Shroud Fit

Q: Shroud Fit

Since buying the car, my wife’s 1969 bird has had a mismatch between the fan and the shroud. For some reason the fan sits too low in the shroud and rubs against the bottom. In fact, I had to clip the bottom of the shround to avoid the rubbing. The fan is 2 inches smaller in diameter than the shroud, so it should have 1 inch gap on the top and bottom, but instead it has 2 inches at top and zero on bottom.

A: Take a look at your front subframe bushings, for the radiator brace. What you are reporting sounds like these bushings are compressed and have caused the front sheet metal to droop.

A: I’ve thought of that too, but wouldn’t that cause the radiator support to drop, which would make the shroud too low? My problem is the shroud is too high.

A: Actually, it’s probably just the opposite. The fan is rubbing on the bottom so the bushings would have to be too tall.

Something simple to check is to verify that the clips holding the bottom of the shroud against the radiator and fully seated and that the shroud is sitting all the way into the clips. I have also found that the shroud will sometimes hit the lower radiator hose or the pit-cock and will keep the shroud from staying in it’s proper location.

I had a similar problem when I put my 1969 back together. I rubbed on the right side near the battery before I took it apart. After I put it all back together, using the existing bushings, I gained 1/2 of clearance. I think it was just due to a combination of moving things around.

You may also want to check that you have the correct transmission mount or that the transmission cross member isn’t bent.

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