14" radiator fan

[brackie1]

I have a '77 and think about going to a larger radiator fan. Does anyone have any experience with the 14" universal fan being sold by ricambi. says it does not come with mounting brackets. what exactly is need to mount it?

[MattVAS]

Well I can't speak for them and I won't, but I can say how fans normally mount.

Most aftermarket fans mount using a pin through fin method. There are long pins cylindrical with back facing ribs. Those are passed through a mounting point on the fan then through the fins of the radiator. On the front side of the radiator you slide on the locking washer down the pin. The back facing ribs lock the locking washer in place. The pins and mounting hardware are on the left side of the picture.


Many people aren't in love with the pin through fin method (I've personally had many cars with it and had now issues). So we made a full bracket to mount the aftermarket fan, but not use the pin through fin method. SKU 11-3398


Due to the size of the bracket we were only able to use 12" fans with our bracket.

[architect]

I ran a 15" and it fits insanely tight.. I wouldn't go any larger then 14", you got to watch your pullies.

BTW, sweet bracket!

[michaelj]

I did the fan and bracket upgrade only to find the fan moves less air. At least it seems to. ONce my fan kicks on it never goes off. The factory fan would cycle. This, to me, means its moving more air. Blade pitch is different.

I am not overheating and it does look better though, so maybe its no biggie.

[klweimer]

I tried to mount a larger aftermarket fan using the plastic pins that go through the radiator, but found my factory radiator fins and tubes where way to tight to pass the plastic pins through. I gave up, fearing I'd damage the radiator and cause a leak somewhere. I think the aftermarket aluminum radiators may have a bit more space for the long plastic pins. If you go this route, I'd recommend a bracket, for sure.
Kirk

[MattVAS]

To follow up on some comments that are on to something.

Old Radiators - Some of the old radiators have a staggered stance to the rows thus making installing the pin through fin near impossible. So yes you were right to be careful or stop entirely.

Brackets - adding a bracket of any kind to hold an aftermarket fan does make that fan less functional. Aftermarket fans are designed to sit directly on radiators. This fact applies to all cars with all aftermarket fans, this is not a FIAT thing. We had the brackets made because simply put everyone asked for them. We do send out brackets out with foam to seal between the bracket and the radiator. This helps to keep it tight and pulling air properly through the radiator. An example of good but bad brackets is on large Chevy radiators where they make the huge all covering bracket. The issue is that there are massive air leaks around the entire boarder of the bracket. The whole thing boils down to when you have a bracket you need to try to seal the fan to the bracket and the bracket then sealed to the radiator.

Pin through fin - This is in fact the best method to mount an aftermarket fan if you want the very best in cooling. This is the method I have personally always used.