Fan clutch rebuild

[keith6469]

Who does it and is it worth it ? I have the original fan clutch from the car,
and all it does is free-wheels, no drag at the hub. I've heard there were places that rebuild these things, but have not been able to find any shops that do it. Any help would be great

 

[Artsvette73]

Never heard of them being rebuilt. Interesting to know if they are.

 

[JohnZ]

Fred Oliva rebuilds them, but he's backed up about 4-6 months right now. Give him a call at (954) 755-1161. Website is www.gate.net/~foliva . He has a day job too, may take a while for him to get back to you.

 

[keith6469]

Thanks so much. I will give him a call. There is one other question I forgot to ask. Will the original fan clutch have the GM part number stamped or cast into the housing somewhere? Im begining to wonder if this is the original unit. Can not find a part number anyplace on it.

 

[JohnZ]

No, it won't have the GM part number on it - is it an Eaton (coil-spring thermostat element) or Schwitzer (bar-type thermostat element)? Usually they have a black ink-stamped 2-letter broadcast code stamped on the front face. The Schwitzer clutch is on the left, and the Eaton clutch is in the center (the one on the right is a Mopar).

 

[fine69]

"... Im begining to wonder if this is the original unit. Can not find a part number anyplace on it..."

Fan clutches are relatively inexpensive, and fairly easy to find. If it turns out your's is not the original, you may just want to replace the thing (depending on the cost of a rebuild of course).

Here are a couple on eBay that I found doing a quick search...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/71-7...ryZ46096QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/CORV...ryZ10076QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Hope this is helpful...

 

[LVMYVT76]

thats a good price, zip wants $129. for theirs.

 

[bmotojoe]

You can find them at napa for around $50.00. Make sure you specify fan clutch for your application. With A/C or Without A/C, BB with HD cooling system, BB standard cooling system, SB with HD cooling system, SB with standard cooling system.
Also I believe the original fan Clutch is date coded. There are two different stamps on my original 1977 fan clutch, A7 and LY4? I cannot clearly make out the fourth number.
Brian

 

[JohnZ]

The fan clutches from NAPA are functional replacements, usually made by Hayden (the originals were made by Eaton and Schwitzer); Schwitzer clutches have the date stamped on the O.D. of the attaching flange.

 

[Ken79]

I have been looking around for several months for rebuilders for my '79 L82 original fan clutch. Have found 2 so far. Vinny at Pampered Glass Corvettes offers this service - http://pamperedglasscorvettes.com/index.html. Fred Oliva has been mentioned below - you can find more about his service by searching ncrs.org. You can also find him at - http://www.gate.net/~foliva/
This is where my research has taken me so far. My next step would be to choose a rebuilder. I'm not in a hurry as I have an original '78 fan clutch on my car for the time being, and it's working fine as temporary substitute. My plan is to have the original clutch rebuilt as I prefer to keep the car original.
Ken