The next thing that I managed to do for the Dodge was install some cooling fans on the radiator since I didn't want to include the meat grinder fan that was on the 318 that I installed. Also since the engine was a newer engine its fan came with a fan clutch that brought the fan out farther, making it hit the radiator if I was to install it. Obvious choice was to get a couple of aftermarket cooling fans and install those.
The fans were purchased online as usual. The fans are 12" fans, which as a pair would completely cover the span of the radiator width-wise. The fans use these retainers that are inserted through the eye loops on the corners of the fan, through the fins of the radiator then a retaining disk is inserted on the probe on the other side of the radiator to hold the unit in place. Foam pads are included to put on the eye loops so the plastic isn't making direct contact with the radiator coils where possible damage can occur from vibrations. The installation of the fan went pretty fast with the retainers making quick work of everything. The biggest part was going to be the wire run from the fuse box over to the fans. Since these fans only use a little more than 6 amps each, I figured I can plug them directly to a separate 20 amp fuse circuit on the fuse box. I spliced the grounds together and ran a short length of wire over to a grounding point that is used by an automotive relay. This left a single red power wire to be routed from the fuse box under the dash, through the firewall and over the left side fender apron over to the front and to the positive wires of the fans. The wire run followed other wires where I was able to wire tie the single wire to the bundle of wires running along the same path, keeping things neat. I spliced the positive wires together and soldered the power wire to these, completing the circuit. Only thing left was to install a fuse and test the circuit out. After turning the key on, the fans came on with no problems whatsoever. With that part of the project completed I moved on with some general cleanup in the garage then started on another little side project, which is going through my scrap pile and weeding out a lot of scrap that I haven't been doing anything with nor really have any immediate prospects for doing anything with. The scrap ranges from stuff as small as pieces of scrap metal remaining after cutting up larger scrap, includes large batches of old wiring pulled from various sources, all the way up to large stuff like washer skins and water heater tanks. I want to try to clean the area up and in no lesser terms process the scrap, only keeping the stuff I know I will be putting to use in the immediate future. One of the things that I pulled from the scrap pile first was the Dodge's center console. This thing has seen better days but because of the scarcity of this interior component and the high cost of aftermarket replacements, I will be trying to restore this piece to be reused in the Dodge. I pulled it from the ground and got all the mulch and other organic trash off of it and took it up to the garage and laid it out so I can see just how I will need to patch and repair this thing so I can install it back in the Dodge at a later date.
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