Morris Minor Owners Club

I am used to modern engines and electrical on mostly German vehicles, but I think I might have to extend the fan safety cover on minor by another couple of inches as I find when I drop bonnet of modern car and open bonnet of minor I have habit of placing my hands on top of radiator of minor and few times just about touched the fan. So don’t want to lose tip of my finger. So any others out there starting out on older cars should be careful with the fan as well.

You must have long fingers !

Err, turn off the engine while opening bonnet?

Or before if you have shorter arms.

Opening the bonnet, one’s fingers are nowhere near the fan but turn engine off if you wish. I don’t understand the ‘ shorter arms’ thing.
Once bitten twice shy, I’m sure you won’t get caught again !

This will have the Health & Safety people banning the lifting of Minor bonnets if too much is made of this.
Just do not buy a old car if the threat of damage to you appendages is of concern.
There are a lot of more serious things to be worried about.

I would suggest a continuously running fan is safer than a modern fan.
Yes, it's steel and can do some damage to fingers, hands etc., but when under the bonnet with the engine running and being aware it's there and turning is surely safer than a fan that will stop and start without warning?

"lifting of Minor bonnets if too much is made of this. ". The corners of which should carry a warning! They hurt. I have fitted one of those two position stays that raise the bonnet to almost vertical, if required and there's no Elastoplast around.

Bit hard to listen to engine etc when not running. lol
Some of other cars I have don’t even have a fan lol
I can easily put my fingers over in to the fan access area I do know colleges who have lost finger tips on steel fans.

It ok for someone working on these almost daily but when it’s just now and then it’s very easy to forget yourself I can work down the front of Mercedes E & S and M classes for days and would struggle to get near the fans.
Stevie G
Cheers we are out of Europe now I though all the silly safety rules was gone. Like the man put a cable up my wall he put studs in the wall every 1.5 marts to hook his ladder to as he extended it , worse part was his first hole
was 2 mths up. lol.

Bit hard to listen to engine etc when not running.

Err. Open bonnet while engine not running. Start engine (with bonnet open). Listen to engine. Which bit do you have trouble understanding?

With engine running, one’s fingers cant reach the fan whist opening the bonnet, (even if you manage to push your fingers right in) they are too busy holding the bonnet and you don’t let go until it’s in its final open position, one’s fingers are then about four foot away. The only way then to reach the fan is to take your fingers off the bonnet, then reach down and touch said fan ! ——- take the engine off first advice by all means but as the above points suggest, there’s no need.

Mercmancdi wrote: ↑Fri Jun 07, 2024 11:31 am So any others out there starting out on older cars should be careful with the fan as well.

Owned mine since I was 18 and still not nicked a finger on the fan blade - I have however sliced my finger recently on an electric computer fan trying to fix a cpu overheating issue.

Chief wrote: ↑Sat Jun 08, 2024 9:00 pm

Mercmancdi wrote: ↑Fri Jun 07, 2024 11:31 am So any others out there starting out on older cars should be careful with the fan as well.

Owned mine since I was 18 and still not nicked a finger on the fan blade - I have however sliced my finger recently on an electric computer fan trying to fix a cpu overheating issue.

Chief,

I started out experiencing an engine fan at about the age of 8 (could have been 7 but can’t rightly remember as it would have been near 70 years ago!). My older brother steered the Fordson tractor and I sat on the back to trip the plough at the headland.

The governor-to-carburettor control rod rod used to occasionally pop off and allowed the engine to race (engine was normally governed to 1100rpm max but over-speeded by possibly 50%) - then there was the ratio of crank pulley to fan pulley, so the fan may even have been going at near 2000rpm.

My brother would stand on the clutch while I replaced the rod when this happened. That rod is quite close to the fan but we had sufficient common sense not to interact with the fan! It seems that modern-day children simply don’t learn to keep themselves safe, as everything has to be guarded to make it safe for everybody.

Done similar many times yrs ago when our main tractor was an old Fordson and used to have to be careful as there’s a pulley wheel at side and if got off wrong side could have stood on it and get a free spin off. lol

Just join the morris minor fan club
How can your finger to touch the fan when opening the bonnet?
The release catch arrowed is far away and there is a top cover over the fan.
Or is something lost in your post and you mean working on the front of the engine with it running?

I think that there is some misunderstanding here. If I am reading the original point correctly, it's nothing to do with the act of opening the bonnet. It is a fact that with the bonnet open and the engine running. then there might be a temptation to place hands on top of the radiator. From this position, a less careful person might easily slip their fingers round the plate to the rear of the filler neck, or slip off the radiator and go down the gap at the side. There is loads of room to reach the fan on a minor. All modern cars that I have seen have a full cowl around the fan, so it is impossible to reach it from the front or side. It might be possible to stick a finger in from behind, but it would be a very deliberate action (and frequently there is not enough room for even that); but with a Minor then it is a very exposed fan.

I don't want to see more H&S rubbish, but I think that the warning is valid. The advice to take care is equally valid.

Dynamo pulley, alternator pulley and fan, drive belts etc all running engines have moving parts, it's just common sense to take care. We shouldn't need warning about everything.
After 55 years in the industry I've seen lots of accidents and none of them were prevented by warnings notices, advice or anything.
Common sense and self preservation are the best safety devices

Don't be wearing a tie when peering at running engine...............

myoldjalopy wrote: ↑Sun Jun 09, 2024 6:23 pm Don't be wearing a tie when peering at running engine...............

Or you could end up with far too much choke!

That would be a close shave. lol.