I have taen delivery of a new (to me) xj40...seemed to idle ok but to my suprise two pieces of fan blade broke off at high speed puncturing the radiator. The fan seems to be fouling on the passenger side frame of the radiator. Any ideas on what could cause this?

 

i can`t think of a specific reason for a fan shattering, or breaking, other than old age, gone brittle etc, so i guess we have to start somewhere!
maybe reaching here a bit, but how is the condition of your lower radiator support panel?
when i first brought my car 4 years ago, mine had rotted away so badly, it was barely there. as you can see from this photo, the radiator had dropped a fair bit. so i`m wondering and only guessing, has your rad etc dropped and caused the fan to snag and break.
beyond that, the only other thing i can think of that would cause a fan to snag, is a failed/collapsed water pump seal, which causes the pulley to `flop` about!

 

I think the front has had a bit of a wack underneath pushed the radiator back a centimetre or two, enough for the fan to make contact with the radiator frame. I must admit it was not idling noisily seemed fine to drive off after purchase, loved it actually, so quiet.

 

Motor Mounts?