Hey guys I recently bought a 77 f250, originally had the 400 but now has a 460. I am working on a restoration and the fan that was on it was a metal fan which one of the blades has broke. Is there any benefit to staying with a metal fan or is it better to go with a plastic engine fan.

 

Metal will probably hold up longer than plastic over time but plastic will perform just fine as long as it's a good quality.

 

I think most mechanical fans designed for a dent will be metal. Nothing wrong with a plastic fan I just don't think you will find a suitable one.

I would avoid a "flex fan" in any material. They tend to shed blades which is dangerous and usually they don't move as much air.

 

Thanks guys, I am having a hard time finding anything but a flex fan. It also cost more to ship to Alaska than the fan itself. I'll keep shopping around. And the reason I am replacing it is because one of the fan blades broke and rook out my radiator when I was driving it from Idaho to Alaska last month.

 

Had a metal fan sling a blade in my 75 MG B while tach'ing out on the highway, sounded like a gunshot when it hit the hood and left a pretty big gash in it. Plastic fan on there now.

I don't know but man there's gotta be plenty of junked dents up around there in Alaska a guy could pull one from ain't there?

 

How many blades did the original fan have, did it have a fan clutch? If you still have the original fan, it will have an ID number stamped on it.