans I was beginning to think about ). Pretty excited that I finally found the potential fan that can solve some of my problems but could open up a whole new world of problems if I decide to run two. I probably will run two of those mothers but I'm worried about the amp draw and whether my alternator can handle it (I believe it's something likea 100 amp alt, not entirely sure though). Someone did mention that upon initial startup, it pulls 100 amps!!! Runs at around 30 amps after startup. Any ideas on if I should be concerned or what?

first check out a Mark 8 and see if you think the fan will be OK,

second check ebay for availability....... use only ONE fan as a puller FIRST... see how it works...... then do a second one only if necessary..

Pusher fans with integral shrouds tend to block airflow while on the highway. If you need a second fan in front of the radiator, install one that does not have a shroud on it.

Wire the fan (any) with a 40 amp relay directly to the battery buss, use 8 ga wire and a circuit breaker...... it will be alright..... check the electrical load after installation and see then what you need to do... don't get all excited and spend a whole bunch of money that is not necessary.

check out www.readershotrods.com drag cars/georges

kinda like what I did, I spent a ton of money on Twin Derale fans, bought a bigger alternator cuz, I thought my 94 wasn't keeping up. installed my 140, fried the 140 and blamed it on the fans. However, It was so badly fried that the fans could not have pulled that much power. Spent two weeks and chased a small but effective short through the starter switch all because my column was loose for a while. If you followed that, good job. I'm gonna have to try my fans outside the car to determine whether or not the fans can be sustained by my present system.

Gotcha, I guess I will try out one mark 8 as a puller w/ new radiator to see how it performs(it'll be offsetted slightly to avoid waterpump, shouldn't matter though), wire everything w/ relay, then go from there. I will hold off on getting excited and spending a lot of money . I'll check out ebay and see what they got, hopefully their not lying this time. Thanks.