Re: Electric cooling fan

Posted by Fred Puhn On 2013/8/27 9:48:25

I appreciate all the advice from su8overdrive. However it sounds like you did exactly what I want to do for the same reasons, so why give me advice? My Packard does NOT have a cooling problem in general because I had all the stuff done to it to prevent that. The car was never designed to idle in a parade of old cars for an hour on a hot day, and amazingly enough it won't do it without running hot. Also if you want modern lights for safety reasons you need more amps. The old 35 amp generator worked just fine in stock conditions back in the day, but we were not dealing with modern freeways back in the day. I know because I lived in San Diego before they built the first freeway.

I am willing to spend what it takes to get the best of both worlds. I like the look of the old car with its old technology and I want to show it off at car shows. However I do not want a trailer queen. The car is a joy to drive, but I do not like boiling over, having the battery dead when I want to start it, or having it die on the freeway with vapor lock. I am a mechnical engineer with a great deal of automotive design experience and I enjoy tweaking the technology to improve the driving experience without changing the basic look or feel of the car. It's part of the hobby for me.

All this stuff I am doing is because I want a more reliable, safe and pleasent old car. When I want new car convenience and performance I jump into one of my 21st century machines and blast off.

As to the apparent high cost, the Gener-Nator cost is quite high when compared to a stock 35 amp generator. I could probably get a correct restored Auto-lite generator and regulator for $500 or so (about a $500 savings). That is true but I already have nearly $50,000 in my Packard, and the issues I am trying to correct are ruining the entire experience with the car. I bought the car and spent the time and money to have fun with it. It's what I want, not what I need.