Can I install a plastic 280zx fan and clutch on my 71 240z without any clearance issues? Does the bolt circle match up?

I bought a supposed Z fan (no clutch) off ebay recently and the bolt circle didnt match the circle on my clutch. I'm replacing because my car came with the correct but heavy metal fan and there seems to be a consensus that the plastic fan is better for the water pump's longevity. Also, it just seems that the metal fan with its small blades cant move as much air.

Thanks

you just need to check the space between the blades and the radiator . I am running a ZX fan and clutch on my '73 with no problem. There are different fan clutches and not all will work, so just make sure you allow room.

Gary

It's not the clutch, it's the fan itself. The mounting surface was moved from the front edge of the fan to the rear, moving the fan farther forward to accommodate the cars with three row pulleys. Here are the two different fans. Note the mounting surface locations. The first one will sit farther away from the radiator than the second one. From what I understand, the OEM plastic fans will not fit the clutch that was used with the metal fan

Just want to mention that after playing around with fan clutches 20+years ago I switched to a spacer and metal flex fan. Doing this practically eliminated all my vapor locking problems that I had. I live in Central Texas and 105F summer days are common. Before I did this after a hot soak the old Z did lots of bucking and snorting despite doing all the vapor locking trick fixes.

I've also not had any issues with water pumps either as the whole contraption is lighter.

BTW, don't use a fiber glass flex fan. I tried that, it didn't flex enough so it sounded like I was flying an airplane.

Don

I have the spacer/metal flex fan on my 320 but I'll stick with the fan clutch/stock fan combo on my S30 and 810 simply because they work, they've never caused any problems plus the fact that I have three vurtually new fan clutches as spares to use on my cars.