Today I came across some information from a C3 owner who had his fan
shroud damaged as a result of a bad motor mount. Apparently it caused
the fan blades to hit the shroud.

This caught my attention because a section of the upper portion of the
shroud on our '78 had been cut away when I got the car. And the shroud
itself is only partially bolted in. To the limited extent I've driven the car
(literally only a couple of miles), I haven't experienced any fan blade/
shroud problems, but I've bought a replacement shroud regardless.

I've wondered what would have caused a PO to cut the shroud--and why
it was so loosely attached in the first place. Now I'm wondering if a bad
motor mount may have been the reason--and Bubba was just too lazy/
ignorant to fix the underlying problem.

I have zero experience with motor mounts. So before I install the new
shroud, my questions to the panel are:

- does a bad motor mount sound like a possible reason why the fan
would have hit the shroud?

- what should I look for to determine if one or more motor mounts are
bad?

- what's involved with replacing them? Can it be done with the vehicle on
jackstands, with non-professional tools?SFVette38920.9148032407

the fan shroud could ba damaged for a number of reasons..

usually.. some one tryied to remove the shroud which is a major PITA and mangles it.  usually while working on radiator.

motor mounts..  easy to test..  put car on ramps...  not jack stands..

then use jack with block of wood against engine side of motor mount..  see if mount seperates..

id suggest ramps instead of stands to change them..  youll need to jack the engine up.  it is far to easy to shift off jack stands this way.

I've also seen a waterpump shaft badly displaced due to a wiped bearing and the fan was wobbling around like an egg, choppping away at the shroud....