Upgrading to an Electric Fan System

At the beginning of September, I started preparing to upgrade the cooling system on the Mustang to include an electronic fan. The fan I selected is a 16" Flex-A-Lite Syclone fan (FLX-398 which has S shaped blades. To operate the fan, I purchased an adjustable Flex-A-Lite temperature controller (31147). The total cost for the items was around $142 from Summit Racing.

One the fan arrived, I removed the old fan and spacer from the Mustang. The fan blade was a six blade fan but it was not an original Ford fan. I placed it on eBay with another spare spacer I had which was too long for my Mustang. The set sold for $66 dropping the cost of this project to $82.

I installed the new electric fan today inside the stock fan shroud. It fit perfectly inside the shroud and is much more hidden from view. The casing for the controller was tan so I painted it with a little black paint to hide it better. I mounted it on the lower passenger side fan shoud bolt. The temperature probe is at the top of the radiator by the inlet hose.





I need to wire up a relay and fuse for the fan controller. I'm waiting on this part as I'm tempted to move the battery to the trunk. I'm not sure if I would leave the battery tray or not and I was going to hide the relay under the battery. I'll wait to finish this part of the project up until I decide on what I want to do with the battery.

The following picture shows the engine compartment with the standard fan:



This picture is from a little different angle but shows how the fan is concealed by the shroud.

This new fan generates 2,500 CFM of air when running. It should reduce the load on the engine when running at higher RPM. I'm not expecting an incredible improvement but it should help some. The only issue now is the 17amp draw on the alternator.

Driver Floorpan Removal

I decided to go ahead and buy the bottle jacks from Harbor Freight. When I arrived, I found the 2ton versions were only $7.87 each. I purchased six, two spot weld cutters, and a few other items.

When I made it home, I put the car up on the jacks. I then started work on the driver floorpan. The front and back pans are so badly rusted they hardly exist. I don't have the subframe connector in yet but with the jacks in place is should not really matter.

I removed most of the floorboards and then realized the car was not up on the jacks any longer. It seems the jacks lose pressure within a few minutes. The car then goes back to sitting on the tires. No wonder these jacks are only $8 each, they don't work.

Regardless, I removed the seat riser and the majority of the floorboard from the driver side. I still need to clean up around the front frame rail. Things are moving along well but the project is going to take some time. I'm still trying to decide if I should do the full floor or just the sides. I'm still leaning towards the full floor as it requires less welding.

Passenger Subframe Connector

Today, I started work on welding the passenger subframe connector.

I cleaned the surface of the front and rear frame rail this afternoon. I planned to spot weld in the rear of the connector first. I'd then place a couple of spot welds at the front. The spot welds were more difficult than I expected. They would stick to one piece or the other but not both. I finally managed to get a few welds down which certainly represent my skill level (they look horrible).

It is very difficult to weld under the car without it being on jacks. I'm tempted to put the whole thing up on jacks before I go any further. Unfortunately, I'd need two bottle jacks on each of the side rocker panels and two at the end of each frame rail. Harbor Freight Tools sells a few different bottle jacks which would work for between $9 and $14 dollars so I'm considering that option.

Before I can work on the driver subframe connector, I'll need to remove the fuel line. It runs across the back frame rail where the subframe connector is welded. I'll replace it with a '69 version which crosses to the rocker panel further back. Hopefully, I don't get gas everywhere removing the line but I'm sure I'll find a way.