------The fan on my brick is a little loose and makes a rubbing or griding noise from inside, does this mean my water pump may be damaged or does this just have to do with the fan/fan clutch?
------So now I need to remove my fan and fan clutch and I am perplexed at how this is done. There is a large bolt right in the middle of the fan (I have the old metal blade fan) and when i turn this the entire engine turns so this is wrong. I noticed that there are four smaller bolts on the back but I can not get to them because it is such a small area. I am sure that someone had to remove the fan and came across this small problem.
------I am also wondering if I can switch to the plastic bladed "flexi-fan" without any problems? Also I was thinking about just putting an electric fan on and if there was a kit or something for this.
--Thanks for any advise.

For that job I used my home made impact wrench. Long breaker bar, sticks up higher than the fan shroud and radiator. With the bar vertical, use any metal head hammer (lighter is better) to whack it with as high a frequency as possible. It's the jarring of the whacking that does the job, not how hard you hit it.

As the bar moves on around, reposition the socket on the bolt and do the whacking again. Always worked for me. Reverse the system for reassembly.

Good Luck,

Bob

:>)

If your 1979 is like my old one. You have to prevent the engine from rotating
and use a 19mm if on the center bolt. It unscrews and lets you remove the
whole fan and clutch together. The type I'm describing is the metal fan with
a clutch that is usually riveted and they don't sell a replacement for.
You have to change to the plastic fan. You can use a strap wrenh on the
water pump pulley as another way to prevent the motor from turning. Or a
giant pipe wrench as the most extreme method that I needed to use at one
time. Wish you well.

Dave 82 242ti

SOld my 79 many years ago, but heres some info that may help. On the backside of the fan clutch are four 10 mm nuts. It's a little tight to get into but it can be done. Take them off and side the fan/clutch unit forward and then out of the shroud area. Next look to see if the fan tips and inner shroud are scraped from rubbing against each other. If so, you may want to check your engine mounts and shroud mounting hardware. My IPD catalog shows the same fan clutch and plastic fan blade for years 76 through 93, B21;23;230. So if you don't want to drop the bucks for a new set, try a used source. Just verify the fan is not tweaked or your fan clutch will suffer the brunt of it along with the H2o pump bearings.

"I noticed that there are four smaller bolts on the back but I can not get to them because it is such a small area. "
Have you tried an open end wrench. I think 10 mm?

I have an '80 and it has a plastic fan as did my '77.