*MUST READ*--Flex Fan Danger--Be very careful working on old cars

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Wow, sorry to hear about your mishap. Glad you weren't hurt worse.

Wishing you a speedy recovery, but shoulders are complex joints and recovery from something like that can take a while and a lot of physical therapy after you get out of the sling. Just take your time with it, do everything your doc and therapist tell you to do.
Hoping the best for ya.
 
Dont like the flex fan. First made from riveted aluminum and no clutch. So you revving the engine to say 6 grand means the fan is turning 5+ grand or close. A lot of harmonic vibration can weaken the blades and especially the rivet joints. What little you gain in horsepower over a standard steel / viscous clutch fan is not worth the inherent danger. IMHO
 
spinman_1949 said:
Dont like the flex fan. First made from riveted aluminum and no clutch. So you revving the engine to say 6 grand means the fan is turning 5+ grand or close. A lot of harmonic vibration can weaken the blades and especially the rivet joints. What little you gain in horsepower over a standard steel / viscous clutch fan is not worth the inherent danger. IMHO
Click to expand...

I know a guy that had a big block chevy balancer blow up when he was setting the total timing one sunday at the strip. can`t remember if it knocked him out, think it did. he was all patched up when he came back from the hospital to get his car.
 
I had the tendons at my knee cut in half decades ago, I hate to tell ya but you might be in for lots of dealing time and rehab. 40 yrs ago, s w Ga didn't know how to even spell rehab! glad it wasn't worse!!!!!

I have always heard stay with factory oem fans, not flex fans..
 
Thanks guys. He did say I cut 5 tendons, a muscle in 1/2 he says he took pics and now I will be on his wall of fame for a mess he was able to save.lol
 
I too am glad you are still with us, sounds awful though.
Hope for a speedy recovery and that you don't go stir-crazy sitting around.
 
I wish you a full and speedy recovery. Just don't over exert yourself in the meantime.

As for the fan.... I don't trust 'em. Electric fan(s) just seem safer..
 
My uncle, who owned a gas station back in the day, when they used to do service and repairs on cars... Also used to work on old cars.
One of his standard practices when work on classics and antiques and starting the engine for the first time was to remove the fan, completely. It was something he learned as a boy, he told us, when a worker on a farm he work on, was pretty severely cut on the arm by a broken fan blade.

He didn't remove the fans on the newer cars he worked on at the station, but on the antiques and classics of the era, he did. Remember, back in the 1960, a classic would have been a car from the 1930's. none of those cars even had fan shrouds.

I've always done the same when working on classics, too. Mostly because of my uncle's story, But, I really had no idea it was that much of an issue until I read through this thread! Rust and metal fatigue can be a real ***** at 2800 RPMs!


Get better soon!
 
Uuuuuugh....I'm running a flex fan, cause I have to. NO space. I'm ordering a bomb disposal suit for setting timing....
 
 
I have not, and will not run flex fans. I ALWAYS have used a factory fan whether it be a clutch fan or a direct fan. I feel like I can rip a flex flan blade right off the rivets with my bare hands.....
Hope you have a speedy recovery, things happen fast and unexpectantly
 
Oh man!! Glad you will be okay! That's too much. Smdh.. Wishing u a full and speedy recovery
 
Yeah, glad you survived it. Hope you heal well. I'm sure you're going to need physical therapy. I'm gonna check to see if I can get rid of my flex fan.
 
Flex fans are garbage. I have personally seen 3 of them fail, and luckily they never hurt anyone. You wont ever catch anything I build with that crap on it. Electric all the way. Glad your ok man, could have been way worse as you know.
 
I've seen multiple cars and trucks in the past where a flex fan ditched a blade and either dented the hood or sliced it open like a can opener. For that reason, I will never run one.
 
A guy two towns away was killed by a broken fan blade 2 yrs . Ago. Consider yourself lucky. Heal soon.
 
on a side note, I broke my ankle a few years ago dirtriding
I wont bore you with the entire story...but that was one of the best things that ever happened to me

take your time "off" and put it to good use :)
 
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