Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Be sure to use a relay for the fan. It can make a huge difference
Eric
64S1

Is anyone still using there original Otter switch to control the fan?

The way i'm thinking of rigging the relay up is use the Otter switch to provide the Ground to a relay, Use a direct feed from the battery and have the Ignition as the switch power. As long as i run a separate Fresh ground to the Fan the Otter switch shouldn't have any more juice than normal going through it.

The thing that puzzles me about rad fans is the wide difference in price. Some I see are around the ?20 mark and others closer to ?90. I understand the principle of 'you get what you pay for' , but surely there can't be so much difference quality wise. I once fitted a real cheapy to one of my cars and it was still performing well when I sold the car 7 or 8 years later. Why shouldn't I fit a 20 quid fan to my Elan?

Geoffers71 wrote:The thing that puzzles me about rad fans is the wide difference in price. Some I see are around the ?20 mark and others closer to ?90. I understand the principle of 'you get what you pay for' , but surely there can't be so much difference quality wise. I once fitted a real cheapy to one of my cars and it was still performing well when I sold the car 7 or 8 years later. Why shouldn't I fit a 20 quid fan to my Elan?

At the end of the day next to the stock Lotus fan anything is an Improvement.

Its the same with most things nowadays, some one will develop a fan with a Brushless Motor and clever designed blades to increase air flow but reduce noise then some one in China copy it and half the price. I have stopped buying Chinese made products because there mostly poor quality but more importantly its killing the R&D of small businesses.

I have a TTR radiator and a pair of Triumph pull fans from Ebay - ?12each. One works from a fan switch on the rad and the other is manually operated from a switch inside, both off relays - Never needed the 2nd one and the auto fan comes in and out depending on the traffic and ambient temp. Went to Maranello and the Ferrari factory a few years back -Very hot! - no problems at all.

Geoffers71 wrote:The thing that puzzles me about rad fans is the wide difference in price. Some I see are around the ?20 mark and others closer to ?90. I understand the principle of 'you get what you pay for' , but surely there can't be so much difference quality wise. I once fitted a real cheapy to one of my cars and it was still performing well when I sold the car 7 or 8 years later. Why shouldn't I fit a 20 quid fan to my Elan?

As I posted earlier that's what I've done. I'm sure the expensive ones are built to a much higher std - bearings rather than bushes, that kind of thing, but I don't mind hacking a ?20 fan around to see what needs to be done to make it fit, drilling holes for brackets etc. I was even prepared to just throw it away if I'd bought the wrong size. The fact that it's lasted three years so far is a bonus and while it's working I'm happy to leave it be.

I'm not sure I'd be so laissez faire if it was the water pump or located inside the gearbox or some other awkward to reach place but at the end of the day it's just a cooling fan - something that's in plain sight, easy to get to and easy to replace - and there's not many parts on an Elan you can say that about!

Geoffers71 wrote:Why shouldn't I fit a 20 quid fan to my Elan?

Well, I did, one of those Ebay cheap ones you see. I think it was ?22 actually so perhaps it was an executive version

Of course you have to make up your own brackets but otherwise it was straightforward. If anything I'd say it pushes more air than the 1980 vintage Kenlow it replaced.

Will it last as long ? I've no idea, you pays your money....

Brian

UAB807F wrote:

Geoffers71 wrote:Why shouldn't I fit a 20 quid fan to my Elan?

Well, I did, one of those Ebay cheap ones you see. I think it was ?22 actually so perhaps it was an executive version

Of course you have to make up your own brackets but otherwise it was straightforward. If anything I'd say it pushes more air than the 1980 vintage Kenlow it replaced.

Will it last as long ? I've no idea, you pays your money....

Brian

ElanFan02.jpg

How do you find the bonnet spring clearance?

I fitted a thin Spal 9" curved blade pusher. A nice fan but not twenty quid! Part number: VA07-AP12/C-58S

It is well described at:
http://www.jaycorptech.com/p-50-spal-9- ... m-fan.aspx
http://www.spalautomotive.com/eng/produ ... AP12_C-58S

There's a useful Q&A at:
http://www.a1electric.com/spal/faninfo.htm

I mounted it with a pin mounting kit. I was worried that it would be hokey, but it turned out to be neat and works well. See:
http://www.jaycorptech.com/p-31-fan-mou ... n-kit.aspx

I don't have an Otter switch and didn't want to futz around with putting sensors in the radiator hose so I used a radiator fin sensor. Derale 16759 electric fan thermostat & relay. Purchased from Amazon. Once again I was worried that this would be hokey, but it has also proved to be neat and effective.

The only wrinkle was that the connectors for the Spal and the Derale were not compatible, so I had to swap one of them to match the other. I think I had to fit a Deutsch connector to the Derale to match the Spal.

The picture shows how unobtrusive the fan is. The temperature probe can be seen between the fan and the edge of the radiator (the little shiny thing!). The relay is under the bonnet slide so can't be seen in the photo.

Err, changing the subject, in the very top right corner of the photo a bulge in the braided steel fuel pipe where it connects to the front Weber can be seen. Is this a sign of imminent pipe failure? It's been like that since I purchased the car and I've never, um, bothered about it.

Nick

elanner wrote:Err, changing the subject, in the very top right corner of the photo a bulge in the braided steel fuel pipe where it connects to the front Weber can be seen. Is this a sign of imminent pipe failure? It's been like that since I purchased the car and I've never, um, bothered about it.

I have a thing about Braided lines for the simple reason you can't check the condition of the Hose the braid covers, most Braided hoses are just normal hose with an external reinforce and its possible the Hose underneath is in good order while the external braid has been pushed up by for example the end fitting.

I have only had a couple of Braided lines go in the past due to old age and they tend to weep leaving water marks on the outside before failing properly, they don't tend to bulge as the braid won't allow it, you usually find they have collapsed internally.

Grizzly wrote:How do you find the bonnet spring clearance?

Plenty of room. The spring is leaning forward when in position and it's easily reached to disconnect & remove the bonnet.

The previous kenlow fan was an 80s version and not shrouded, plus it had a deeper motor / fan shaft and so removing the bonnet was actually harder than with this new one.

I've no idea how reliable the new one will be, but I've been sufficiently impressed to buy one for the Europa as well. I like the fact the blades are contained and it looks an engineered assembly.

Brian