Back in the UK at 17 years old I was entering a roundabout about 2:00 am, I saw a wheel & half-shaft heading down the road ahead of me. I thought some silly sod has lost half his back end. Then my Triumph Herald fell to the ground as the other half-shaft waved goodby! 6 mile walk home.

Dumb move for sure. But no one is exempt.  I heard clunking from one of my wheels, didn't stop to check it out. The very Next thing, my wheel and tire is speeding along ahead of me.

The cap on my Traveller is attached to rocker cover and so is the one on a spare rocker cover I have.

The car did come to me with the fan on backwards... just one of the many bodges done when a 1275 MG Metro engine was installed: the poor thing has a worn out HS4 on a 998 siamese manifold attached to a 998 exhaust with a cheapo twin centre exit muffler that actually choked the pipe diameter down at the inlet to the muffler. I drove it home from Toronto to Ottawa like that and wondered why the fumes were so bad. I later found a 1/4" hole on the top side of the exhaust pipe right below the handbrake cable opening. I think more exhaust was coming out there than the tailpipe. Talk about back-pressure. All that was sorted long ago.

I'm going to order a fan tomorrow morning. 

Some days you are the hammer and some days the nail.....

A real rookie move would be if you put the replacement fan on backwards.....

Kim

Today was the day! After about 2 years dealing with health and other issues, I finally got to wake the Mini up from her long slumber. 

I had previously drained the old gas, so that was done. The first thing today was to change the oil and filter. It was dark but not horribly bad, and the magnetic drain plug had nothing visible clinging to it. While letting the oil fully drain out, I successfully removed the oil filter without dropping it. After reinstalling the plug, I filled the new filter and installed it, again without dropping it and making a mess. Then I carefully poured the large jug of 20W50 in using a funnel and checking the level repeatedly as I went. 

When the level got close to the fill/full marks, I cranked the engine to re-prime the oil system. Then I tried to start it,  not even getting a cough out of it. It was then I remembered "It ain't got no gas!"  I filled the tank about 1/3 full and tried the key - it coughed ans struggled and caught, settling into a decent idle with a faint miss, No biggie - just needs a check-over and a clean-out run.

THEN IT HAPPENED - the rookie move. When I revved the engine to assess the miss, there was a loud SNAP, a noise I'd never heard come from a car. I shut the engine off (still have good reflexes) and thought "Oh (insert expletive  of your choice here), I've gone  and left the dipstick out.  But no, the dipstick was properly installed.

It was then I noticed the oil filler cap was nowhere to be seen. I found it down near the lower rad hose and the water pump. There was also some dirty yellow plastic things about an inch wide and 2 inches long, Under the car were more of these yellow things. FAN BLADES. All of them! Or at least nine so far. 

No Mini ride today, sigh,