I modded mine by putting the extra rubber grommets between the fan and the stock mounts. The stock mounts are rubber and have a plastic insert in them that put the fan above the black mounts by about 1/8 in. It puts the fan at the appropriate distance from lid. I just added the grommets (rubber hard drive mounts off of old pc parts). They were twice the length of the inserts so when I tightened it down they formed a layer of rubber insulation and the fan stayed at same height. It didn't reduce the actual fan noise much but got rid of the oscillating noise I was hearing.
As for the orientation, the label should be facing you. I didn't look but most fans have an arrow on the side casing showing airflow direction. But for my particular unit my fan had the label out and I tested it and the direction was correct!
Craig