STREET ELECTRO-COOL FAN KITS

[rarroyo]

Hoping someone has some experience with: http://corvairspecialties.com/streetfankit.html

"STREET ELECTRO-COOL FAN KITS™"

Looking to upgrade my 65 corsa turbo with this kit.

Thoughts?

Thanks,
Rafa

[azdave]

Don't bother. Guy down the road from my work overheated his 65 turbo using that same kit. This was in the winter in Phoenix. He had to go back to the stock fan. No one I know on any Vair forums has used that kit successfully.

[joelsplace]

Browse the forums. You will find that it takes over 10HP to cool a Corvair engine. What would it take to drive a 10+HP electric motor for a fan? Doesn't work.
There is a guy on the other forum developing a fan that will take a lot less HP and push a lot more air. Coming along great but not ready to sell yet. I'm buying several when they are available. Good read on all the development.

[triumphcorvair]

As previously stated, don't waste your time or money. Kevin Nash has prototyped a new fan with some pretty amazing results. Looking forward to this hitting the market.

[bbodie52]

My New Fan!!

http://corvaircenter.com/phorum/read.ph ... 610,page=1

[triumphcorvair]

[steve57]

Interesting product, but does not include that fancy looking fan as pictured. Not shown being used on an actual Corvair.
No real test results just words about how good it is. $500.00 + an alternator. To find out it doesn’t really work,No thanks.

[joelsplace]

That's the one. Thanks for the link Brad.
Here's the companion bell he is working on: http://corvaircenter.com/phorum/read.php?1,1034739

[triumphcorvair]

Yep. Can't wait for it to come out. Will probably be the biggest "innovation" for Corvairs in quite some time!

[azdave]

I love the cooling innovation going on with the Kevin Nash fan but I don't see the burning need for it in my daily driver life. I'm on my 6th summer in Phoenix driving a PG 65 4dr 140 with factory A/C and still using the old Frigidaire compressor. If anyone needs more cooling it would be me and we drive it carefree just about anywhere, including a summer trip on the freeway up through the mountain passes to Flagstaff and most recently, down to Tucson and back. The engine gets hot but not enough to make me turn off the A/C as a precaution.

[joelsplace]

Turbo guys need it. A turbo will overheat very quickly on boost. You can only run short bursts with the stock fan.
His fan would make your engine happier but it probably isn't worth the expense. It should improve the gas mileage if you slowed it down to where it put out the same air as a stock fan.

[66vairguy]

Both Azdave and Joel make a good point. The Corvair factory fan works fine for normal driving with the naturally aspirated engines. It is true the turbo will exceed the cooling capacity of the stock fan, BUT when Corvair engineer Benzinger was asked about this years ago at a convention he reply was "Turbo boost would exceed the Corvair cool system after about a minute and of course by then the Corvair would be exceeding any legal speed limit. Basically short applications of boost to accelerate are acceptable. Of course if one is going racing then that's another issue completely, and one reason Corvair Turbo engines are rarely raced on the track, drag racing being the exception.

Note another way around the cooling issue is water injection into the fan for racing and requires no additional HP to work.

If Kevin's fan provides more cooling at less HP that would be great.

[bbodie52]

» Mon Oct 22, 2018 10:39 am

...As already mentioned "staked seats" has been discredited as a proper fix after years of experience. The staked seats can come loose and hot spots are an issue.

Some of the confusion comes from attempting to make the seats fit tighter. No matter how "tight" the seats are installed (or later staked) as soon as the aluminum around the seats goes through a few thermal cycles of expansion and contraction the aluminum "grip" on the seat normalizes. The only fix that has proven reliable is a deeper seat that provides MORE contact area of contact between the seat and aluminum head.

Of course if you overheat a head even a deep seat can come loose...

» Fri May 05, 2017 12:48 pm

I don't have my seats staked. It doesn't work. I have had seats replaced on a pair by Michael Leveque and on another pair by Tom Knoblauch. The heads that are on my stock turbo engine were done by a shop out in LA that the name is slipping my memory. The heads on my new turbo engine that I am putting together were done by Tom along with some custom welding of the chambers to adjust the quench without having the issues you have when milling them down to the step...

» Wed May 03, 2017 10:50 pm

You will get mixed reviews on Starr Cooke by a lot of the racers. He is known for staking stock seats which will still fall out.

» Thu May 04, 2017 7:53 pm

Just because the last ones lasted 150k does not mean the current set will. Some dropped seats when they were still relatively new or lower miles. Most 140 heads are now 48-53 years. You don't know the history such as whether they were overheated. I have lost several seats over the years. Any Corvair engines I build that will be driven long distances get new high press deep seats done by someone reputable. Just saying....

» Wed Dec 11, 2013 1:16 pm

...But to repeat what the others stated, staking the stock seats is a waste and doesn't guarantee a seat wont fall out.......regardless of what people will tell you. Nothing beats a properly installed deep seat.

» Tue Dec 03, 2013 10:05 am

Of all the 140's I've had over the years I can say I've never dropped a valve seat. Only one set of 140 heads I own were staked and that is because the shop that did my valve job insisted that it be done. There are a LOT of people in this area that have run the 140's in dune buggies and sand rails for 35-40 years and his shop specialized in VW and Corvair head work. If he said to do it, then I did it. I could not afford deep seats at the time and I don't regret the decision to have him stake the seats. His experience level with 140 heads was far greater than mine. I don't believe that the staking process produces hot spots of any significance. The electrode tip of a spark plug hanging out in the cylinder will have far more residual heat than a small ridge of aluminum that is heat sinked to a massive aluminum head.

If you want to learn more there is also a process where each valve is retained with set screws but that is not an easy fix either. Here is one such post. There are probably a dozen more about the set screw process.
http://corvaircenter.com/phorum/read.php?1,519403

I often heard that people who dropped seats were often just completing a long hot run up a hill or on the freeway and then used engine braking coasting down a hill or coming to a stop on an exit ramp. This makes sense if you have a hot head and the valve seat is suddenly cooled by massive amounts of incoming air from engine braking. A hot head has expanded so the cool seat shrinks and comes loose. I adjust my driving accordingly and use the wheel brakes instead of downshifting and engine braking if the engine has just gone through a workout. Who knows if it actually helps or not but I've never dropped a seat and I mostly have owned and driven 140's more than any other engine.

I wonder if an improved cooling fan design that produces greater and more consistent airflow past the cylinders and cylinder head cooling fins will reduce hot spots and help to reduce the possibility of loose or dropped valve seats?

[azdave]

I wonder if an improved cooling fan design that produces greater and more consistent airflow past the cylinders and cylinder head cooling fins will reduce hot spots and help to reduce the possibility of loose or dropped valve seats?

One can hope. Extra cooling is not going to hurt anyone as long as you run thermostats in cool weather.

Here again, my experience in running mostly 140's since my first Corsa way back in high school in 1978, is that I haven't dropped a single valve seat. I'm probably jinxing myself saying that but I've never even parted out an engine with a dropped seat. Plenty of crank failures, bad rod bearings and just plain worn out engines but I've yet to see one except in photos or someone else's parts pile.

[larry202br]

I love the cooling innovation going on with the Kevin Nash fan but I don't see the burning need for it in my daily driver life. I'm on my 6th summer in Phoenix driving a PG 65 4dr 140 with factory A/C and still using the old Frigidaire compressor. If anyone needs more cooling it would be me and we drive it carefree just about anywhere, including a summer trip on the freeway up through the mountain passes to Flagstaff and most recently, down to Tucson and back. The engine gets hot but not enough to make me turn off the A/C as a precaution.

Dave, what temperature does your engine run, say with ambients in the 90's and A/C on, and running freeway speeds?

[azdave]

Dave, what temperature does your engine run, say with ambients in the 90's and A/C on, and running freeway speeds?

Bear in mind, this Monza has an aftermarket Stewart-Warner temp gauge and it uses a thermocouple washer under the #6 sparkplug. I think 350F is the most I've ever seen when measured there. The engine was upgraded to a 140 almost 20 years ago but always had A/C in use. I'm the third person in the local club to have owned it and we all used the A/C so it has a long history of success in Phoenix. I don't run lower shrouds and the heads were de-flashed according to the engine builder who is also still active in the club.