Not that original fan again!

[Bob Bidonde]

I collected 13 reasons from the Ford Barn why it's foolish to use an original fan. There are many many more pictures of fan tragedies. There are many among us who are influenced by the judging standards even though they do have show cars. So in my opinion, the Judging Standards Committee is a conspirator in the unsafe use of original fans.

[stickshift]

I want to give a real close inspection on my two blade fan, and I don't really want to drive my truck until I do. I have a "B" engine and according to the head cast date it's a 1936. With the fan installed, I can't see any cracks, so I wanted to remove the fan and strip the paint to inspect under magnification. I can't see a way to remove the fan other than to pull the water pump or remove the radiator due to only 1.5 inch clearance between the fan and radiator. If my fan is a 1936 like the head is, could the fan have improvements for this issue?

[mcgarrett]

FWIW, After removing the hoses, fan belt, and radiator support rods I was able to tilt the radiator forward enough to remove the water pump AND fan assembly on a friends '29 Roadster without having to actually remove the radiator. Not sure if that process would work on your truck, but might be worth a try.

[Model "A" Fords]

Originally Posted by Bob Bidonde

I collected 13 reasons from the Ford Barn why it's foolish to use an original fan. There are many many more pictures of fan tragedies. There are many among us who are influenced by the judging standards even though they do have show cars. So in my opinion, the Judging Standards Committee is a conspirator in the unsafe use of original fans.

Bob, I believe the judging standards are meant to establish how the Model A came originally from the the assembly line and not to force people to be unsafe.
The standards are continuously updating as information surfaces from the day, clarifying originality. The information as of now shows the two piece fan through production with the single piece added end of 1930 through to end of production.
We can't change original. If there are no safe parts available then substitute with something that will be safe. There are many cars that can't reach original status because of other items also not available to the restorer. That's life and we must accept it.
The Aluminum fan went through it's startup issues and has been literally a life saver. Can you imagine having that integrity with an original look, we would have the best of both worlds. I believe a substitute will be made some day that will do exactly that. In the meantime what can be done to satisfy safety?
Can questionable fans be ruled out involving a running engine including judging? Could clubs adopt this idea? We have plenty of intelligent folks that would quickly design a fan that has the looks along with the integrity needed if that was the only choice.
I myself have been years in the quest for that elusive fan. I am only one of a few people with that same goal. At this point, Bick from NZ has showed a photograph of a carbon fiber fan being used in his country. I asked Bick for more information and he messaged me with the builders email. I sent a note encouraging a story of his project that we could share with the Barn.
Remember that if you drive a Model A, there are ways to stay safe
and enjoy your car.

[stickshift]

I used an inspection mirror and a good flashlight to look at my fan hub. Sure enough, I saw a small crack at the hub on one of blades. I immediately ordered one from Snyders. The order went through and no mention of a delay. Fingers crossed. I won't run the engine until I put the new fan on, those pictures say a thousand words...most of them four letters.

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

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Originally Posted by figment

I think that someone mentioned that their car would be judged against the car next to it but all vehicles are judged against the standards only and not against any other vehicles being judged .

From my personal experiences as a Judge, in theory what you are saying is correct, ....HOWEVER in real-world practice, that is not the case.

The reasoning is each team generally looks around the room and chooses the vehicle that they feel is the benchmark. You see, if you start with a mediocre scoring car, and the deduction scoring that year is being lenient, then the differential between the mediocre vehicle and the top vehicle would be too narrow. Likewise, if this is not done, then the team needs to be more harsh to make sure they have room for higher scoring on the better vehicle. Unlike Touring Class adjudication where the predetermined deduction points are given which keeps the scores even, the Fine Point deduction scoring is up to each area team. Because of that, you could have one car score 494 one year, and that very same car could be judge by a different set of judges and receive a 498 score. For those of us who have judged in FP will generally admit we have heard (-and said) "Well we gave that car a score of XX so we need to give this one a....". This is done because we are trying to be fair and score equally across the entire group of cars. Therefore, you are being compared to the car beside you.

[figment]

I just went to Hamilton Ohio MARC meet . The rules were to award full points IF the items judged were not distinguishable from original . I saw no one comparing one car to another . They all were judged on their own merits . If the part was present it would get no less than 50% for that item . There were 14 cars and trucks being judged. I am mentioning this from my experience .

[Ramman]

Snyder's informed me today that their 2 blade aluminum cast fan is back in stock.