clutch fan

[woodward bird]

Well we took the bird out to woodward for its first cruise tonight and it runs great!
But i still have a few bugs to work out on it. The biggest problem right now is that its running a bit hot in traffic,i know that a new motor will run hot till the rings set but in the stop&go traffic on woodward it got up to about 230. Normal driving it is staying about 195-200. I put an aluminum radiator,new water pump,180 themostat and new hoses on it. It has a clutch fan on it(i'm not sure if these years came with clutch fan or not?) and i'm not sure if it might be part of the problem. With the motor off i can spin the clutch fan by one finger and it will rotate a half turn(blade at 12o'clock spins to 6 o'clock before it stops rotating...Is this normal or does it sound like the clutch might be going?

Woody

[Joe Vandatta]

Woody,
Get the engine up to running temp (at least five minutes or more) then immediately get out and ck the fan movement for resistance to rotate--if it has resistance you can figure it's okay. If it free wheels it's bad. My 66 came with a fan clutch.
Joe

[woodward bird]

Joe i'll try that after work tommorow. Is there anyway to know how much spin is to much? Kinda a goffy question but i think you know what i mean.

[Joe Vandatta]

Woody,
The book says considerable effort opposed to little effort. This is something you only learn by experience. If you don't have a shroud that can be part of the problem.
Joe