[evintho]

The new squirrel cage I have for the blower motor on my '54 Customline has fan blades that are canted in the opposite direction as my original so it won't produce as much blowing air.

So, I thought I'd reverse the rotation of the motor to blow as much air as possible. My blower motor is a 3 wire 12v unit. Blue wire is low speed, red is high speed and black is ground.

It's controlled by the blower switch. Main power goes to the 'B' terminal. So to reverse rotation I assume I'd run a power wire from the battery to the black wire on the motor then a ground wire from my ground bussbar to the 'B' terminal on the blower switch? Does that sound right??

 

['48 Austin]

Black wire would become power when ignition is on and fan speed selector switch would be between ground and blue and red wires. On selector switch, B terminal would go to ground, L to blue wire and H to red wire. Then use the original fan itself.

 

['49 Ford Coupe]

Why not get the correct fan/motor?? Surely they are available...

Reversing the rotation won't help, due to the scroll shape of the housing.. and it won't blow hardly any air at all...

 

[evintho]

Black wire would become power when ignition is on and fan speed selector switch would be between ground and blue and red wires. On selector switch, B terminal would go to ground, L to blue wire and H to red wire. Then use the original fan itself.

Can't use the original fan cuz it's severely bent and out of balance (hence the new fan). The new fan is the same size and shape as original except the blades are pointed in the wrong direction.
So, you're saying if I wire it the way I described, rotation will be reversed and it'll work properly?

 

[evintho]

Why not get the correct fan/motor?? Surely they are available...
Reversing the rotation won't help, due to the scroll shape of the housing.. and it won't blow hardly any air at all...

The correct fan is not available. The new fan is for a '55-'57 T-Bird. It's the correct shape and size except for reversed fan blades. The motor.....unobtainium. There is a Dayton motor that'll work but is illegal for sale in California! Go figure.
What do you mean by the scroll shape? Fan blade direction?

On edit;
Oh...I got it! The housing. Makes sense.
On the left side.......

 

[RODSRUS]

Looking at the blades on the squirrel cage I can see why it doesn't blow a lot of air. Reversing the direction should work as designed. Making the black wire the + instead of - should work. Just try it!!

 

[evintho]

Ok....trying to figure this out and make do with what I have. How about if I don't reverse rotation, let the motor run normally and install the new fan with the blades pointing in the wrong direction.
Obviously, there won't be 100% airflow but will there be enough to defrost the windshield and somewhat warm up the interior of the car?

 

[curtis73]

I think it will suck.... and by that I mean actually draw a vacuum no matter how you install it.

Just like any fan, the blades generate higher pressure on one side and lower on the other. The blower housing would have to be reversed as well. If you reverse the motor, the airflow will be spinning in the opposite direction of the housing's outlet. If you install it as-is and spin it normally, it will be pushing backwards and sucking air from the outlet.

You need to either cut the "hat" off the new fan and weld it on the other side, or cut the sides off the housing and weld them on opposite sides to flip the outlet to the top.

 

[RODSRUS]

Looking at the original squirrel cage and the new one a picture of the outer housing would have helped but I think you are right the air exiting the reversed motor and new squirrel cage is going the wrong direction in the outer housing.

 

[joe_padavano]

Carefully file or grind off the rolled-over lips where the end plate and ring on the opposite side are crimped on the new fan. Swap them and tack weld. Done.

 

['49 Ford Coupe]

OR, if the fan wheel wasn't too expensive, you might try bending the blades very carefully in the opposite direction.... first flatten them without bending the mounts, then twist each on with sheet metal hand held pliers/bender.. cant remember what you call them.. wide flat surface...????.. just a thought...

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[brading]

What is wrong with the old squirrel gage.

Google 54 Customline fan Squirrel Gage looks like a 66/77 Bronco one might work for you.

 

[1979Malibu]

The old squirrel cage is a clockwise unit. The new one is a counterclockwise unit. The rotation is determined by the drive side. In this case, the open end.

As usual, Joe's idea will do the trick. The alternative would be to get a clockwise squirrel cage that matches the dimensions and shaft size. I know there are universal squirrel cages in about every size.

As '49 mentioned, reversing the polarity isn't going to solve the problem.

 

[brading]

The thing with Joe's idea is to make sure it is balanced. If not I can see it destroying the motor JMHO,

 

[1979Malibu]

The thing with Joe's idea is to make sure it is balanced. If not I can see it destroying the motor JMHO,

That's an insightful observation. I made something similar to the balancer used when sharpening lawnmower blades. I made a number of stepped coned shapes to index various parts. It's primary use was to check the balance of transmission drums and shells, along with neutral balance flex plates and dampers. It's just mower blades these days, with an occasional brake rotor or drum.

It never occurred to me to check a squirrel cage with it. Yes, I'm the type of nerd that will weigh, measure and calculate a balance weight tolerance for a specific part and it's intended RPM. A lot of folks call that OCD. I tell them hot rodders call that ATD (attention to detail).

The squirrel cage is relatively lightweight for it's dimensions and sees something like 1000 to 1400 RPM (if memory serves correctly). Assuming it wasn't tack welded back together off center, I would think the balance on it would be pretty forgiving.

 

[joe_padavano]

The thing with Joe's idea is to make sure it is balanced. If not I can see it destroying the motor JMHO,

I had the same thought, but when you look at how the part is fabricated, they don't really take any special care to balance the fan. The lips on the end caps self-center. As suggested above, take care to ensure the end caps are fully seated on the cylinder and keep the tack welds evenly spaced and it will likely be no worse than original. It's a small diameter, low mass fan. It's not like a 21" lawnmower blade.

 

[ericnova72]

If you follow Joe's idea and TIG weld it rather than MIG, balance won't be a problem.
With TIG, you can fuse the edge together with no or very minimal added filler rod.....unlike the MIG welder tacks.

 

[joe_padavano]

Just be sure to grind off the galvanizing in the weld area beforehand. The fumes from that stuff can be fatal - not to mention a weld contaminate.

 

[evintho]

Well, I just installed the new squirrel cage (with the backwards blades), put it all together and surprisingly it blows a good amount of air. More than enough to defrost the windshield and heat the cars interior. I'm gonna just go with that. It doesn't get very cold here in California. Thanks for all the insight that everyone contributed!

 

[Martin Tidwell]

The new squirrel cage I have for the blower motor on my '54 Customline has fan blades that are canted in the opposite direction as my original so it won't produce as much blowing air.

View attachment 628671

So, I thought I'd reverse the rotation of the motor to blow as much air as possible. My blower motor is a 3 wire 12v unit. Blue wire is low speed, red is high speed and black is ground.

View attachment 628672

It's controlled by the blower switch. Main power goes to the 'B' terminal. So to reverse rotation I assume I'd run a power wire from the battery to the black wire on the motor then a ground wire from my ground bussbar to the 'B' terminal on the blower switch? Does that sound right??

View attachment 628673

Go to Amazon.com Squirrel cage fan blades Start there, any size any direction is available, throw the one you have back Dude.