I need a new idler like seen in this picture, I am not sure where to find a replacement, this one is loose and the fan is moving around. This is my first Flathead and I don't even know what year the motor is? Since I don't know flatheads, and the pictures I have been finding, none have the fan mounted like this. I am ***uming this is/was an idler set-up that was modified to mount a fan? Most pictures I have seen show a generator or alternator in this location. I need to know what to order and from who to replace this set-up and re-mount my fan back to it. Any help would be very much appreciated.
Here is another picture if it helps. If you cant see the top of the bellhousing how can you find out what year the motor is? It has aftermarket heads and intake but has the front crab distributer and a 24 stud block.
definitely a custom built setup, it must have something inside the fan to stop it walking on that shaft, has probably come loose. Pull it off (take the fanbelt off, undo the two small bolts that hold it to the manifold boss, and it should come off) and work out how it works, if the guy who did it had any consideration for the next owner, he would have used standard size bearings that can easily be got from a bearing supply. I dont think it will need much more than that to repair it!
Carefully remove the bearings....they will have numbers on them. Your local machine shop can ID the item (s) you need. That is definitely a custom, non-Ford item !! All flatheads had the generator mounted in that location. Happy Roddin' !! 4TTRUK
Looks to me to be a modified fan carrier off a 48 thru 51 Ford Truck, well at least the pulley and shaft are. They dont run on bearings, it is a shaft on a bronze bush, there should be a little screw on the front side of the pulley sheave for adding oil. Pic from the vanpelt flathead site...
The Jalopy Journal
