flex-a-lite fan

Plan on investing in a 3G alternator swap BEFORE or DURING the switch to an electric fan. Some guys will jump in and try to say, "Awww, nawww ... you'll be fine with the stock 65-amp alternator," but believe me, you'll only be running on borrowed time if you do. The stock alt barely puts out enough to get things done in stock form, and when you go throwing a high-amp-draw item like an electric fan on there ... ugh.

Lotta dudes pan the "Black Tragic" fans as being junk; others have had good luck with 'em. I dunno, they may or may not have changed their design over the years. You'd be better off, IMO, going to a junkyard and grabbing an electric fan out of a Taurus or, if you're lucky to find one, a Mark VIII (maybe even an SN95).

Wiring it up, you can either elect to use a temperature-specific switch (cheap ones available at most parts stores, or a DCC unit which is pricey but very nice), a manual on/off switch, or you can go the ghetto route of rigging it to run full-time and come on with the ignition ... not a wise way to go, honestly, but I ran the fan on my notch like that for over two years (it's Frankenstang's, now) and it was already wired up that way when I got it, never had a problem with it at all.

The vital MUST-HAVE items on it are a good fuse, HEAVY gauge wire (no such thing as too thick of a power wire for an E-fan, really), and a quality relay. FWIW, the e-fan on my notch was rigged up by the prior owner with an old-school starter relay, and it always worked just fine.

Ive used the Black Magic fan for years on both my GT and LX...never had an issue with it keeping either car cool no matter what the temo, sitting in traffic, at the track....whatever. I know others havent had the same experience but I can only speak for my own.

As for the benefits, well longer water pump life since there no longer is a heavy clutchfan hanging off the snout, less parasitic drag since the engine doesnt have to turn the fan, less weight, and better cooling IMO.

If you can get one for a good price, id say go for it.

Electric fans draw a lot more amps on startup than at steady running - up to 40 amps (or more) in some cases. That spike in initial draw, coupled with what you're already pulling to operate the fuel pump, injectors, ignition, stereo, etc. is all going to add up to a pretty hefty amount. Even if your alternator is an upgraded 2g, you'd still benefit from upgrading to a 3G unit from the better bearing life, cooler operation, and extra amps. Also, the fact that you're running underdrive pullies likely means that your aftermarket alt isn't outputting to its fullest potential.

Electric water pumps are a waste unless you absolutely, positively need one ... and I'm not sure they're even really meant for regular street-driven use, anyway. (More like for strip-only, where you just start the car, crawl over to the staging lanes, run, then shut it down and cruise back into the pits.) They don't draw THAT much HP from normal operation, and whatever you'd gain by running one would be offset by the additional draw it would place upon your alternator. Besides, a plain ol' mechanical water pump will be way more reliable, simple, and effective for 90% of most setups in the long run, anyhow.

You'd probably gain more benefit from ditching your A/C and P/S components and switching to a manual rack n' pinion setup, although it depends on how much comfort you're willing to give up in the name of go-fast.

Again, you could either wire up a manual switch, a thermostatic switch, or an always-on setup. Regardless of which one you go with, the fan will always draw a buttload of current when it first kicks on, because it takes more power to get it moving than it does to keep it spinning ... the only exception being with the DCC controller, which gradually ramps up the fan speed instead of kicking it on suddenly, thus avoiding a spike in power draw (although you'll still need the extra amps to keep that thing running, along with everything else).

The 3G swap isn't all that expensive, if you get it from the right place. Check your boneyards for a donor car and you can probably snag one for around $40 or $50 - search the 5.0 Tech forum archives for a list of cars with 3G alternators that will bolt up to a 5.0. The rest of the cost is in buying the necessary wiring, fuse(s), connectors, and little whatnots. I spent a grand total of right about at $200 on my 3G upgrade, and that was using a lifetime-warrantied alternator from Autozone (about $150 of the cost, right there). An electric fan from a junkyard car can usually be had for around $40 (just don't tell 'em you plan to use it on a 'Stang or they might try to jack up the price).

FWIW, cold air intakes are a waste. The stock airbox is good for up to 250hp or more. Just drop in a K&N panel filter or FRAM Airhog and yank the air silencer, if it's still in there, and call it a day - it already draws cold air from the fenderwell. CAI kits are only good for underhood bling-bling, for the most part, and a lot of them will actually screw with your MAF in such a way that you have to rotate the MAF just so it won't freak out from the turbulance (causes low-speed bucking and such).

Keep the smog pump, even if you don't have an A.I.R. tube going to your X- or H-pipe. There's still another tube that goes around to the back of your cylinder heads from the smog pump, and the thing really doesn't create enough drag to even warrant deleting. Again, pretty much a mod that's overkill unless you're absolutely dying to shed maybe 5 or 10 lbs. and just want to clean up the engine bay for the sake of looks (or clearance for a power adder).