I thought mine had been modified before I read the attached, but I now know
that the six blade fan is original. Its quite intricate in the way its
balanced though. The spare engine only came with a 4 blade fan.
Thanks
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-triumphs@autox.team.net
[mailto:owner-triumphs@autox.team.net]On Behalf Of CarlSereda@aol.com
Sent: Thursday, January 16, 2003 8:27 PM
To: tr4u@earthlink.net; d_hammond@charter.net; triumphs@autox.team.net
Subject: re: TR4A 6-bladed metal radiator fan
Hey guys,
As far as I know .. the first 5,000 or so TR4As came stock with a 6-bladed
metal radiator fan. (no need to fit an Austin Healey blade here!!)
The early TR4A 6-bladed metal fans had small rivets (which allowed aluminum
fan blades to flex/crack where riveted to steel hub) so later, as seen in
the
Factory TR4/4A Workshop Manual reprint - page 4.210 - Figure 22)
larger-headed rivets were used.
The factory still later made a feeble 6-bladed plastic TR4A fan in 'light
yellow' color (to cut weight and costs I imagine). It scraped the radiator
at
high revs after a while so the factory reverted (and retrofitted during
warranty repairs) to the previous oversized 4-bladed TR4 metal fan, and
finished out TR4A production with these late TR4 fans.
The second factory try at a plastic fan resulted in the much sturdier 'dark
yellow' TR250 fan - which some owners have retrofitted to their TR4s - check
with this TRList or The Roadster Factory (who sells them) about fitting
details.
FYI: Attached is a picture of both a late TR4 4-bladed metal fan, and an
early TR4A 6-bladed metal fan (small rivet type).
PS1; it's kinda weird that the late TR4 fans were too wide for the TR4's
narrow radiators - while the TR4A fans were too narrow for the widened TR4A
radiators! (the reverse would have been just great!)
PS2; if you can't find a decent TR4A six bladed metal fan (with the upgraded
fat-headed rivets) I would recommend the TR250 blade - painted in aluminum
color to help blend it with your vintage looking TR4/4A motor - in fact I
just saw one selling on eBay.
Trying to use an MG or Healey fan may not be as easy as it sounds
(mounting/balancing problems) and of course, it's sacrilegious to some
folks!
Regards,
Carl
'63 TR4 since '74
(picture attachment)
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