exploding fan & new electric

[Lgowin <Lgowin@aol.com>]

I'm sorry to hear about your car, but I'm relieved to see this has happened to
someone besides myself.  I put a brand new fan on my brand new 71 GTV (not
really new, but every god**mn time I think its ready for the road, I end up
finding another piece that needs to be replaced).  

Anyway, I had the car idling with the new cooling fan installed.  The hood and
shroud weren't on the car yet.  I revved it up and the next thing I know, my
engine compartment looked like a family planning clinic!  There were shards of
fan, big and small, flying and puncturing everything in their path.  There
were 5 holes in the radiator and a piece of schrapnel took out my brand new
battery.

Luckily, nobody was hurt, except my Alfa moneypit that was profusely bleeding
battery acid and green antifreeze (somehow symbolic of my checking accout) all
over the garage floor.  To this day I'm finding little pieces of white
plastic, some with atmospheric re-entry burns.

Not wanting this to happen again, I went to Pep Boys and bought a Haynes
electric fan and adjustable thermostatic control.  The kit provides ty-wraps
to attach the fan to the radiator rods, which I think is a pretty lame idea.
To counter this, I also picked up 5 feet of thin metal L bracket.  I cut and
formed the L bracket into a fan mount that holds the fan against the newly
repaired radiator.  

What did all this cost?  The radiator cost $35 to repair.  I bought a
blemished battery (highly recommended) for another $35.  The fan, adjustable
thermostat, and brackets came in about $140.  

On a side note, the supplier (Centerline) that sold me the new fan took care
of me to help recoup my losses from this part by throwing in a free
replacement for another part on my car that perished from inactivity.  Nothing
but good things to say about them.


Lawrence Gowin