Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi there, general question to anyone that would be happy to give me some advice. I want to upgrade the fanblade on my Morris Minor 1971 van, to try and stop the van engine getting too warm in the summer i want to upgrade the fanblade to something that has more blades. I am led to believe the mini 1275 fan blade blows the air rather than suck it through, but a 1275cc midget fan blade fits and has the correct direction of blades to pull the air through the rad. Is this true and if so will it fit using the normal 4 bolts that hold the standard fan blade onto the water pump?
Many thanks in advance as currently have the rad out for repair so it makes sense to do the upgrade before the rad goes back in if it was a viable upgrade.

Just add another original blade.i have a few spare knocking about,or go electric fan?

id check to see if the radiator wasn't full of sludge first. a standard fan blade set up should be fine. it was when the car was new.

The factory solution for using a Minor in warm climes was to fit a pair of fan blades.

As above - check the internal and external radiator core for cleanlyness.

Fit a summer/warm climes 74 degree thermostat.

The 1275cc Midget fan which can be either AEG559 (metal) or 12G1597 (plastic) will fit the Minor and its multi blade configeration draws air through the radiator unlike the Mini multi blade fan which pushes the air through the radiator.. If fitting the Midget fan either metal or plastic you will need qty 4 mounting screws Pt No: SH604111 and if fitting the metal blades lock tab Pt No: 12H1388.

Many thanks for all your replies, rad is certainly clean inside, have yet to change the thermostat, but sounds like putting two blades to give a cross (x) effect maybe the quickest answer, failing that will try the midget fan ( thankyou for the part numbers). Much appreciated for your help thankyou.

I seem to recall that my "Midget" engine had it's plastic fan blades trimmed. Since the car came with the engine fitted, I am sketchey on detail but I seem to recall that the vendor drew attention to the fan having been carefully reduced in a lathe. My father has a 1275 Midget, now with electric fan. If he still has the old fan, I'll have a look at it and compare it with the one on my Minor.

What makes you think the engine is getting "too warm" in the summer? I had a 1275 Midget engine in one of my Minors for years with just a standard Minor fan blade. I never suffered from any overheating at all. The Minor radiator is more than big enough but the double fan blade is worth a try if you feel the need for more cooling.

Hello all,
Yes, I too think I had to trim the plastic fan when I fitted a 1275 Midget engine in my Morris. I recall making a boss to mount the fan in a lathe and then facing it off to make it thinner and maintain some gap with the radiator. The second operation was to reduce the diameter too so it would fit under the lip where the upper radiator header tank met the radiator's finned section. Sticking with the Minor's original single blade or doubling up to two blades would have been simpler but there was that certain "I've got a bigger engine, just look at the fan" credence back in those days.
Best wishes, Colin.

ManyMinors wrote:What makes you think the engine is getting "too warm" in the summer? I had a 1275 Midget engine in one of my Minors for years with just a standard Minor fan blade. I never suffered from any overheating at all. The Minor radiator is more than big enough but the double fan blade is worth a try if you feel the need for more cooling.

I agree, my 1275cc Midget mill with single metal blade fan only ever gets up to the middle sector on the Smiths temperature gauge when stuck in traffic in really hot weather or when going up long steep hills. I did have a plastic Mini one on there for a few years (they are a bit quieter), but it disintegrated one day!

The Classic Mini cooling fan is not entirely suitable for the Minor as it blows/pushes air back into the radiator and does not sucks it through the radiator.

Re fan blade. Rather late but hope this helps.
I had fitted a water temp gauge to my ser11 which showed temp to be aprox 85/90 deg with the single blade. On one of the rare sunny days that we had last summer, i was 10 miles from home when the blade broke in half-- massive clatter & vibration. Once my b/press settled, i removed broken bit and proceeded home with a watchful eye on the gauge. The temp rose slightly on an uphill section but was fine. I have since fitted a slim electric fan in front of the rad with an ig controlled dash mounted switch. I very seldom have to use same. When i do, the temp drops very quickly. This also cuts the drag on the engine.( and no danger when working on a running engine) Great to see the sun & dry roads for a run today.
Bill.

Bill
Broken and cracked fan blades were at one time a prolific problem for the 'A' Series engines and to overcome the situation BMC put a stiffening/strengthening plate (Pt No: 2A803) on the front of the blade(s) which cured the cracking.
The Minor is over cooled and can cope well without fan blade(s) except when the temperature is really excessive.
I ran my Minor without a fan for many years and if the engine temp started to rise I would open the heater valve and turn on the heater fan which kept the engine at an acceptable temp.
Phil