390 overheating at idle

[BruceS]

When I bought my '66 Fairlane in '97 it was completely stock, but pretty worn.  When I drove it the 40 or so miles home I noticed the fan made a lot of noise... Since it was a factory air car I didn't think too much about it; those cars came with a 7-blade fan.  A few weeks later I started working on the front of the engine to replace belts, hoses, etc.  When I got the fan off I noticed the word FRONT stamped on the fan hub was facing the rear!  After putting it back together correctly that fan was a lot quieter! 

Bruce

[FirstEliminator]

   The fan on backwards won't push air backwards as the angle is still the same, it will still pull towards the engine. It's the design in the curvature of the blade that is disrupted and really reduces efficiency.  You would need a reverse rotation fan to actually push air. So, on backwards it kinda works. On frontwards it actually works.
  A friend of mine with a 64 Country Squire  accidentally installed a reverse rotation fan and it blew a lot of hot air out the grill. Changed the fan and it didn't over heat within 10 minutes.