Cutting WH Full Circle Fan Shroud

[neilvonarb]

I'm curious if anyone has ever cut off part of the depth of the circle part of the shroud. I'm running a stock 302 with CVF aluminum versions of the OEM crank and water pump pullies, a 3/4" fan spacer with a OEM 7-blade fan (sits about an 1" from the radiator), and an OEM radiator with the WH full circle fan shroud. Everything clears now, but my fan is about 3/4 in the shroud and 1/4 out of the shroud. I'd like to get it closer to what I've read is the recommended depth of 2/3 in, 1/3 out. I (barely) have room to change to a 1/2" spacer to get it further out of the shroud, but was also curious if anyone has experience cutting 1/4"- 1/2" off the circle portion and how they went about it so it didn't look like a hack job. I'm also considering switching to a RD or Griffin aluminum radiator which is thicker and would make this situation worse, so I would definitely have to cut some off if I stick with a mechanical fan.

 

[73azbronco]

I think you'd be better leaving it as is. Because of geometry of the motor angle, bottom of my fan sits almost all the way in, and top is about 1/2 inch in.

 

[DirtDonk]

Agree. I say leave it alone until you determine that there is actually a cooling problem caused by the position of the fan.
Until then, don’t hassle it. Now, if you suddenly come across a free bandsaw, you might decide to practice on your shroud.
Other than that happenstance, wait and see what happens.

Perfection is nice to have, but not always 100% necessary.

 

[neilvonarb]

Thanks for the feedback @73azbronco and @DirtDonk . My current setup I described above plus a Flow-Kooler WP and high flow WP pulley currently does a good job keeping the temp around mid-190's while driving, but in stop-and-go situations, with the temps in the mid-90's here in Kansas City, it climbs to around 205. I know that isn't a crazy high number, but I was thinking about trying either the RD or Griffin radiator to try to get the temps down, and with their added depth/thickness, am anticipating having to deal with modifying the full circle shroud.

 

[DirtDonk]

I haven’t looked closely at mine lately, so not sure exactly what the best practice would be for this next possibility. But you might even consider cutting it in half while you’re modifying things.
My reasoning being, if it’s bolted together top and bottom, it’s easier to remove the shroud for future modifications, and testing.

 

[73azbronco]

I just looked at my fan, explorer heavy duty steel, hard to believe a fan with 5 inch blades cools it just fine.

 

[DirtDonk]

Yeah, but look at how many there are, and what their pitch is.
When working together (and spinning in the correct direction!) they pull a lot of air!

 

[neilvonarb]

I haven’t looked closely at mine lately, so not sure exactly what the best practice would be for this next possibility. But you might even consider cutting it in half while you’re modifying things.
My reasoning being, if it’s bolted together top and bottom, it’s easier to remove the shroud for future modifications, and testing.

I did the shop rag to the grill and business card to the rad test and it seems to be pulling air really well.

I’ve seen some posts where people have cut them in half and it makes a ton of sense for the reasons you mentioned.

If it comes to it, I have an idea for evenly cutting some off the circle part. I probably couldn’t do a good job describing it, but It involves an angle grinder with a cut off wheel mounted in a horizontal position to raised blocks on a table. In my mind it works.