While pulling apart the 1979 RX7 i got for parts, i decided to take the clutch fan from it since it was in excellent condition, and the one in my 1985 is welded shut for it to work.

Anyway, the bolts don't align on the 1985 pulley. The '79 fan mounting bracket is slightly smaller then the '85 one. Almost can't see it, but it won't fit, the holes for the bolts aren't lining properly... I'm going to try and swap pulley today, but i just wanted to let everybody know! I don't know was reported anywhere, just trying to save problems to people, if you are to salvage a fan from a '79 to put in a '85 or vice versa, be sure to grab the pulley too!

I'll confirm soon (i'm going to try it right away) if the '79 pulley bolt align correctly with the 85 water pump...

 

I swapped a S4 water pump housing, water pump, and water pump fan spacer on my 1985 12A and had to drill out the holes in the aluminum water pump spacer a little to get it to work. You might have to do something similar.

 

Different length and different bolt pattern. You'll notice the clutch unit itself and the plastic fan look different too.

 

Fitted without any issue, once i changed the part holding the pulley in place.

The fan is backed up about 1 inch from original location.

So if you ever grab a fan from the scrapyard, take no chances and grab that piece too!

I took some pictures, since a picture is worth a thousand words!


New piece in place


Original piece


Top is original piece, bottom is original fan, on the blue side is the fan from the '79


'79 fan installed, all good!