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Fri Sep 12, 2014 6:14 pm

ok everyone heres what i came up with.

i drilled out the rivets untill all that was left was a spacer!!
i then cut pieces of 5/16 fuel hose and inserted the spacers into them, after that i serted the space and 5/16 hos pieces into 1/2 fuel hose all of this has expanded the hose to the same diameter as the holes in the hub the length hoses are cut to roughly 11mm-12mm so the will be a crush fit and they are tight i have used 6mm counter sink stainless steel bolts with stover nuts anyone who has worked in a bowling alley knows what these nuts are capable of as far as rattling around and vibration!!

ill be installing this fan tomorrow and will report back how it goes!!
any questions feel free to ask!!

Sat Sep 13, 2014 6:42 am

well as i promised i have some good news. i installed the fan this morning and the result is....... its fixed my problem i was chasing was when i put the car into gear it would start a knocking or rattling noise i rebuilt the engine 3 times before i figured out what was wrong!!

i hope someone can learn from this hence why i posted about what i have done!!

Sun Sep 14, 2014 11:43 pm

I would ditch the stainless fastners and got to steel it's much stronger.

Mon Sep 15, 2014 7:44 am

I just went with what I could find the rivet aren't exactly strong they drilled out nice and east but ill keep your advise in mind its on the car and its doing well drove 20 miles to work this morning with no issues that I can hear!!

I gota ask mackaymanx what do you think of this "fix"?? better thn welding I know lol

Wed Sep 24, 2014 10:37 am

well 150 miles later and still going strong with no noise I think this is a well worth while fix if you cant find a good fan!! now I can keep my spare laying around!!

Wed Sep 24, 2014 11:16 am

mackaymanx wrote: I would ditch the stainless fastners and got to steel it's much stronger.

Looked at this late but X2 on ditching the stainless. Ray

Sat Dec 13, 2014 10:14 pm

I have a Type3 engine in a 66 bug . I don't have a type3 Bently . Does anyone have a thread on how to get this fan out ....Thks

Sun Dec 14, 2014 7:18 am

grandpa pete wrote: I have a Type3 engine in a 66 bug . I don't have a type3 Bently . Does anyone have a thread on how to get this fan out ....Thks

Pete, you're going to have to remove the big 30mm bolt out of the center of the small fan (it's torqued somewhere between 95 and 103 ftlbs) first. then slip that small fan off, and start working on removing the small M6 screws (10mm head) that go around the outer fan shroud (I think there are 9 or 10 of them)that hold the 2 halfs of the fan shroud together. There are 2 dowls that help locate them as well, and sometimes causes a problem seperating the 2 halfs. Then, once you have the rear half off, you can use a harmonic balancer removal tool (or a steering wheel puller) to remove the big cooling fan. Reassembly is the reverse of taking it apart, and make sure you re-torque the big fan bolt to at least 100 ftlbs, or it'll come loose.
Oh, and while you have the big fan off, remove the small screws you see behind the fan (1 at a time, as there are 4 of them) and add some blue loctite to them, or you'll be back in there to do that at a later date when 1 backs out and starts to rub the back of the fan. :evil:
I hope this helps.

Wed Dec 17, 2014 10:06 pm

What is the availability of these fans and how much do they cost ?

Thu Dec 18, 2014 5:20 am

Check out the classifieds. There are some in there. Or my fall back is Mr. BooKooz

Fri Dec 19, 2014 3:30 pm

theyre out there I have actually found a couple locally I did this when I couldn't find one/afford one.

jus so everyone is aware this set up worked out just fine I drove the car from ocean springs MS to tampa (bug jam and the bulli brigade) and back with no issues!! still have it at home as a back up!! :D

Sat Mar 14, 2020 8:38 am

Chink13, I know this has been a pretty long time but how has that fan repair held up?

I have to rebuild since there is a little more than 1/16" but less than 1/8" play at the inner hub of the fan and this seemed like a pretty good method of repair.

Sun Mar 15, 2020 6:38 am

I'd be interested in how it held up also, or if there are any other similar repairs. I have a spare fan that I was considering attempting this repair on.

Sun Mar 15, 2020 2:09 pm

Definitely. I'm attempting something similar right now.....didn't want to wait for a reply. It seems like a reasonable solution, but I'm just not sure how the fuel line responds over time to repeated stress. Does it break down faster then the original material?

Thu Mar 19, 2020 3:45 pm

So I decided to take my spare fan apart the other day. Looks like the issue wasn't with the rubber bushings in the center, but that the holes in the fan itself had elongated causing the play. All 6 of the holes were elongated (the larger round hole is for fan puller). Oh well. Just something to keep in mind, if anyone else wants to attempt this.

Tue Mar 24, 2020 10:55 am

so after 6 long years its safe to say....... I have no idea how well the rubber is holding up I had discovered the groove in the hub actually wore out. so in the scrap pile it went. I know if my current fan starts knocking I will not hesitate to try this again.

I personally don't feel like this is a permanent fix however will get you back out on the road!

Tue Mar 24, 2020 10:10 pm

chink13 wrote: so after 6 long years its safe to say....... I have no idea how well the rubber is holding up I had discovered the groove in the hub actually wore out. so in the scrap pile it went. I know if my current fan starts knocking I will not hesitate to try this again.

I personally don't feel like this is a permanent fix however will get you back out on the road!

Did you actually feel some play in the hub / fan unit after removing it or was it just a noise? Hardware stores sometimes have rubber bushings in different sizes. Maybe one will fit. How tight did it fit inside the hole with the hoses you used. Like press-fit by hand or needed a hammer to get it in?

Somebody did welded my fan / hub most likely for the same reason. I drive like that for 15 years

Thu Mar 26, 2020 4:33 pm

Thanks for the reply. I actually used your idea except I did it a little differently:

Used a stainless steel tube with 5/16" i.d. as the center sleeve in place of the rivet. Then slipped that into a 3/8" tall section of gas line, then that fit into a 3/8" tall section of clear pvc tubing. All fit very snug inside each other as it took a little effort to slip each inside each other.

The final fit into the fan hub was also snug. I hope this holds up, not sure why it wouldn't.

After I re installed everything I was surprised at how much quieter that my engine runs. I guess the 1/16" play in the fan hub before the fix really messes with the vibration characteristics of the engine.