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MG parts spares and accessories are available for MG T Series (TA, MG TB, MG TC, MG TD, MG TF), Magnette, MGA, Twin cam, MGB, MGBGT, MGC, MGC GT, MG Midget, Sprite and other MG models from British car spares company LBCarCo.

MG TD TF 1500 - Fan- 6 blade stainless... cheap, too

There's only two popular choices for mechanical radiator fans- stock steel or MGB plastic 7 blade. Either can get the job done.

I ventured to modify a Felx-A-Lite 6 blade stainless fan for our '50 TD. I think it was a 17" but it may be the 18"... sort of doesn't matter since I cut the ends down off of each blade to miss the lower radiator hose. Sorry, couldn't get a better shot of the fan, but you can see the trimmed stainless blade in relation to the steel hub. You can get a glimpse of the complete fan assembly below. (Sure is pretty!)

http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detail/FLX0/1080/N0645.oap?ck=Search_fan_N0645_-1_3319&keyword=fan&pt=N0645&ppt=C0095

Less the $30 from a variety of sources. As far as the "FLEX" and the "LITE" are concerned, I sincerely doubt the blades fold back at high speeds to reduce power consumption, and the steel hub more than compensated for any weight savings of the thin stainless blades. Should someone bother to set up a strobe light to freeze the blade image at speed to investigate the blade flex, go for it, I won't waste my time.

Note the belt, pulley and snout of the Magnacharger. Here's a reality check- When I put this TD back on the road with a supercharger and only a single stock fan blade, we experienced temps of 230F at 80 mph cruising speed in hot weather. So, after installing the 6 blade fan, we experienced temps of 230F at 80 mph cruising speed in hot weather.

An "induced" draft fan (sucking air) has very little influence on drawing air through a radiator; it creates a very slight vacuum in the rear, so atmospheric pressure pushes some air through from the front. It helps when the car is setting still but has little influence at highway speeds. I shake my head when I see vacuum cleaner ads on TV- since atmospheric pressure does all the work, the vacuum mechanisms are very nearly all equal. My 2 horsepower central vac doesn't do any more than a 1/4 hp el cheapo vacuum cleaner. Two, four, six, seven blades? Your can spin them at 50,000 rpm and still not get much difference.

What about electric fans? Shoving air from the from of the radiator can prove slightly more forceful as "force" draft fan, but again, not much influence at cruising speed. One could save somewheres around 1 hp at highway speeds by eliminating the mechanical fan, but the added draw on the generator must be weighed in the balance, especially with headlights on through stop and go traffic! So why would I consider replacing our gorgeous fan with an electric? The funking waterpump is why. The cheapo India made waterpump was machined so poorly, that wonderful fan wobbles horribly!!!!!!!! This does not help the pump bearings at all! I question whether a plastic fan would survive the punishment.

Bottom line- I intend to have a radiator recored this winter (am trading with a club member his leaky radiator for a very good one) upgrading to the more efficient current core/fin technology and then eliminating the sweet stainless fan in favor of an electric. The better radiator ought to keep the temperature under control well enough to curtail the electric fan use to only the most severe conditions.




JIM NORTHRUP SR

POSTSCRIPT!
NOTE: Counterclockwise rotation.
I may have had to drill open the pilot hole, don't remember.
JIM
JIM NORTHRUP SR

Jim, interesting, I just installed the FlexLite 12 fan on my 52. Needed a 1" spacer but cleared everything,

I have one on our v6 B and the blades definitely straighten out starting about 2000, at 4000 they seem almost perfectly straight.
Norm
Norm Peacey

I'll have to go out with a timing light and watch it in the dark to observe the blade deflection!
JIM NORTHRUP SR

Since we just got home in the TD an hour ago from the NEMGTR MI Chapter Hibernation Party (January in Michigan, right), I figured now is as good a time as any to check out that fan.

Observing it with a timing light makes it looks like it is almost stopped.

Our fan is a 17" cut down to approx. 13" diameter, and the blades are pretty narrow and bent on about a 45 degree angle. At high rpm, the blades straighten out some, to about 30-25 degrees, so there is some deflection.

I see the 12" has pretty robust blades so it easy to see how they can bend a lot more.

As a Post Script, I mentioned trading our good radiator for another member's poor one, since I'm springing for a recore anyway. Holy cow, his came from a Texan that stored that TD without antifreeze! The whole lower tank section looks like someone set off an M80 firecracker inside! ...all bulging out and spilt out at the seams. Hope they don't charge me BIGTIME to save the lower section!
JIM NORTHRUP SR

This thread was discussed between 12/01/2013 and 20/01/2013

MG TD TF 1500 index

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