Junkyard Electric Fan Hunting: The $20 Fans That Beat Almost Everything! (What To Look For)

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In todays video we head over to a random junkyard in search of some 1990's Ford passenger car fans for the 1972 LSA Monte Carlo build we have. The universal parts store electric fans just can't keep the heat under control in stop and go traffic... after some research we found that the Lincoln Mark 8, Mercury Cougar, Ford Taurus, Thunderbird, etc all have VERY capable electric fans. Some of which outperform even the best aftermarket fan options in terms of CFM/actual airflow...all for around $20? Lets see what we can find!
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[@Stapleton42]

Has anyone used one of these fans before? Or any junkyard finds successfully? Let us know in the comments so people have good options!! New hoodies! stapletonautoworks.com

[@nathansmith4950]

Hell yea brother have I ever ..shit junkyard finds are sweet as shit.. Cooper just uploaded a video about ,his fascination with junkyard scores..iam always looking ,wish we had more places up north in cali,but there's only a handfull.. Suck it ..

[@cmdrcrimbo]

Why dont you wire it up to a 2 way switch so if you are in a hurry you can have it on high but just for normal daily running it stays on low?

[@Criscitiello]

I used the fans from a 97 Trans Am in my 71 Monte Carlo, they fit up really well. 160 degree t-stat, Griffin aluminum radiator and it cruises at 170-175. All I had to wire in was a relay for each fan and a 185 degree temperature switch in the head that triggers the fan relays.

[@brandonlee8400]

I got that same 2spd fan from a T-Bird. The Mark VIII was gone, probably in a Jeep by now.

[@brandonlee8400]

I got it last month from Pick-N-Pull South just last month.

[@curvs4me]

Mr Stapleton, you have a sheetmetal brake and a welder. Make a shroud that is an inch or more away from the rad that ducts all the air through the fan (remember, air doesn't like to turn). It's really a critical component of the rad. Put flaps on it that open up when airflow exceeds fan suction at speed. 👍🏼👍🏼 You need 4x the cooling without a duct to pull through the entire radiator instead of a circle in the middle. Think about it, when you're not moving with no shroud, the fan diameter is the ONLY cooling you have.

[@PHILLY214]

“The lil one w the” loud ass “BUUURP” 🤣

[@loganerwin42]

I felt that through my whole body 😂

[@Mike-xt2ot]

Tech tip: The fan that comes on the Razor side by side is absolutely awesome. It's compact , but have a heavy duty motor and pulls huge CFM. They are prone to the mounting tabs breaking so owners replace them regularly. I got 5 of them from a side by side rental business for 20 bucks. I installed one on my 1987 Conquest and Temps stay low ,,,and these cars ran hot when new with weak factory setup in Arizona. Hope this helps.

[@Stapleton42]

Great tip!

[@chakradjuzeus9275]

14:01 🤣 “It’s sturdy.”

[@deegan727]

I don’t usually know what your talking about with Sponge Bob references but when Logan said Cody Lane that caught my attention LOL.

[@Stapleton42]

Hahaha

[@phillipking7937]

You guys look like two high school love birds with Logan riding in the center of uncle George!

[@frotobaggins7169]

when i was growing up we used to call that the bitch seat.

[@Shadow0fd3ath24]

8:50...you walked past a car wioth amazing Efans....Dodge Intrepid or Chrysler LH/JX platform fans are beastly! Integrated shroud, dual fans, relays are mounted right on the shroud, and super compact at only 3" thick and light...They also flow 3200-3400cfm(near 2x as much as a crown vic fan!!) They fit right on a s10 4.3 rad with a bit of trimming, and theyre common on hotrods. New 4.3 rads are $50 and the fans are $20 in junkyards, or $80 new...They also can be removed from the car in less than 10 minutes with basic tools...Ive seen daily driven 750+whp s10s in Arizona and Texas stop and go traffic stay under 200 degrees all day long. Mine this summer has stayed 185 to 195* with a 180* Tstat. We reccommend it to all the guys in my 14,000 member s10 ls swap group over the shitty ebay rads that cool worse, are more bulky, and are 3-4x the cost

[@Stapleton42]

That’s interesting I’ve heard of intrepid before but not the Chrysler cars too. The mark 8 fan is over 4,000 cfm according to the internet and the thunderbird version on high speed is not far behind. I’ll look up the measurements of the intrepid shroud and keep that in mind for the Uncle George build!

[@440Craig]

I have an electric fan assembly off of a ‘99 Ford Contour/Mercury Cougar. It’s the only thing I could find that is slim enough to fit in my car and has enough CFM to keep my 440 cool. People say they put out over 4k CFM. And I believe it with how my engine stays cool. I have two relays powering it that are activated by the outputs on my Holley Sniper system

[@docfischer7291]

Mark VII fan’s supposedly blow up to 4000 cfm, and the newer F-150 fans flow in upwards of 5000cfm

[@brandonlee8400]

2010 F150

[@payloadperformance9706]

a True mark viii pulls between 4500-4700. i’ve had 5 of them

[@Gatorman6924]

I used one of these to replace the fan clutch on a 2000 Dakota with a 5.2. Worked amazing, used a Volvo 2 speed fan controller/switch, also wired it to kick on full blast when the ac kicked on or when it got to a certain temp.

[@AVIDSHOOTER13]

have used the ford crown vic police fans before, worked well. the other panther chassis (grand marq, town car) too. i second the intrepid/concord/lhs/ sebring fans also. the newer f150 ecoboost/5.0 fans is a fairly nice option

[@Stapleton42]

Noted

[@kevinAuman1]

I'd have yanked the old Ltd or that big block 429 Lincoln fan if it can cool all that motor then it has to be good and you said it Mitchell "they don't make em like they used too"

[@macman231]

Ruger just looks at Mitchell and you can tell he's think'in "You want some a diss??" LOL

[@loganerwin42]

He’s ready to go😂😂

[@Stapleton42]

That’s the face he makes before he goes apeshit 😂

[@JonsGarage89]

I grabbed the taurus one I think, its a two speed, I havent even wired up the high side, the low sides kept my truck cooler then the old mechanical fan ever did. They're awesome.

[@honda90084]

How did you wire it up? I have a Lincoln mark 8 fan. Wired it with a temp controller an relay but it kept popping the relay. Shortly after the control quit working so not sure witch was the problem the fan or controller. Hook the fan straight up to the battery an it works.

[@JonsGarage89]

@@honda90084 I just grabbed a normal relay and used a temp switch in the waterneck. Switch hits 180*, grounds the relay and cuts the fan on. Fan and relay are both fused from the battery. I only wired the low side, i was going to wire the high side to a switch but never got around to it because I never needed it.

[@kalvindick14]

Love that Logan sits in the middlen

[@safetyfirstintexas]

A stapleton middleton

[@stevemcafee8063]

Logan is awesome love her humor lol get find on fan in the junkyard here in Florida we have a pick a part I got a good fan and headlights out of a 98 Taurus

[@TahoesNTurbos]

oh man thats junkyard gold right there! best part, you took Uncle George to parts pick. Loving every second of it

[@CCWare]

The Mark VIII fan is the best if you can find them but the Taurus fan is a close second. I'm using a Taurus fan to cool the built 390 in my 1972 F100. Another great option is the Ford Contour dual fan. I have one of those mounted vertically cooling the LS in my 1936 Checy pickup. A couple of additional tricks... Grab the fan relays from 90's Volvos. They can carry the high Amp draw these fans pull and are already set up for two speed operation. I like to use the BMW temperature switch to trigger the Volvo relays as well. . I've run several of these setups over the years and if they won't cool your engine nothing will

[@curvs4me]

Wire size causes so many people to fail electric fan installation. MkVIII fans should run a 40 amp fuse directly from the battery or bus bar(if the bus bar is fed with 2 gauge, if not, you should change it) many times OE bus is fed with a #6 wire. Not enough for high power devices. The fan might run for a little while on a 30 amp fuse but not for long and everything will run hot. System power from battery or full size battery cable fed bus bar. Fan wire 8 gauge through a 50amp rated relay. Mk8 uses 40 amp fuse for fan circuits. You can use a single number 8 wire and 40 amp fuse to 2 50 amp relays. Use a temperature of say 182 to output a signal to a temperature relay inline with the fan run output. Or you can program it in the ECU. With a low or high output depending on temp. I don't remember what you have for an ECU. If you only have fan run output then you can use a dedicated temperature sending unit to control a relay in the fan run output with normally closed running low speed and normally open triggered by temp sensor to run high speed. It's failsafe so only one or the other circuit gets juice.

[@Stapleton42]

Screenshotted for reference! Thanks man

[@curvs4me]

@@Stapleton42 No problem bud. I love that Tokyo Drift rig.

[@bennyhelgeson401]

I think you are already practicing Skill Share. Hard working,goal driven,organized,engaging, enthusiastic,creative,instructive all the good stuff. That is why I subscribe.

[@Stapleton42]

Thanks dude. Glad you’re here 💪🏻

[@NewEngland462]

I use a 185-175 t stat switch in a sbf water neck. A 300 continuous amp relay from a golf cart. Have to have a 160 t stat. Car wont go to 160 but it’s perfect for the temp range of switch. And dual countir fans. In my 82 notch back 408

[@VanPelt408]

Best electric OEM fan is dual fan from a Ford Contour. You can set it up with the same style wiring they have for a high/low.

[@Stapleton42]

Interesting I haven’t heard that before

[@440Craig]

Yeah for sure, you get them from parts stores for pretty cheap too.

[@VanPelt408]

@@Stapleton42 thin design too. Kept my 408 ci nice and chilled with a 2 core Griffin aluminum radiator and CSR electric water pump. Street/strip car. Usually drove it around on low speed. Wired through the resistor in the shroud it gave around 7-8 volts to the fans on low.

[@matcoboy6925]

What year model contour and does the engine size matter in the contour?

[@Usmc913]

You know Logan is cool as fuck for going to the junkyard with you. My wife will go to the track and car shows with me but she's definitely not going to pull shit at the yard lol.

[@jakefriesenjake]

I don't even think my wife knows about car junk yards, let alone would come with me to pull parts.

[@b3inc758]

I live in SW Kansas so ICT billet is (somewhat) Local to me...so definitely have to get the ICTittes hoodie!!! I couldn't stop laughing when I 1st saw it.

[@senseimarvin454]

some Volvo cars have a fan that has the same motor as the infamous Taurus fan but with a smaller diameter blade (same design style though). the great thing about these is that they have a round shroud that bolts onto the main shroud, which makes it REAL easy to mount them. They mount almost like a universal aftermarket fan does. i put a pair of them on the Radiator in my 74 Firebird. They require a dual relay setup so snag that from the Volvo's you get the fans from.

[@madcowmark7129]

Great video, also i was wearing new SAW T-shirt and was eating honey & soy chicken wings and dropped one on front transfer. "No Stain" fantastic, it just wiped straight off. Didn't look like a grub while out shopping. Thanks Guy.

[@Stapleton42]

😂😂😂 we try 😂

[@mikedrop4421]

Good job Logan, you were doing great scouting out that junkyard.

[@jaredoaks6317]

A tip for getting electrical parts from the junkyard. Take a 12 volt cordless tool battery with you. That way you can test the parts before removing

[@christinedaniels1886]

I had the cooling fan issue one time years ago and I solved it by putting a push fan on the front of the rad and slightly offset to the side of the other. It all worked out fine.

[@campingwithhomer7371]

I enjoyed the auto wrecker trip and it looks like you did well on the fan. It didn't sound too loud on the bench so it should be reasonably quiet sitting in traffic on a hot day when it kicks on! Then just after typing that I realized you will never hear the fan with the NASCAR exhaust! Love it!

[@Stapleton42]

Hahaha

[@ameri_cancountry6936]

After watching you while you were out west, its a little wild to see you roaming around a junkyard that I've been to several times. I was just at that junkyard like a month ago.

[@mphillips1175]

I used a twin fan off a Nissan sentra for my nova. It fit perfect and worked great.

[@aletsgo2165]

Use jumper cables to test from the charging circuit at the alternators output voltage on both settings low/high and use amp clamp to see the peak/average amp draw to see what max amp relays you need. Can setup an on/off relay from fan1 output, and feed that as a series circuit into a second relay using fan2 output to switch it between low and high on no/nc pins. I would set the non energized to high and energized to low in case the relay stopped working it would default the 2nd relay to high speed only setting.

[@LT3Fluffy]

The mk8 fans close my thermostat on the high setting when in the staging lanes on my LS C10 they blow so cold. I used 2 separate relays to control each speed. Even with a cammed 5.3 with headers and only resonators on it I can feel the high setting vibrate while its pushing a ton of air.

[@brianprzysiecki4704]

Mid 90’s Volvo wagon , grab all wiring and the little box there attached too… KZbin it there great cooling fans

[@johnsnow1355]

I have one out front of my diesel and it pulls down the temps great.

[@PsykonaughtStreaming]

solid 8.7/10 on the belch meter. well done.

[@CaneAtvse]

🤣🤣🤣 glad I'm not the only one that talks shit to my dog

[@trent1234108]

I used a fan from an old ford or caddy for my 78 bronco. It worked awesome and the shroud fit very well with some trimming.

[@Chase.bachler]

Mitchell, I love your content dude. Just raw and real. Also love the length of the videos too. Keep it coming!

[@Stapleton42]

Thanks man we will! Glad you’re here 🤟🏻

[@MM_in_Havasu]

Good score at the salvage yard, always cool stuff in places like that. Hope it all works out well on Ralph! Great job! Will be looking forward to the install video and testing on the street, and you & Logan keep up the excellent content! Thanks man!

[@Stapleton42]

Glad you’re here as usual!!

[@MM_in_Havasu]

@@Stapleton42glad to be here!

[@stevesidden9584]

Great show guys enjoy watching look forward every week I love junk yards so many cool things there to see stay safe guys God bless👍👍

[@Stapleton42]

Thanks man we appreciate you

[@andrewross3917]

Morris Minors wete a popular vehicle when I was young. Especially the traveller. A woody.

[@michaelpeace716]

We ran the Taurus fan on our Super Late Model. Amazing fans. Good find

[@rogerfleury9759]

“BADGES, WE DON’T NEED NO STINKING BADGES” Roger in Pierre South Dakota

[@RebeldryversGarage]

I have been squirreling away a Mark VIII fan for a while. Got it from the local self serve yard. Bought it for my GMC but didn't need it. I send it to you for the cost of shipping, but it would cost a lot more than $20. Logan was smart with the long pants and sweatshirt not to get eaten by them skeeters.

[@RebelRacer99]

That look on Ruger's face was his way of saying 'who you callin an asshole?' lol 🤣. Regarding vehicles with both a clutch fan and an electric fan, like that Crown Vic, the clutch fan is the main fan and the electric fan is a 'helper fan' that comes on when the motor reaches a certain temp, or when you turn on the A.C. My 2000 Durango has the same setup.

[@Stapleton42]

Interesting

[@jamesengel8867]

I've used the 98 and later dodge intrepid/chrysler 300 fans on many swaps. Move a lot of air. Kept several v8 swapped s10s plenty cool

[@throttlewatch4614]

I love exploring the junkyard

[@LowKeyIdiots]

2:56 I lost it the transition to you staring at a camera while watching you eyes read the screen lmfao

[@r7kelley553]

Logan is too funny. You got lucky with her.

[@seanbragg1696]

I second the dale yard is best lol be careful with old fan plastic seen it explode the blades and put holes in the rad veins many times

[@mdavidson101]

I've used Volvo fans but they need the little box that's attached to the shroud. Right now, I have a cobalt dual speed single fan. It seems to work and free was the best part.

[@Crispy1320]

It's nice to see you getting Ralph all dialed in ever since snip bit of that car few years ago I've been waiting to see that car rip and the way it sounded on your Instagram it was Radical

[@Phil-rs5wl]

I got lucky as shit the other day and found a 9inch rear end in my local pull-a-part, got it for $125. It was in a 1965 mercury Monterey marauder, now I was one of those cars too.

[@Stapleton42]

That’s epic!

[@Thegoose95]

My aftermarket $100 Ford Taurus fan has been keeping my turbo c10 cool for 2.5 years in Houston Texan swamp ass weather👌🏽

[@dchildress17]

Haven’t gone through all the comments but I heard Dodge Intrepid fans are FTW! Good luck

[@fetusmccarlane9627]

Newer fannys with less km are always a preference in my opinion.. Dunno bout ya overheating/cooling issues though..

[@the_lippmann]

2012-ish Chevy Volt fans. Chevy used SPAL as the OEM fan. dual fan setup PWM controlled. Get you some. Or you can always use the later gen Camaro or Silvo/Sierra fan units. PWM controlled and Bosch made. Legit units. Non PWM the Ford Fusion fan setups work well - there was a big ass single fan style and a dual fan style. All of the above mentioned fans went north of 4000 cfm and all less than $300 brand new. Pick your favorite retailer for lifetime warranty - well worth that over junkyard if you can swing it.

[@Stapleton42]

I agree the GM truck dual fans are awesome

[@the_lippmann]

@@Stapleton42 america is awesome in general. can we discuss the real hero of this video? the overhead projector silently watching over his electronic brother on the operating table... underrated performance.

[@MoleDoesStuff]

The shroud will help as well due to being able to utilize the flow over more of the radiator.

[@1986tinman1986]

Flex a lite black magic fans work great. I have 1 on my 6.0 foxbody with a 3 core. Runs good in the great Pittsburgh traffic in middle of summer.

[@brandonjakubowicz3347]

i love the mower/tractor section at my local yard

[@james10739]

I installed some stock fans from a newer truck on my 03 suburban and it's fine I just did 1 as 1 and 2 as t but supposedly they are supposed to be wired in series so they only each work at half voltage but both on and then it switches to both in parallel so fan 1 is really a low speed and fan 2 is a high speed and both work on each but I'm pretty sure my fan 2 doesn't turn off my fan 1 so it's fine and even here in central Texas it really only used 1 fan

[@bobherz6586]

That was quite an impressive burp, wouldn't expect that from her.

[@Stapleton42]

She’s pretty capable 😂

[@lsx4279]

Yes definately look into the 2000 dodge intrepid fans...You can buy them new from summit for around $90...I have used over 20 sets of them in builds I have done in the past. ZERO issues. Plus they have 4 very nice symmetrical mounting holes.

[@Stapleton42]

Interesting. Mounting capability is definitely important

[@ab3fan]

I just got caught up on all your videos. Love the content. Makes me want to build some thing fast. I give Logan a 10 for the belch.

[@Stapleton42]

Thanks dude it was absolutely a 10/10 😂

[@jd2181]

If you had a shroud plate around the fans would work better. Right now with them just flat on the back the fans are only pulling the air in front of them. While if you had a shroud spaced like an inch back then they would create a vacuum that would pull air from the whole surface area

[@joshuashanahan4359]

Pretty cool to know that you can get a badass fan for 20 bucks. Thanks for the content man.

[@Stapleton42]

That’s what we’re here for!

[@MrHevyshevy]

I used that same fan on my 46 Ford with a power stroke project.

[@s.o.s.exploration2412]

I love my 2005 Trailblazer LT V8 fan. It's like a blow-dryer/industrial in the engine bay lol

[@jasenworrell6214]

My dodge Dakota is 2000 and it has both my clutch fan makes the efan spin I believe mines there for heavy 4x4 use

[@brentcovert1531]

Always a fun time at the Donghood junkyard!

[@Headsup9550]

I have 5 different ones that I use depending on radiator size. Ford Windstar, Taurus, Mark VIII, intrepid and the most amazing one Mercedes C230..

[@jblaze0382nj]

Your the man for doing this

[@amysato7882]

In Australia we use either ford or gm shrouded fans ex junk yard , tey smash all the brand name elec fan everytinme

[@Bumblebee4788]

Low speed just requires a fuse, High speed requires a relay, it sucks about 80 amps on startup. Some use the Volvo fan controller for that fan. Had one on my Cadillac powered Monza drag car in AZ, never overheated in 107* racing air temps.

[@JohnRoberts71]

Great content thanks for sharing

[@Stapleton42]

Thanks man we are glad you’re here!

[@RearEngineShop]

Junkyard runs are always fun! 🤘

[@johnsnow1355]

Crown Vic cop car fan would be ideal as well. Build for lots of idle and AC on.

[@Stapleton42]

That was my thought exactly

[@harlandmcnall2579]

Love it bro keep it up

[@blakesracingandoff-road6353]

We take the two speed fans out of superduty 6.0l to trucks and wire both speeds up to power hi and low their the baddest fans around. Their huge tho

[@Nappylou69]

some1 had fun with the dongs one day, painting them on all the hoods lol.

[@banditgrizzy1955]

😄I'm 51 and there's no iron in my house but I just got a sewing machine bout a week ago😄 been running that alot, lots of peekaboo crotches and pool pockets to fix among other items.👍

[@Stapleton42]

😂😂😂

[@michaelhorne1955]

we arew runing a dual fan set up from a firebird. on a 1981 camaro works great.

[@tommycook9620]

Man love the channel keep them coming man thanks for the van tips need something better for my 95s10 blazer with a 350 in it it hates the 80s and the 90s temp thanks for the info

[@bryandavis8095]

When you think there might be mosquitoes, take a (Bounce) dryer sheet and rub all exposed skin then hang the sheet out of your pocket. It has the same effect as a centranella candle. It will repel them.

[@Stapleton42]

Interesting I’ve never heard that before

[@Boostismyfriend]

Man your in my neck of the woods, i used to work at the salvage yard next door 20 years ago, i know jeff hintz also!!!

[@darren_clark]

Another great video! Keep it up.

[@jcook69camaro]

the volvol 2 speed fan is the boss it moves 4000 cfm on high. if you get the factory relay you can run high or low. it's a 16" round fan.

[@deegan727]

My Grandpa had a full shop and towing service with junkyard. He had a snowmobile junkyard area and also shop dog cemetery.

[@davidp9340]

I use this same fan on a 69 Bronco with a 408, you should grab a Volvo two speed fan relay that can be controlled either by the ECU or temp sending units.

[@chandlerfrazier]

So them Tekton tools are actually pretty affordable for a regular guy. A crap ton better then what i was seeing from boxo.

[@tlr-nut7275]

They have some really nice tools. Especially for the money.

[@chandlerfrazier]

@@tlr-nut7275 for real though, hella nice wrench set with pouches(cant hardly find that anymore) and a 3/8 drive socket set you could work on about anything with.

[@johnsnow1355]

Make sure u put rubber around the hard edges. You will need 50amps for the high speed fan power.

[@jeremiahsilver9483]

Man now that your in NC you gotta check out shadyside my favorite, wilksboro dragway, and English mountain there all good small tracks with fast cars.

[@aychdee981]

I miss the “central AC, 3 foot deep” fan shroud in my ‘71

[@Stapleton42]

Mine used to have one of those 😂 like a dang oil drum cut in half

[@dmbryant9942]

Plus get some bug spray if you’re gonna do silly stuff like that ESPECIALLY after a Rain - THEY hatch out AFTER a Rain (makes it sound like an “Alien thing”…

[@hammerhead2558]

Had a 95 third sc. Great fans

[@aconesworld4936]

Hey big brother.....that weird thing in the junkyard......punch this into the yatube....”400hp twin turbo V8 MORRIS MINOR V8 Morris head to head”......hope it makes ya smile as much as I did. Cool car.

[@davidjohnson8474]

I'm surprised you don't go over to 2ndchancerace parts. It's right down the street from your shop! Great people awesome part's and great prices

[@NICKGAR7]

Sure glad you didn’t lose yer pinkies with that fan! Cool (excuse the pun). Have a good week folks

[@Timmy6216]

Taurus fans that are 2 speed are wicked powerful.