My jeep is very modified, so a wire splice is no big deal, hardly a hack, as it is done correctly, soldered and sleaved, and nearly invisible anyway.
I suppose my aftermarket Atlas II transfer case, Ford rear end, disc rear brakes, 33x12.5 tires, winch bumper, frame stiffeners, rock rail, tire carrier, etc.. are also not acceptable, at least not for a stock show car, but it works fine for me.

 

Sorry for the delay, all - life got in the way.

Got my new fan; indeed it appears to be a fine substitute for OEM.



Fit into place no problem, but sure enough - the connectors are different:



If it's just two wires, then great, let's replace the connectors. What's the preferred connector system to keep things waterproof? I'm happy to solder and heatshrink but it would be good to still be able to disconnect the fan since I tried not doing that early in this project but it was an absolute pain to have to find somewhere to put the fan...

 

Do you have a compatible connector for the new fan (round pins)? If not, I'd cut the one off the old fan and splice onto the new one.

Unless you don't have the seal that goes inside the connector. Weatherpack connectors use the round pins. You can get a "matching pair" of 2 conductor on Amazon or maybe at your local autoparts store.

Some assembly required.....

 

That's what I did; never occurred to me there was any choice/option.