Got the new fan clutch, fan blade and thermostat installed.
Merlin advised a redesigned OEM fan clutch is the only one available now, and requires a new fan blade as well. New fan clutch is now $250 and blade $100... OUCH! Old fc was around $70 IIRC....

Interesting, new fan has 9 blades, old has 11. Blade shape and curve are also very different. I didn't measure either of them, but visually, it looks like there may be more surface space on the new blade, but not sure.

Like a few others said, I think I can hear more roar from the fan when the A/C is on, compared to before....but not a huge amount.

I thought for sure the new blade wouldn't fit in the old shroud, but it did, mechanic said it was tight. And Dub's tread plate cover could stay as well.
If this solves my O/H problems, I guess I'll never know if it was the new clutch or JUST the new blade....hmmmm

Let's hope the redesign means more air!

Going to make a Phoenix run in a few days when it's supposed to be 102. Going to try to really tax it on one steep section of I17 where the elevation rises about 2000 ft in about 2-3 miles, with full A/C going and see what happens. There's warning signs to turn off A/C, and big rigs and regular cars often overheat and are pulled off to the side.

I'm curious, anybody know why the blade arrangement on both have one space between blades that's larger than all the others?