Central vac toast?

Question

Kenmore Central vac was used by kids and started smoking alot. Still good suction, but noisy and metal pieces came out of exhaust outside. Upon disassembly, found smoke was from gasket between motor/fan assembly and the canister. Metal shards loose inside suction fan portion of motor assembly. Cooling fan on motor is fine. I think metal pieces are from some casing around the fan, but I don't know how to get to the fan to check it out. Any ideas?