Radiator fan questions?

Ok, so my radiator fan has a small piece missing from one of its blades. Is this a major issue, that I need to replace the fan? Also, can you recommend a replacement fan for it, the auto parts tore guy recommended a fan, but then said I need a 2 inch adapter for it, and there aint room for an extra 2 inches in there. Currently it looks like I have a 6 blade 18.5 inch belt driven fan in there. Here is a pic of the damage if that helps.

At worst, the fan will be out of ballance, which could ruin the bearings in the water pump. Look for a replacementat the junk yard or put an electrical fan on

dan nachel wrote:At worst, the fan will be out of ballance, which could ruin the bearings in the water pump. Look for a replacementat the junk yard or put an electrical fan on

I agree with Dan plus if any more of it breaks off there is a "Good" chance it will hit and damage your radiator..!!!..It looks like a older flex fan you can use the same style available at "Summit Racing" just make sure it has the rounded blades and not the pointed ones that are used for racing only..!!!..                             http://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-g4918

Well my water pump is leaking, could be age, could be fan. Either way I have a new pump, and if that fan will fit, I'll be ordering it soon as well. Thank you.

Probably leaking from the unbalanced fan tearing up the seal,  Get a rebuilt or new water pump, easy to find for the Chevy sixes and ask around for a stock 5-blade steel fan, all you need, might even find one on eBay, I've seen them from time to time, if you can't find one, get the replacement suggested. BTW, IMHO you might as well take out the radiator while you do the pump, easy to do, drops right down, no need for a lift, and it will make it much easier to do the pump and fan, plus take the radiator to a shop and have it boiled out or if its too far gone (clogged) have it re-cored,(a flow test they do will tell you right away what the status of your 50 year old radiator is) you will be glad you did this all at the same time. Cooling these vans is one of the most important issues to deal with with the engine. Also with the radiator and pump out, check the condition of the harmonic balancer, (the rubber inserted crank pulley) below the pump, again, its 50 years old, make sure its tight and turns true...

That fan is aftermarket and SCARY!....I wouldn't run the engine even one more time until replacing it. I've seen the results of flying fan parts on different vehicles and just wouldn't take a chance so close to where I sit!
If they still make those flex fans with plastic/fiberglass blades, I would instead choose one with metal blades

Flex fans are made to straighten out and quit pulling air to let the air flowing through the grille on a NORMAL car take over  to save on  horsepower,,,,,,we aint normal,,,,,,,,this is what I am running to be cool,,,,,

donivan65 wrote:Flex fans are made to straighten out and quit pulling air to let the air flowing through the grille on a NORMAL car take over  to save on  horsepower,,,,,,we aint normal,,,,,,,,this is what I am running to be cool,,,,,

Agreed! I run re-cored stock radiator with factory 5-blade fan and run cool.

Stock 1st gens have a 4 blade fan

savage wrote:Stock 1st gens have a 4 blade fan

Unless it was changed, my '64 has a 5-blade on the 194 and I think some of the manual pics show a 4 or 5, not sure what the diff was? maybe dealer retrofitted around '67 to help owner with cooling?

donivan65 wrote:Flex fans are made to straighten out and quit pulling air to let the air flowing through the grille on a NORMAL car take over  to save on  horsepower,,,,,,we aint normal,,,,,,,,this is what I am running to be cool,,,,,

OK so flex fans bad, got it. Any idea where I can pick up a fan like this on then? Links are always super helpful. I really gotta say I appreciate all the help you guys are giving me though.

how about take the old waterpump to a wrecking yard and get a fan that fits on it

Leave it all as is - then get ready to learn a =LESSON!! Seriously do it just like a honeymoon= " Get Her =DONE"!!

Bobert wrote:

donivan65 wrote:Flex fans are made to straighten out and quit pulling air to let the air flowing through the grille on a NORMAL car take over  to save on  horsepower,,,,,,we aint normal,,,,,,,,this is what I am running to be cool,,,,,

OK so flex fans bad, got it. Any idea where I can pick up a fan like this on then? Links are always super helpful. I really gotta say I appreciate all the help you guys are giving me though.

I just searched eBay for Chevy 5 blade fan and about a dozen like this show up at reasonable prices...

That style of 5-blade fan pulls a ton of air and usually has a big hole in the center for the fan clutch flange to pass through.....

my 64 had a 194 powerglide and had the same fan

If you look at the GM Heritage Center specs for these vans, the only engine shown with a 5-blade fan is a 230 High Performance Chevy Van six, the standard 230 six and 194 are shown with the 4-blade, even the later 292 is shown with only a 4-blade, so I think the vans came with 5 blades for better cooling, the pickups used the 4 blade. The van engine also had higher compression ratio than the truck engines, go figure....