So, there is bugger all room in there guys & I think leaving a solid fan in there is a waste of the little power the piddly A14 makes so what does everyone do about it?

Does a 10" or 12" fan on the front pushing through the radiator work well enough?

Are there certian brands of thermofans that are thin enough to fit into the space available behind the radiator?

Any suggestions appreciated.

Cheers
Ash

The power gain in removing the stock fan is minimul at best,compared to the expense and grief especially in your part of the world,to my mind is'nt worth the hastle of a thermo.

thermo is great, makes big difference, as you can turn it off most of the time (or even better wire it with a thermostat to turn itself off)

i have seen 10" in front of the rad being sufficient if the rest of the cooling system was up to scratch

but being a bit further up north i would be trying to fit a 12" to the back, supercheap sell thin ones and they are reasnobly priced

i would think you should be able to fit one, depending on how your engine is mounted i suppose

i have the stock clutch fan and a 10inch infront of the rad for the hotest days above 35degs to push through at the lights....

it fits in the front.

Show us a pic of your radiator.
I have a 12" electric fan on the front of my tripple core datsun radiator. To be honest, it ran too hot too my liking.When driving on the freeway it also ran between the middle and hot mark of the temp gauge. Power is a little more. The cars goes quicker through the revs, but if you have still a stock radiator.Rather upgrade the radiator and then fit a thermo fan.

It is a brand new Sunny (B310) radiator (the larger type to suit the A14), so I won't be changing it. Basically a stock 1200 radiator but about 5-6cm wider

There is only 7.5cm of clearance between the radiator core & the water pump pulley, so most thermos appear to be just a tad to fat to fit, hence looking at a pushing thermo but if that doesn't work there's no point.

With a brand new radiator & all brand new gear through the cooling system in theory all the thermo will have to do is cope with idling at the lights (or perhaps burnouts).

Are most of the problems people have with cooling systems relating to them using blocked 30yo radiators (or A12 radiators on A14/5 motors?) or is there an inherent problem with the stock cooling system?

My radiator was re-cored about 4000km ago with a brand new tripple core instead of the standard twin core which also tended to make it run a little hot on very hot days in town driving. With the tripple core it went away.
I then got a 12" for free and removed the mechanical fan. It ran hot again.Freeway it went also a tad too hot to my liking. Mine is a push fan also due to the limited space between engine and radiator due to radiator being a tripple core and very thick.
I put stock fan back and it is fine now. Fan only kicks in when standing in heavy traffic on very hot days.

Try with your current radiator and see what happens.Only thing is if it does'nt work you would have wasted a bit of money.

Here is a pic of mine just after installation.Link to pic

this is a N14 pulsar fan, blades and polarity swapped around to push air from the front of the car thru the radiator.
also has a CA16 pulsar radiator installed in the engine bay, haven't had any heat issues to date and its done a couple of track days as well.
oh yeah, the fans controlled by a dvies craig thermo switch

1200GXman, the reason yours is running a little hot with only the thermo, is because it's being used the wrong way around. Those blades are cup shaped for a reason, and they only move air at the intended speed when the blades turn the right way around ie. when pulling air through they radiator, and not pushing it like you have it here. Just as a matter of fact, did you turn the polarity of the fan so that it would actually push the air, and not try to still pull it out opposite the air coming from the front when driving?.

My 4AGTE uses the exact same size fan, and a 1600 VW radiator, and it's never had heating problems, but my thermo sits on the inside with the blades pulling air.

You should look for a thermo fan that pushes, there are a few around, I think some BMW ones come with them...