[Tom]

The fan blade clutch for my 63 Electra with factory a/c locked up on me last night on the way back from a cruise night. Anyone know a good source for an oem style replacement? Would like to get one as close to an exact match as possible. I know about Wheatbelt as a possibilty for a used one, but would prefer to replace it with a new one if possible.

[Jim_Cannon]

Don't get a used one. Get a new one. High quality OEM equivalent units are available from any good parts store. Insist on the heavy duty unit with the small coil spring on the front face. The smooth front face economy unit will not do it.

One common manufacturer and part number for the HD clutch is "Imperial" and is their part # 215049.

[NTX5467]

The "flat face" non-thermal unit is what was used on many of the early 1960s cars, as I recall. The "thermal" unit with the coil spring didn't happen until a few years later (approx the mid-1960s. The non-thermal is locked up until the engine reaches a certain fan-speed rpm, then it kicks out and freewheels. The thermal unit will cycle in and out, depending upon the heat load coming through the radiator.

By observation, while the front side might look OEM, it's the mounting flange that makes the difference (to me). The OEM flange should (generally) be a solid flange with drilled holes in it, along with the correct centering hole in the middle to slip over the tip of the water pump (after the water pump pulley is installed). In the life span of a particular part number of fan clutch, they were this way for the earlier years of production, then went to a slotted flange in later years (as various applications were combined into one "replacement" part number. I suspect that any non-thermal clutch you find will have the slotted flange, but the thermal ones probably have that now, also. The non-thermal clutches are now much more "universal fit" than the earlier OEM units were.

I concur that the thermal units are the "premium" and better units to have, but a working non-thermal can do the same job if that's all you can find. It might take some catalog mining to find a thermal unit (i.e., looking for the orig specs, as in shaft length, mounting bolt circle, center hole dia., flange-to-fan distance) that might fit an earlier application that didn't originally use one. At this point in time, it could well be that all available applications have been combined to as few part numbers as they can justify.

IF you have a fan clutch (thermal, in this case) that has lost a small amount of fluid and doesn't seem to work (but does NOT wobble!), you can take a ball pein hammer and put a dimple in each side of the raised portion of the sheet metal front cover (usually cad plated). This increases the fluid pressure inside the unit and keeps it locked-up longer, but it'll still unlock at a higher rpm. This is a BANDAID fix, if needed.

Just some thoughts,
NTX5467

[Jim_Cannon]

Tom-
My '63 Riv came from the factory with A/C and the fan clutch with the small coil spring in front. Your Electra did, too.

Look at page 2-3 of your '63 shop manual for full size cars for "general engine specs". It calls for a "Torque and Temperature Sensitive Clutch" on A/C cars (the one with the coil spring on front).

I can hear my fan clutch cycle on and off while I drive in the summer with the A/C on.

[Tom]

Jim, thanks for the help and part number. Yes, my clutch does have the spring in front. I took the part number you gave me and the old clutch to NAPA last night. They cross referenced your number to one they have. They had one in stock and while a little larger in diameter than the original, all the mounting holes lined up perfectly. In less than 10 minutes and only $42 lighter in the back pocket, I was on my way. Just need a few minutes to get it back on the car and should be good to go.

Thanks again to all for the advice.