Getting to the bolts is a little fussy. Use a ratcheting wrench or a long handled wrench. The issue coming apart the first time is how long are the bolts. If they are standard, there is room. If they are not and too long, it's back to engine lifting.

Chuck,

It is a 13 blade plastic fan without any spacers. I can barely get to the 1/4" bolts.

And check the bolt lengths and maybe added spacers. With all stock parts (and the super two core) you should be able to get the fan in out without having to raise the engine, which means you may put it back together a little differently!

Thanks for the ideas. The clearance issue is a surprise to me. Lifting the engine a bit occurred to me. I have to force myself to deal it.

Unbolt the two front motor mount bolts from under the fender and also undo the dog bone engine steady.  Then you can jack up the motor just a little bit from under the front of the gearbox near the harmonic balancer.  It will improve the angle so you have a bit more room.  With the top radiator support removed, splay the radiator forward enough to get to those fan bolts.  The longest 7/16" you can beg, borrow or steal also helps.  Your hands will heal in about two weeks  Good luck, it's a tight fit but doable.

meninger. I have gone to using the alloy rads from china..  bit thinner  and much easier to get out with my PHAT hands..  think they are $59. plus $45 shipping from winning spares in hong kong.. on ebay. later bc

I bought and used a couple of the "super two core radiators" quite a while ago. They have worked great solving overheating problems. But recently I have had occasions to work on the front of the engine. It seems the core is thicker than the originals and it doesn't provide clearance to unbolt the fan. Has anyone had a similar experience? This is a MK1 mini with the the inner fender radiator frame and two part fan shroud.