Fan Blade Problem

T

txmike

Senior Member
I originally had a 4 blade fan/water pump on my 29 couple and replaced it with a leakless water pump with a 2 blade fan. When I went to start the car I noticed the blade now hits the top radiator hose. It appears to be too long.
I measured it at 16 inches.

I tried raising the radiator by putting another pad under the radiator but no luck.

tks for the advice!
Mike
 
Look to see if the 4 blade was spaced out farther or came with about a 1 1/2 extension, I had the same condition on a 29 Roadster, had a time with the aluminum fitting on pump shaft as well as the steel 4 blade, Bruce
 
Make sure the crank lines up with the crank pulley, if it does the upper hose may be too low. If it's a repro radiator the return outlet may be too low. You may be able to adjust the front motor mount if the engine is too high.
 
I had the same problem with my september 29 it was fitted with a repro 2 blade aluminum fan and a repro radiator. My rusty june 29 tudor uses the same type repro aluminum 2 blade fan but a much older radiator and the fan doesn't hit. I decided that the problem must be with the angle of the upper radiator neck. the easiest fix that I could figure was to cut 3/4 inch off each end of the fan blades. I taped a piece of 3/4 masking tape along the edge of the fan blades as a guide and used a 3 inch cut off wheel on an air tool and cut along the inside edge of the tape to remove 3/4 inch from each end. After a little dress up with a file to smooth up the edges nobody has ever noticed it. Removeing equal amounts doesn't upset the balance. It works good and takes less power from the engine to pull the fan. So another speed secret revealed. You do need a steady hand and some experience with a cut off tool. Not for the faint of heart but this was my fix. Good luck. some times model A's can be a real pain.
 
msmaron said:
Fix the problem DONT cut the fan... that is the bandaid!!
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Not a bandaid, actually the problem was an ill built radiator. Shortening the fan was easier than running the risk or trashing the radiator. Shortening the fan was actually an improvement. Its not a show car the fan and the radiator are both repro.

I don't tell people what to do. If they ask for advice, I sometimes take the time to tell them what I did or what worked for me. I'm not new to model A's and I'm not asking for advice.
 
When I could not get my hood properly aligned, I noticed it was due to a couple of wood blocks holding the radiator higher than it was supposed to be. Took the blocks out, corrected the hood alignment and was happy as can be. Until I started the car and discovered that the fan hit the radiator hose just like above. After looking at many pictures of engines I decided the replacement radiator that the previous owner bought had the top hose connection too low.

A correct radiator would be more than $500, and the one I have is perfect. Since this will also never bee a fine point show car, i did the same thing as above and cut about 3/4" off each blade. It now works fine, looks fine and was inexpensive to fix.

It is very frustrating that the radiator that the previous owner probably paid a lot of money for, was not dimensionally correct.
 
bobgreco said:
When I could not get my hood properly aligned, I noticed it was due to a couple of wood blocks holding the radiator higher than it was supposed to be. Took the blocks out, corrected the hood alignment and was happy as can be. Until I started the car and discovered that the fan hit the radiator hose just like above. After looking at many pictures of engines I decided the replacement radiator that the previous owner bought had the top hose connection too low.

A correct radiator would be more than $500, and the one I have is perfect. Since this will also never bee a fine point show car, i did the same thing as above and cut about 3/4" off each blade. It now works fine, looks fine and was inexpensive to fix.

It is very frustrating that the radiator that the previous owner probably paid a lot of money for, was not dimensionally correct.
Click to expand...

Too late to help you but could you have gone to a real radiator shop and had the neck relocated at a reasonable cost?

Charlie Stephens
 
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Thanks for the suggestion. I may have that done this winter. We'll see how much it costs and if they can do it properly.
 
Its amazing on how many problems can solved so many ways when my 29 fan was hitting i realized that 30 engine had longer neck ontop changed the angle it was probably hitting before i bought the car had the radiator guy change the angle of the neck when he re did my radiator works great. oh well it worked in this case.
 
Is the frame maybe a 30 or 31? Don't they have different radiator mounts? I am just guessing not being a pro at this stuff.
 
Here's something you might consider. I had the same problem after I installed a new radiator in my '28 Special Coupe. I had a fellow club member over one evening to help me check the height of my engine and he noticed that my front cross-member had been replaced with a '30-'31. After doing some digging, I found that my radiator was sitting lower than it would have with the original '28 crossmember. My solution was to shim it up with large flat washers in addition to the rubber pad. Now, your cross-member may have not been replaced, but my research revealed that Ford actually started using the '30-'31 cross member in some of the later '29s. They even listed an additional shim part# in a service bulletin to raise the radiator for those vehicles. You might want to take a close look at your cross-member.
 
I had an aluminum 2 blade fan, and the blades were 3/8" out of plane. One was set back far enough to wack the radiator, only in reverse. Chattered bad. Fixed that too. Torgue tube was loose at rear. You gotta love some guys safety wire techniques! Anyway, Got new fan from snyders and blades are even. No wack. Runs better too. I have heard that some of these fans from about 4 years ago have issues. I checked an original I have and they are even. Measures about 2 7/8 from back of pulley to leading edge of fan at the tip. Something to look at anyway.
 
Fred K-OR said:
Is the frame maybe a 30 or 31? Don't they have different radiator mounts? I am just guessing not being a pro at this stuff.
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This true. October 1929 is kind of the "cut point" on frame changes from a 28-29 frame (where the radiator pad is "equal" with the side rails) and the 30-31 frame (where the radiator pad is sunk almost a quart inch "below" the frame rails.) The difference IS observable by opening the hood and pushing the welting aside.

Ford used spacers for the short duration where 1929 bodies were placed on the later version frame - but had to warn about a potential "non-back-fit" in this area - and keep the pad kit as parts.

If yours is a 30-31 frame with a 28-29 body, you may or may not see any fit-up issues between the radiator shroud and hood. The lowering of radiator was "design theoretical" and may or may not detract in actual construction (except possibly for that fan blade thing?)

Joe K
 
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