scottwkurth.. you can NOT fix STUPIC... later bc

I like the original Mk1,16 blade steel fans. They last forever and don't throw blades when old.
I reckon are quieter than the plastic ones too (maybe I'm deaf now, I dunno...

At last year's Mini Meet West, I forgot a roll of paper towels on top of the radiator after cleaning up coolant stains from all over the engine bay (that's another story) and started the car. The vibration was just enough to tip it over and suck it into the fan. I spent an hour and a half in the hotel parking lot with a channel locks bending all the fan blades back into shape and another 30 minutes the next day with a radiator comb from Autozone cleaning up the damage to the 2-week old radiator. That was a very expensive lesson!

and why would he be checking oil with the engine running?

I don’t know about Alex’s rotating mass but I’ve done a Rosebud just before. A big trip and just slotted in an old metal multi blade from the back of the shed.

It was there for ages .... didn’t really notice any difference from the plastic version....

Cheers, Ian

Watched a guy checking oil drop his rag into the plastic fan. Amazing how the blades sheared right off. Steve (CTR)

Rosebud! I just had something similar happen. I managed to suck up a pint sized poland springs water bottom and it was lodged around my fan. The sound it made sounded soooo much like a bearing failing it scared me. Took me a bit to figure it out actually. It was fell hidden. No damage to the rad or blades though. Just kinda like sticking baseball cards in your bike spoke! ha

 Agreed.  Noise?? What noise?? I run a straight pipe with a Super Trapp that is  baffled to about 12 plates. But it’s not nearly as loud as a Harley

I trimmed and lightened my plastic 11-blade to reduce rotational mass.

Just kidding—I left my oil cap sitting on the rocker cover and went for a drive. The cap found its way into the fan. No damage to the radiator. Whew!

https://www.minimania.com/msgThread/116109/1/1/Dowty_Fans

The plastic 11-blade is the best all rounder, and there are plenty of things to trim in the cooling system before going to the much noisier 6-blade fan unless your local climate dictates that you will always be on the edge of the cooling ability.
The 16-blade fan doesn't really move much air and acts like a second flywheel as it is quite a lot of rotating mass.

The Mk1 Minis had a four bladed (two two bladed fans at 90 degrees) some racers only used a two bladed fan, the 's had the metal 16 bladed fan, the plastic 11 bladed one came along much later, and there was a 6 bladed tropical.  Now depending on the year of your car, the radiator used may dictate which fan you can use ( it is said the 6 bladed fan will not fit with the 4 core radiator )

+1.
The 18-blade metal fan is probably from a MK1 Mini. Its blades are stamped flat metal and not especially aereodynamic (though they probably mince fingers better). The plastic ones have aerodynamically shaped blades that when put on the right way around are (guessing) 3 to 4 times more efficient. Even on backwards, they do better than the stamped steel fan.

I really like the 6 blade metal tropical minis..  used them ALL my classic minis for years. and years.. later bc

The plastic fan works best, mounted the correct way of course

I  yellow have a 11blade plastic in my MK1 mini,just found a 16 blade steel yellow one.Which one be the best to use? thanks