[DeTomaso] Just whe I thought it was safe to go back in the water...

[JDeRyke at aol.com]

In a message dated 7/07/07 3:35:30 PM, chrisvkimball at msn.com writes:

<< and to top it all off, it appears I broke the radiator while installing 
the stupid fan! >>

Probably. We've long warned that cheap plastic tie-wraps the offshore 
companies use to mount radiator fans WILL damage radiators. The plastic is much 
tougher than the 0.015"-thick radiator tubes (either aluminum or copper), so even 
if the ties are carefilly inserted to not touch, vibration is all that's 
necessary to saw thru. The Pantera vendors all sell real fan and shroud mounts that 
won't damage core tubes. 
It may be possible to repair your radiator at a pro shop with some loss in 
efficiency, but if its a stock unit, you may want to explore the idea of using a 
bigger modern rad. Aluminum assemblies from Fluidyne are sold by nearly all 
the vendors and are a drop-in install. The same unit from generic hot-rod shops 
or off the internet will be cheaper but will not have the two fan thermal 
switches, the fan mounts, the slant-fwd brackets, the right-angle tube adapters 
or the anti-corrosion liquid that water from some areas of the country need. 
The whole assembly weighs less than 1/3 that of a stock radiator, works better 
and costs slightly more.

Second, rarely does a street Pantera need three fans. A Pantera's radiator 
core is 16" wide by 28" long, and that fits a Flexilite rear-mounted shroud 
mounting two big high-quality flat-motor sucker fans. This shrouded system pulls 
3X the air that a front mount pusher fan delivers, will fit any radiator 
mounted straight up or slanted forward (slanting it fwd allows far easier attachment 
of the hose connections. It makes no difference in cooling whether the rad is 
slanted or not). Any rad can be slanted fwd a variable amount with two straps 
on top, two extra bolts & nuts and slightly longer radiator hoses to connect 
to the stock under-body hard lines. If slanted, the upper rad shroud plate 
should be cut down to fit the new rad mount. You also must cut away the 
sheet-metal front fan mounts and that also allows more air to reach the radiator. Good 
luck- J DeRyke<BR><BR><BR>**************************************<BR> See 
what's free at http://www.aol.com.</HTML>