[Earle]

I would be very interested - up to the $150 - $175 range.

BUT...I'm also aware of some of the technical issues behind the failure history of the original fan design. In simple terms, it's due to high centrifugal forces causing a stress concentration at the juncture of the blade with the hub. From there on fatigue takes its toll as the blades are flexed (however minutely) during operation.

Of course, Henry went for the hollow design (probably to try to keep blade weight down and avoid the fabrication costs of machining, forging or casting the complex "airplane propeller" airfoil shape). But then he had to resort to welding (bad for a dynamic, highly-stressed part) as well as the risk of corrosion developing inside the blade where it could not be seen - and that has happened in nearly every failed fan I've inspected. In many cases the corrosion has eaten through to the outside surface of the blade.

Designing for fatigue loading wasn't a well-understood branch of engineering back then so the best choices were not made as to materials, geometry, load prediction, stress analysis, and thorough testing.

What concerns me about the proposed new fan design is whether all of these factors will be fully taken into account. If the new design is to be a dimensionally-accurate replica of the original, and if it is to have solid steel blades instead of Henry's hollow design, then the centrifugal loading at the hub juncture be increased significantly!

Of course a more fatigue-tolerant steel can be selected but that might not be enough. Altering the geometry to increase the fillet radii at the hub juncture (a common way of reducing stress concentration) would ruin geometric accuracy.

If I and many others are going to spend considerable bucks for the new fan we have a reason to be cautious about exactly how the designers have addressed the real cause of the original failures. It is a real safety and car-damage issue. I've had two original fans fail (after having been magnafluxed as "crack-free".). Thankfully, because I inspected before every drive, I caught them before the crack worked its way completely across the blade.

I appreciate the effort that the new designers are making to FINALLY bring us an accurate and RELIABLE fan reproduction that will pass visual high-point judging. I just hope that they will understand the legitimate concern that many of us have and will provide us the necessary technical details and assurance that the design, fabrication and TESTING are being approached properly.

This is truly a SAFETY issue! Can anyone think of any other part on a Model A whereby you can be killed just by standing alongside the stationary car while the motor's running and everything's operating normally?!