I guess "taking up space" was a poor choice of words. I just meant that the factory fan shroud makes it look more cluttered I guess. The electric fans just make it look more cleaned up since they're slimmer and less noticeable. But I'll take reliability over appearance, and it's not like there are going to be that many people looking under my hood anyway.
And a cooler under the hood? How absurd...
The ice would never last in those temperatures...
I expected going back to factory to be inexpensive, but after I shopped around for parts for a bit I was wrong. I've been having a hard time locating everything, particularly in decent used condition, but I'm going to keep searching and maybe I'll have more luck.
Also, can anybody tell me what the factory fan size is?