<VV> Astro 1 engine fans

[Mel Francis]

For those who can read mechanical blueprints, I've posted the top view 
drawing of the Astro engine.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mel_francis/8571083561/in/photostream
As you can see, there are three disc-type fans on the main shaft, with vanes 
on both sides of the disc.
These fit into a lower casting that matches the vanes closely and is closed 
off by a top cover,
or perhaps three separate fan covers that complete the pressure rings.

Perhaps the main reason that nobody has replicated this system, even GM, is 
complexity and the
resulting cost. There is also a fair amount of rotating mass, more than 
double that of the stock mag fan and
that would certainly become a problem in any higher performance application.

Mel


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jim Simpson" <simpsonj at verizon.net>
To: "Virtual Vairs" <virtualvairs at corvair.org>
Sent: Tuesday, March 19, 2013 9:22 AM
Subject: <VV> Astro 1 engine fans


> Now that I've been given directions on how to actually search the VV 
> archives,
> I'm emboldened to ask this question regarding Corvair engine fans:  Has
> anyone attempted to replicate the Astro 1 overhead cam engine cooling
> system?  (I didn't see any obvious references to attempts to replicate 
> this
> system.)
>
> The Astro 1 engine was a major redesign to incorporate a number of major
> improvements to the Corvair engine.  The major one was the SOHC design, 
> but
> the cooling system was also radically different in that it used three 
> blowers
> (squirrel cage?) on a single horizontal shaft.  The fan routing was
> simplified to eliminate the 90 degree bends and looks much more like a
> conventional layout.
>
> I've seen some of the Porsche fan adaptions to the Corvair engine so
> itseem pretty obvious that the fan belt
> routing could be done on a more or less stock engine, but has anyone
> actually investigated the fans themselves?
>
> Jim Simpson
> Group Corvair
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