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Classic Car gets Modern Up-Grades

September 17, 2015

                                                            

Classic Car Gets Modern Up-Grades


     

 

If you own a classic car and also drive a modern day car, you know because of technology, the modern car is a little more dependable. A 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1 is no exception. Powered by a 351 Windsor engine, this Mustang has always run a little hot in the summer. Turn the A/C on and get stuck in traffic, it will definitely run hot. It has had upgrades through out the years. Bigger radiator, bigger flex fan, cooler thermostat. These items did help but for the last 20 years with the current owner (my father), that powerful engine just couldn’t keep cool enough and he wanted it fixed once and for all.

 

I know what would fix it but wasn’t sure the best way to fix it. The modern cars have an electric cooling fan that turn on at a predetermined  temperature and does a great job of cooling down the radiator. Most cars now have multiple speeds on the radiator cooling fan so when you are sitting in traffic with the air conditioning on, the cooling fan kicks into high speed and will cool that engine right down. This old classic Mustang doesn’t have that luxury. It has a mechanical flex fan that turns pretty slow when at an idle. Turn that air conditioning on and that generates more heat. The heat generated from the engine is too great and exceeds the demand of the slow turning cooling fan. Driving down the road, the Mustang will cool right down. The increased airflow flow the speed of the car and the increase of fan speed does the job.

 

 I knew this car needed a modern cooling fan to keep it cool for the days it is moving slow in traffic. After doing some research on electric fans and doing some measuring of the Mustang radiator, I found a fan system from a more modern car. A Ford Contour uses a dual fan setup on its radiator and looks like it may just fit. After ordering the new fan and removing the old mechanical fan and shroud, I stuck the new electric fan in place and it fit like a glove. I had to fabricate some mounts for the radiator but that didn’t seem to be a problem. Now I need a way to control the fan. I found a company called Derale that makes fan controllers. After reading about it, I knew it would work. It has a thermostat so you can control what temperature you want the fan to turn on. It also allows you to hook it into your air conditioning so when you turn the air conditioning on, the fan turns on high speed and keeps you and the engine cool. A new harness had to be fabricated for this wiring. Its not just a plug and play system.

After installing everything, the car was started and the new fan was put to the test. It worked like a charm. The fan was set to come on at about 198 degrees at a low speed. If the engine rises another 20 degrees, the fan will turn on high. Also the fan turns on high speed when the air conditioning was turned on. The car was run in the shop for an hour or so and ran cool. The next step was to drive it in traffic and see what would happen. It still ran cool but the car had another problem and I knew this would occur. The alternator was not big enough to handle all the amperage the new fan set up was drawing. The alternator was rated at 55 amps. It needed a more modern high output alternator. The fix was to install a 130 amp alternator from a late 90’s Mustang. After switching the pulley on the alternator and rewiring the new alternator, the car was started. No more dimming lights with all the accessories turned on. The new alternator puts out twice the amperage of the old one. The classic cars are fun to drive but sometimes they need some newer technology to make them more dependable. If you have a classic car that is in need of some repairs, give us a call at Troy Auto Lab to set up an appointment. We will be happy to discuss  what we can do for you.



Mark Sull

ASE Certified Master Technician

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