This section covers installing the Ford Taurus efan and the Chevy Corvette radiator into the forward of my 1998 Blazer ZR2.

FORD TAURUS eFAN (dual speed) from an 1988-1995 3.8: It's estimated that the Taurus efan pulls 2800 cfm on low speed and 3800 cfm on high speed. One big advantage of this fan over after market efans is the built in fan shroud that makes it much more efficient pulling air through your radiator. In my mod, I used a fan off of a 1993 3.8 Lincoln Continental Executive which is the exact same efan. The same fan is used on the 88-95 Mercury Sable.

CORVETTE RADIATOR from a 1984-1989 5.7 installed to the forward position instead of the stock location: The stock radiator will not fit in the forward location. By installing the radiator in the forward position we mean to relocate it to inside the radiator support where the Air Conditioning Condenser normally resides. So to do this the condenser must be removed and relocated in front of the radiator support closer to the front grille. By installing the radiator in the forward position you free up almost 5 inches of space in front of your engine which is very important when installing a V8 in an s-series truck. This allows you to to install a larger electric puller fan (and sometimes a clutch fan) and eliminate pusher fans which are lee efficient.

Click on any image below to see a larger version.

Here is the efan as it looked after I brought it home from the auto recycler.
I paid $50 but you may get one cheaper at a "Pick and Pull" style salvage yard.

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Below are my old fans removed.
The two 12" efans were pushers and the two 10" efans were pullers. The pushers worked fine if I didn't run the AC. When the AC was on I had to turn on the 10" pullers to help but the engine still would run too hot in stop and go traffic or in a fast food drive through.

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With rain in the forecast and no garage, I fabricated a work tent out of tarp and bungee cords.
I'm glad I did, because it did rain on the second day I was working on this. Kept me dry!

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Here is a photo of the top section of the radiator support from below. Removing the AC condenser revealed foam all the way around. I removed it all. It was put on with a double stick tape or similar. Under the side wall of this support there is another section of metal (where the foam was stuck on to) that I needed to remove or the radiator would not fit inside. I used an angle grinder and 4: metal cutting discs to do the job. Its a hard angle to cut but just take your time and it will cut out.

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Pictured below is the area of the passenger side radiator support I cut out to make room for the radiator cap and radiator tank.

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Here is the driver's side of the support cut out to clear the radiator tank.

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Another photo of the passenger side.

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And here's a shot from a different angle.

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Below is the 1985 Corette radiator. I used 3/4 inch heater hose to make a rubber mount for the radiator. You want to make sure no metal part of the radiator it touching anything metal on the vehicle. It must be isolated from metal or the vibration will damage the radiator. The 3/4 tubbing was perfect to insert between the aluminum lips on the bottom of the radiator. I then cut the hose like shown in the photo to provide a rubber foot for the tank ends to sit on.

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A close up photo of the 3/4 hose.

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Drivers side bottom tank.

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Passenger side bottom tank.

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To make the rubber mount for the top of the radiator I used 1/2 inch heater hose. I used a smaller hose on top for better clearance at underneath the top of the radiator support.

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As you see here I bent over the grille side top lip in over the 1/2 hose to hold it in place. Bending it down also provided better clearance in the support because the support was angled slightly down toward the grille. To make the bend, I gently pounded with a rubber mallet.

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A closer view of the 1/2 inch hose.

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And another view.

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Here is the radiator installed inside the radiator support.
I probably cut a little too much out to the left of the rad cap.

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Here is how it looks on the driver's side.

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And here is a full view of it in place.

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Passenger side lower tank. You can see where I hammered out the support just a little because I feared that it may rub at these spots.

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Drivers side lower tank.

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Here is a photo of the top of the radiator and the 1/2 inch hose under the radiator support.

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This photo shows the clearance gained by having the radiator in the forward position. When my radiator was in the stock position, there was only a 1/2 inch clearance between the water pump pully center shaft and the radiator core itself. Kinda scary.

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To hold the radiator's bottom in the most forwad position I used sections of 3/4 inch heater hose and screwed them in tight against the bottom. I used quite a lot of self drilling tapping metal screws. I did drill pilot holes first as it makes it much easier.

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Another piece of hose attached on the other end.

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Notice here the section of fan ribs that I cut out. This was needed for the water pump pulley to clear.

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Back to the radiator. I reused the stock upper radiator mounts to further ensure the radiator stayed in its spot as far forward as possible. I bent a steel mending brace into a shape to hold the mounts and bolt down to the support.

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Here is a close up view of the passenger side where I had to cut it out some to clear the radiator cap.

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And another view from a different angle.

In the above photo you can see the transmission line tubing inserted into the radiator with a fitting. The stock fitting did not fit into the Corvette radiator so I took the radiator to Advanced Auto Parts and we matched up a new fitting that would fit into the radiator. The exhisting line was a little tight to reach the ratiator too. So I bought some sections of brake line tubbing to patch in. This worked perfect as the brake tube's flare fit perfectly into the new fitting. The stock transmission tube's flare was made different and only fit the factory fittings. So with a small tube cutter, I cut the flares off the stock transmission line. I then cut one end off each of the two brake line tubes I bought and very carefully bent them to match up to the position of the exhisting transmission line where I had cut the ends off. The brake line comes with fittings that fit right into the new fittings I bought for the radiator. Its a perfect match. I then spliced the lines together with compression fittings to make the line solid. See the compression fittings below.

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Here you can see the remaining clearance after the Taurus fan is in place.
You will notice the cut out section of the fan as shown above for clearance.

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Another view.

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Here you can see the Taurus efan installed and the little "L" brackets I used to mount it to the radiator support.

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Another view. Its also important NOT to mount the Taurus efan assembly where it will come in contact with the radiator. Notice there is a little gap. Space is left so that vibration form touching does not damage the radiator.

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Top view. (but I am sure you figures that out)

Upper Radiator Hose:
I used the stock upper 4.3 hose. There was enough play in it. Just that now it rests forward closer to the ac compressor. And the middle of it used to rest under the corner of the air cleaner box and now it runs along the side. I cut off the first few inches up to the first bend where it goes into the radiator because it was bending and trying to collapse. Cutting the end off and pulling it straighter took the strain off the hose and eliminated the collapse.

Lower Radiator Hose:
I had to get more creative with the lower hose. I took the radiator into Advanced Auto Parts and a clerk and I went into the back and started matching radiator hoses to fit one that would work. Tried to get a single hose but that was not going to work. So I got a hose that would fit over the radiator inlet. They did not carry anything to permanently splice two hose sections together, so I asked them if they have exhaust pipe adapters/reducers. So we went over and matched up a steel exhaust pipe reducer that would fit both radiator hoses. The exhaust pipe reducer is 1 1/2" ID to 1 3/8 OD. I kept the stock lower hose on the water pump but cut it off about half way where the straight section is. Matched up the new hose that fit on the radiator and cut it where it would match to the spot where I cut the stock hose on the water pump. Then I used the exhaust reducer and hose clamps to join the two. I don't know the make and model vehicle of the new hose I bought to splice in. But the advanced Auto Parts number is: (D)71634cs Additionally, the stock 4.3 upper hose may fit the lower radiator.

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Here you can see the fabricated upper mount brackets. Also notice on the underside of the hood there are cut outs that match the radiator brackets. Because of reusing the upper radiator mounts and the angle of the hood changing downward the closer to the grille, the brackets I made prevented the hood from closing completely. The solution was to cut out small sections of the hood's brace to allow for the clearance. Be very careful when cutting because you don't want to cut too deep and cut into the hood's outer skin at all.

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Another view.

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Passenger side hood cut out.

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Driver's side hood cut out.

So far so good. I can already tell that on low it moves alot more air than my other efans ever could. I am running the fan only on low right now wired off of my previous efan's wiring relay. When I have more time I am going to wire up a couple 40 amp relays an d a temp probe to turn on low by temp and high when the AC turns on. I will update this page when I do that.

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All Done!

Well, accept for the ac condenser. I am going to leave that for another weekend.
I'll update this page when I get to reinstalling it in a forward position too.

Before I took off the condenser, I had a local shop evacuate / discharge the ac coolant for $20.
What you do is up to you but it is a felony to vent automotive refrigerant to the atmosphere.

Email me if you have any questions.

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ZR2 MIKE's 5.7 V8 BlaZeR2 - Page 3

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