VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - GENERAL Radios, Tools, Accessories Rubber Blade Fan

I recently bought a rubber blade fan at an estate sale. It works fine but the wiring is very poor. It appears as though it may be the original but then again, it looks like it is regular brown lamp wiring. I saw another fan just like it on a car at a car show this past weekend and it had the same type wiring. I spoke with the owner and he said he was the third owner and as far as he knew, the fan wire was the original. Does anyone know if these fans came originally with a wire very similar to brown lamp wiring? By the way, I got the fan for $5.00 so now I don't feel so bad that I got ripped off by an unscrupulous ebay seller (Steve's48) when I bought a junk fan for $75.00 that he totally misrepresented and then would not answer my email. Thanks for any info on the wiring. Beamer

The brown rubber covered wire is what I remember. The wire was exposed so the brown rubber looked better than the cloth covered wire used back then plus it was more flexible.

my 30 had a fan mounted on the steering cloumn when i got it. it too had a brown rubber wire running to it from the key switch. i just replaced it with standard brown light zip cord.

:vcca: Thanks guys. Brown lamp cord it is. For once, something will be, or should be, easy and cheap since I already have a good supply of this wire. Beamer

Actually, the wire was smaller than lamp cord. Do some looking around and see if you can't locate some of the smaller wire.

:vcca: I do have some smaller brown cord but I am concerned about the gauge. It looks like what is on there might be a 14. Don't want to go too small and have a fire. Thanks. Beamer

i don`t remember but i`m pretty sure i used 16 gauge wire.
BTW. my fan has 2 speeds.

I need to find one for my 37 p/u since it has no defroster but mine how has 12 volts.

Mine is a two speed also, runs very quiet at either speed. I cannot find any identification data on it anywhere. I want to put a fuse in the line. Does anyone have any idea what size I should use? Beamer

Something around 10 amps should be sufficient for a small 6 V eletric motor.

If it is not listed and sometimes pictured in your parts or accessories book, it is not for your car. It is however, a Genuine Chevrolet accessory, and is pictured in the 1941 accessory book.

{You will see an article on it in my "Genuine Chevrolet Accessories for 1941" series.

Think someone could post a few pictures of those there fans so us’ens that don’t get out much could see what a real one looks like? I remember seeing them when I was a kid but that was more than half a century ago.
Thanks
DG

heres a picture of my mounted fan.
i don`t like the ugly green paint. but thats the color is was and i wanted to keep it stock.
a lot of people think its my AC

I have seen many of those fans, but never one that was originally green. Looks like a repaint.

i don`t think its a repaint. could be????
i sanded it down to bare metal and found no other colors under the green paint. i don`t think this one was a chevy dealer installed fan. somebody must of added it thur the years. my car also has a after market hot water heater too.

There were probably a half of dozen companies that made rubber bladed fans. The fan sold by Chevrolet was made by Casco.Chevrolet describes the fan as harmonizing with the interior colors so brown would have been chosen Casco sold teh fan under their name also and may have been sold in various colors.
The fan pictured looks nothing like the picture of the Casco fan that is in Chevrolet literature.

the nut
thanks for the infor.
my fan only has 2 blades too. a lot of them i see has 3 blades.

Beamer sent me a handful of pictures of the fan that he was describing. I also posted an alternate bracket that he had. Just click the photos for a full screen picture:
http://www.pbase.com/dennygraham/ad_interior
It’s not clear from the thread if this is a GM accessory so if anyone has pictures or scans of a Chevy Accessory brochures from that period it would be a nice comparison. If you don’t have the option to post them to an album and want to send me an email with a jpeg image attached, I’d post it in my album along with Beamer's fan.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

:vcca: While this in not the official GM accessory rubber bladed fan, it is very similar. Chev Nut sent me a photo of the official one and it has the name "Casco" stamped by the screw holding the blade housing on. As I said before, this fan does not have any ID markings whatsoever so it is obviously an after market accessory. Beamer

Great glad we cleared that up, I missed that even though I read the thread a couple of times. Even though it isn't Genuine GM it still looks period correct to 95% of the people who would notice it.
Thanks Beamer,
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

gene e mailed this picture and wanted me to post it here

The rubber blade fan pictured is from 1938 accessories. Is not shown in the 1937 accy book but the same fan is stil in the 1948 book.

Thanks to boat of you guys. Looks like the GM fan motor was just like the green one that buggymangp posted last week. His has a different mount but the same style motor, much like a heater motor.
I was expecting the motor to be more like those with the beehive case that Beamer found. That’s what a lot of the later Casco motor cases looked like from what my research turned up and what I have found on evilbay.
So Gene, am I to assume that GM quit offering the fans after '48 with the improved heater/defrosters that were avalable there after?? I didn't see any listing for fans in the Salesmans data book or the '50 Chevrolet Accessory list.
Thanks for the pics
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

your welcome.
its about time i start giving back to the club for all the help i get here.

I just noticed on the rubber fan, after blowing up the picture, CASCO is embossed into the hub of the blade.
DG

Speaking of fans! Maybe I’m just to pessimistic but I always look for the “What’s wrong with this picture” whenever I see something for sale. Like the fan on this auction which we were discussing last week run by cisco38chev, from Hayward which ended with a bid of $149. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230363510153&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT
Now here we are with another one looking amazingly similar and from the same seller except this time he’s using a different name, richie3848, and this time he’s from Fremont. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250479395548&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT
Kinda gives me the impression that he wants me to think that it’s a different fan, a different seller and a different location? Odd that Hayward and Fremont are only 8 or 10 miles from each other in CA., and the same GM Approved Accessories background shows up in this aucton as was used in the first one.
The thing that really caught my attention were the bids on the fan, it starts out at $25 and then the same bidder bids against himself four times to bump up the bid, gosh, do ya think it could be the seller trying to bump up the price? It sure looks to me like he ended up buying the fan back himself the first time round and this time he’s put a reserve on it to see if he can get more out of it than the $105 where his last bidder stopped the first go round last week.
I guess you could say this is just capitalism at work but milking a sale item like this just rubs me the wrong way. With the prices of some of these accessories I would think the off shore aftermarket group would pickup on it and start making reproductions. We got reproduction grills, fenders, cabs, upholstery, glove box doors, mirrors, hubcaps, on and on, why not fans and compasses, haven’t they reached the point where they are out of the reach of most everyone except those with the deep pockets?
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Interesting post here. This same guy recently bought a pretty rough original rubber blade fan from me on e-bay for $40. I was pleased to get that price and he paid right away. i wonder if he has found a stash of blades for these fans and is buying ones like mine and replacing the blade and reselling them?

I have watched many of his auctions as he has some pretty nice NOS accessories he has sold over the last year or so. I have noticed that a lot of his auctions go unsold and get relisted. When things do sell they are always for top dollar.

Tim

I learned that a long time ago. There are several dealers in Ca. that buy parts and then try to resell them at sky high prices.

Many of the transactions are between each other.

I guess I'm just not a very good capitalist. The price of something is what ever the market will bare so I suppose I shouldn't knock the guy for jacking up the prices. If they were as common as flies then no one would pay his prices.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

WOW! I just had to make a comment here. I didn't realize when I started this thread last month seeking some bits of info that it would wind up being (to date) four pages long! I must say, I have learned a lot about rubber bladded fans, both here and through info sent to me personally by our Mr. Chevy (Chevgene). Great replies! Great responses! Way to go Team Chevy! Beamer

I prefer to sell the items to fellow members that plan on installing them on their cars.

Chevgene, I was just getting ready to leave and saw your note. I am with you. I have even given parts away for postage just to keep them in the "family". Beamer

It's a great point and I have recently even bought some parts that I know I have no use for (at least for now) and plan to just keep them for later use or for when I know someone is looking for the same. I have had my share of good and pretty bad stories from e-bay over the years. good deals and have pretty much been ripped of on some large items that arrive in completely different condition than expected.

Things are always better when you know the person you are dealing with and it is part of the fun.

I guess if you buy much off ebay, you will run into crooks. As I said in the opening of this thread, I was ripped off for $75.00 for a totally misrepresented junk fan. I paid the bill before inspecting the fan closely and the seller would not answer my email. Since I got the nice rubber bladded fan for $5.00, I am just considering I have a nice fan that cost me $80.00 which is still a pretty good deal for a good original fan. I put the unscrupulous seller on my s-list and will not buy from him again. I also gave him unfavorable feedback. Beamer

You are correct....there are a lot of crooks on eBay and unfortunately several of them are VCCA members.

Too bad there isn't some way to let the rest of us know who they are but I guess that would really open a can of worms!!! I guess all we can do is give the unscrupulous ones negative feedback. Beamer

But, then again... Something is only worth what someone else is willing to pay...

Absolutely.....unless the part is advertised as mint and it turns out to be junk.

Knock on wood, but, Everytime I have gotten something off of eBay that was advertised as "Parts" or "Poor condition" I have been really happy, because the seller was just covering their butt. I guess my idea of junk is beyond that of the average person.... My first car had an exhaust made out of scraps and busted pipes I found on the hiway or in the ditch!

Oh yah, and I forgot about the soup cans and hose clamps that held that mess together, There may have been a small to large piece of flexopipe too. It was good enough for that Dodge.

me too.

Well our ebay'er has that same fan running for a third time. This time he started out a $25 and has bid himself up to $40 before he got a bite, but of course the reserve still isn't met yet and probably won't be till he gets a sucker to spend $300!
I've been in a lot of antique shops where you see the same piece sit for years without selling. Wouldn't ya think at some point a seller has to reilise he's got it priced to high???
DG

Well, I can remember when I first got my Chev, as it was, I had never been on eBay, until a week after I got my car. I spent hundreds of dollars right off the bat, thinking that this stuff was soooo rare, that I wouldn't ever find it ever again. I have a basement full of starters, generators, and crap. In retrospect, I paid way too much, but, I was new to the old chev scene. Prior to that I only built hot rods out of stuff I had laying around, or from a friends pile. That's how I built my '50 Ford F-1, on top of a Toyota frame with an Oldsmobile Rocket under the hood. That was wild. I didn't even own a welder at that time. All bolts and Bondo.

Folks, newbie question here.

I have this defroster fan in a newly acquired 48 Chevy. It is wired and works! Only problem is it has no fan blades. Any leads on where I can get just the topper or blades??

Many thanks.

Put an ad in the G&D and watch ebay.

In my new quest for the blades to my functioning Casco fan I now see that Richy3848 is offering to recondition "your" Casco fan, oil and replace wire and blades for 50 bucks. Richy must have gotten himself a box lot of fan tops for the Casco fan. I'd really like to get this part, even off him. My do it yourself restore of the '48 wouldn't be a Father Son project if I let Richy restore the fan for me.