Underhood carnage on my F-1
 

Heard a loud bang this morning on the way to get gas.
Not sure what the chain of events were at a massive
2200 rpm, but the fan is missing a blade, another is
bent and the shroud doesn't look too happy either.

Radiator has some tube damage.... I'll have to look
closer at that.

If anyone has a V8 fan, V8 shroud I'd be interested.

Re: Underhood carnage on my F-1
 

Fortunately you had a shroud installed otherwise you may have had a hole in the hood :eek:

Re: Underhood carnage on my F-1
 

Yeah..... not sure where that missing fan blade is.....

Re: Underhood carnage on my F-1
 

It looks as if that blade was redrilled , possibly having the extra bolt holes too close to the original and fatigued the metal . I'm just going on an enlarged photo so it's a guess .

Re: Underhood carnage on my F-1
 

Please excuse double post.

Re: Underhood carnage on my F-1
 

Re: Underhood carnage on my F-1
 

Your fan hub appears to be one of the new aftermarket ones. Did something possibly come loose with the old fan blade onto the new hub?
I’ve never had a fan break off but I did have one of the oiled style hubs pulley broken in half. It separated half of the pulley from the hub, didn’t fly off just kinda rattled around and of course the belt was doing nothing then.

Re: Underhood carnage on my F-1
 

I’m thinking your theory is probably right on the money.
I just found the missing blade too. The break looks consistent with metal fatigue.

Re: Underhood carnage on my F-1
 

Yeah, a friend of mine with a 54 Y block had a blade come off and exit the hood. I NEVER stand in line with a spinning fan. They do work harden and break as theorized above. My 40s both have NOS fans as well as the 33. 32 5w is another story, I am thinking I should swap it out. As Chuck Yeager said "never wait for trouble".

Re: Underhood carnage on my F-1
 

I have a fan, bearing hub and pulley with a shroud from a 1950 F-1.
It's yours if you pick it up or arrange the shipping.

Re: Underhood carnage on my F-1
 

Yes sir...... I'd like to do that. I'm up in Modesto fairly frequently
as I have customers in Merced, etc.
I'll send you a PM.

Re: Underhood carnage on my F-1
 

I had the same experience on my 1950 F-1 panel truck. This was my first vehicle and a daily driver way back in 1971. Same thing heard a bang had no idea what it was until I found water pouring out from under the front of my old truck that broken fan blade was sticking out of the lower radiator hose since the truck had no fan shroud it must have saved the radiator from damage good thing since I had no money to repair anything major back then. Good thing we were not under the hood looking things over when the blade let loose. I still have that 8BA engine my first Flathead from my old F-1. Its going into my Deuce pickup one day and become my daily driver once again but its going to be modified a bit for more power. There goes the fuel economy!
Ronnieroadster

Re: Underhood carnage on my F-1
 

Wow. I've heard from a few people now with similar stories.

I'm looking for a radiator now too..... my repo one looks like it would need a new core! Gives me a good excuse to try to find an original radiator with original tanks.

Re: Underhood carnage on my F-1
 

Very cool offer!

Re: Underhood carnage on my F-1
 

i had one blade break off my 8ba in 1975. i was on my way to a meeting at night, i head a crash and the engine started vibrating really bad. i parked under a street light, noticed the missing blade (no leak). i slipped off the fan belt and went on my way. i found the missing blade jammed between my shroud and radiator, no damage to each. i guess i was lucky. when i heard the bang, it thought it was over for the motor.

Re: Underhood carnage on my F-1
 

I wish someone would repro these fans, they are all a time bomb when you get right down to it.

Re: Underhood carnage on my F-1
 

I have heard of fan blades becoming brittle after having it chromed....really scary when you think of how many times we work on an engine adjustment leaning over the engine with the engine running...

Re: Underhood carnage on my F-1
 

Just head up 101 to Paso Robles and BrassWorks. It won't be cheap but you'll get a quality brass/copper radiator made right there. Don't know about now but when I ordered the one for my '39 p/u the lead time was about 7 weeks. Picked it up the same weekend as TROG so it was a win win (except for the rain).

Re: Underhood carnage on my F-1
 

Yup. Sent BrassWorks an email yesterday. Waiting for their reply. Looks like they can even fabricate tanks.... hopefully without originals, the ones on my radiator are the not that great generic reproductions.

Re: Underhood carnage on my F-1
 

My hand me down 51 Mercury threw a blade back in the late 50s. It reminded my Pop of flak shrapnel hitting the B17 over the targets in WWII. The blade left a dent in the hood that was a b!tch to get out. I keep a close eye on those damn things.