When I bought my 77 the fan was bolted to the water pump without a clutch. I see in catalogs that a fan clutch is available for a 1977 305. Is my car supposed to have one, or was it just an option? can I just buy one and bolt it up? Comments and suggestions are appreciated. Thanks!

It will bolt right up I believe. Without a fan clutch it must sound like a freight train. It will also rev up faster and you will get better MPG with a clutch.

They are available at any autoparts store.

I do NOT believe it was an option but I may be wrong. I thought it was standard equipment. The fan clutch probably went out and some previous owner wanted to save some money.

cmonson is right, most likely someone removed the original clutch fan. I would bet you need a new fan as well. The ones that don't use a clutch typically mount differently.

I'm getting ready to leave for the shop now. It's about 8 miles away. I'll take a pic of my fan and maybe you guys can tell what the deal is. I'm clueless :confused: I'll post pics this evening. Thanks guys!

The only other part I would also check on is you may need longer waterpump screw in studs to accomodate the fan clutch.

You'll figure it out though. It is pretty self explanatory.

Also do NOT take this in a bad way. But buying a haynes manual will take you a long way...

In some cases cars without AC got the solid fan. The clutch type deal uses a different fan though. Maybe better to get a junkyard fan for the conversion?

77RS.... I have done the conversion before,,, mine was a flex fan. I put a Blazer fan balde in it + a clutch. it was ok, but since blazer fan is alittle big I had to cut the shroud in some places to avoid scratching....
My problem was that the clutch wasn't working at the right time and it was always engaged, so I junk it, now I got twin elec fans,,,,
I am not satisfied with them as well since one of them have to be on almost always to keep the engine at 180 or so....:(

Also do NOT take this in a bad way. But buying a haynes manual will take you a long way...

Not taken the wrong way at all. I appreciate all input. i actually have a Hayne's manual, but no info on the difference between fans w/wo clutch.

i know that a short and a long waterpump are offered for my model. Mine has the long pump. I'm guessing I may have to change to a short pump, change pulley, change fan, etc...? Also, I have AC, so there may be a clearance prob with the compressor. Just wondering why the car didn't have the clutch? :confused: I took a pic today and I will post later tonight. Thanks again!

Here is a pic of the old water pump and fan.

http://77rs.homestead.com/fan.jpg

thanks, Daniel

my 77 LT parts car has the same fan with no clutch,its also an ac car with a 305.

Man, that's one hell of a fan to not have a clutch on it! Does it roar when you rev up the engine?

clutch is good, but if thats stock.. i am not sure you want to change over. I believe the non-AC cars use a different shroud. and you need the fan to be partially in the shroud and partially out of it. so if you lengthen the whole unit by adding a clutch, you may be too far into the shroud. you have a pic of it mounted?

Not taken the wrong way at all. I appreciate all input. i actually have a Hayne's manual, but no info on the difference between fans w/wo clutch.

i know that a short and a long waterpump are offered for my model. Mine has the long pump. I'm guessing I may have to change to a short pump, change pulley, change fan, etc...? Also, I have AC, so there may be a clearance prob with the compressor. Just wondering why the car didn't have the clutch? :confused: I took a pic today and I will post later tonight. Thanks again!


No need to change the water pump or shroud. You will need a new fan (see pic) it has a large opening in the middle which allows it to go over the fan clutch mount (see pic) and bolt directly to the clutch. The overall length of this should be about the same as the fan and spacer you have today.

4052

4053

The car is completely (and I mean completely) torn down, so the only pic I have of the fan mounted is one of my "before" pics.

http://77rs.homestead.com/FAN_before.jpg

This really is no big deal. Refer to my post above. Everything will work fine...water pump, pulley, shroud...just get a new fan and clutch and you are good to go.

I've done this ... replaced a very similar looking flex fan with a 77 trans am clutch fan.. heheh.

Needed new bolts but they were in fact about 1/3rd as long as the flex fan. The clutch mounts directly to the pulley and is only about a 1/4" thick, as opposed to the long tubular bit between the pulley and the front of the flex fan.

In any case, engine sound changed a bit. Faster? Couldn't tell.

make sure you get the 7-blade fan as well....