Can you change out cooling fan without dropping engine and removing tins. I have removed the 3 bolts easy but don't see way to remove fan and pulley?
(Why as dumb ass I left shop rag in engine compartment and was sucked into fan and broke 4 blades)

Remove the front tin, and yes

It can be done. Get it off the ground and pull the tin as you go. It actually can be done. Disadvantage is it is hard to see exactly what you are doing. Get a shop mirror on a stick that you can adjust. Good luck!

I did that also and overheated my engine and cracked the heads. Good luck.

What do you need to remove it for? It probably can be done, but you can drop the engine in a couple of hours, even if you have never done it before. Not sure that it is worth the effort.

I once spent several hours replacing the oil cooler seals with the engine in the car because I read that it can be done. And it can. And I am sure that a guy who has worked on these cars for 30 years has mastered the technique, but I haven't.

What I have learned since then is that it is pretty easy to drop the engine, and in the process, you have an opportunity to check on bits and pieces that you don't normally think to look at such as CV boots, ground straps, and fuel lines.

The downside is that the car may end up on jackstands for a couple of years for the "while I'm in there" stuff that you find ;-)

Once you have the three bolts out, just wiggle the fan and it should come loose from the hub.

You may need to remove the front engine tin pieces in order to get the fan out of its shroud. Those are built to be removed with the engine in the car.

--DD

I've done this. After you remove the front tin there is room to remove it.

After removing the alt belt, you should be able to remove the fan after removing the three bolts. Just wiggle the fan up, down, left, right untill it just comes off. Easy
to do with out removing any tin pieces.

removing tins work but not without fight !! This is what a ship rag can do to fan blades ! Beware Click to view attachment

I have one if you need it. $50 shipped. Mark

Time to sell that one on evil-bay as a "Lightweight racing fan"!

--DD

I have one of those blades in a collection of parts that came out of the transmission I rebuilt. Must have been stuck in the crud of the bell housing. Couldn't figure out what it was, so I held on to it.

Put some timing marks on it and make it really special!

So if I break blades off opposite the missing ones I can call it balanced and sell to AA