You have my personal guarantee that a good aluminum radiator and electric fan setup will give you no trouble on the street. Been doing it for years...
Virtually all current cars use electric fans. Some years ago, I went from the water pump mounted fan that was in my '64 F-100/390 PI combo to an aftermarket electric fan. I bought a style that has a sort-of 'shroud' connecting the ends of the fan blades. It's worked flawlessly ever since but I DO have a relatively open engine compartment.
I'm told that late model electric fans from such as a Taurus can be easily 'bone-yarded' and pressed into service. You'll find that they come as a unit in which the fan assembly is housed in a shroud that also serves as the mount. They not only work good, they look good too!
KS
I am the last guy to argue with either of you, but there is a big "it depends" there. As a guy who "gets" to move every 3-6 years, I have learned there is a HUGE difference in cooling a car in one climate versus another. I couldn't even fathom requiring a shroud growing up in Western Mass, cooling issues were non existent, but in Las Vegas, I learned quickly that it takes a TON of airflow to cool a motor when the ambient air is over 120 and a the surface temps of the road can be over 150 degrees. It's all about volume at that point
I'll also add that my 489, with the air conditioning at idle, would need a heck of a setup to keep adequate air flowing with the A/C, PS, and all the brackets in the way, not to mention the condenser itself. In my case, I actually decided to put two dedicated electric fans on the a/c, then space it forward so the engine driven fan would suck around it. WAY overkill here in Nebraska, but it was a nice design for Las Vegas.
Not to say that we couldnt run electric fans in the desert, but it certainly takes more thinking, and even then, on the hottest of days, my buddy's Rat Chevy stayed home, despite more radiator and a nice pair of Spals
Additionally, I do agree new cars use electric fans as a rule, but note that the engine driven fans ar still used, now even modified for full electric lockup regularly on trucks. I'd be hard pressed to compare a 500 hp FE with a tight engine compartment to a 250 hp car with a big open area in front of the engine for air to flow, but I could see comparing it to a V10 Ford or Dodge. Neither comparisons are identical, but I guess my point is, you need real good stuff if you want it to do what a factory build will do with a 500+ hp FE
Now I will say I agree completely with Jay that if you have a good fan and radiator setup. It'll run cool, but it needs to be good, and needs to be well thought out if you are anywhere south of Kansas.
Good big fans like the Lincoln and many other large fans will hit the water pump if you run a stock style belt setup, the dual fan setups for the most part don't push a lot of air for a common sized radiator. However ultimately if you have enough airflow, the car doesn't care what kind of fan it is, as long as the airflow is there
I have long wanted to move my radiator forward, run a big electric fan, and even thought of sending the air up through the hood like a GT40
However, with the big alum radiator and an aftermarket fixed fan, it runs cool, and I am not afraid to spin it to 6500, so in my normal fashion, I wont take it apart LOL
