Experienced Fan Polishers needed !

[S785Carrera]

Currently my fan and housing are painted (VHT paint, silver) and is holding up well. I am thinking about stripping off the paint and going the polish route. I am clear on how to polish from past threads, but the question is how often do you have to re-polish it? I guess it depends on if you have to have a mirror finish all the time or not... I don't , I guess I am looking for pictures of how much the polished surface deteriorates over time. How many of you polishers decided to powder coat? For people that stayed with polishing what worked best to preserve the finish? (Brand of polish, using a wax or sealer like zaino, etc.)

Thanks !
Mike

[emcdan]

Boy...this something I would like to know also. I polished my fan only a few weeks ago. I powder coated the housing in silver. Although it looks like chrome right now. It probably will not hold up too long. I used tripoli and mothers billet polish but thats all.

[acapella8]

Is there a good thread on polishing the fan and housing?

I got a bit lost in the mud searching...

[89911]

Here is one old post:

Contemplating powder coating my fan and fan housing . . .

[al lkosmal]

I polished my fan a few years ago. Looks great for a short time. I lost the desire to keep up with it. I now have them powder coated, which looks great and really seems to hold up well. You might try polishing and them a clear powder coat over it. Or, I think that they actually have powder coating that comes in colors (shiny silver or chromelike) that will look like a polished fan.

[S785Carrera]

Any pics of a polished fan after a few months or some other timeframe?
If I do go the polisheed fan route whats the best prtection other than clear coat?

[Tyson Schmidt]

We've got a process that makes the fan come out looking like a new part. We drill out the rivets, get the pulley section re-plated, and media-blast the fan. Then a special process that seals off the pores of the magnesium and gives it the factory texture. Then it gets sprayed with a preservative similar to WD-40. We have a fixture that allows us to reinstall the center to the fan with factory rivets, so it looks identical to the factory part, front and back.

On my 2.5, this allowed me to replicate an RSR fan by using a '78-'79 SC fan and housing, but swapping the pulley center section for an early piece. Voila! RSR fan.

Mine still looks great after almost a year. It's an expensive process, but the results are worth it. Especially since it's the single most visible thing in the engine compartment.

[89911]

Originally posted by S785Carrera
Any pics of a polished fan after a few months or some other timeframe?
If I do go the polisheed fan route whats the best prtection other than clear coat?

Check out the post link above.

[S785Carrera]

Hey 89911 in the thread you posted above you wrote "I strongly advise against painting the fan blade, either by powder coating or painting. The speed the fan is turning will eventually cause the leading edge of the blades to chip and then oxidize. Better to clean the fan once to polish and then let it accululate a matte finish that is maintenance free and acceptable. I've seen many a painted fan that is chipped up and look worse then when it started." You then posted a picture of a polished fan that I thought looked great . In that picture, how long since it was polished? What does it look like now??

Thanks,
Mike

[wholberg]

I started polishing my fan with Mother's after seeing another Pelican's polished fan. I have to spend about 30-45 minutes once a month to touch up the visible parts of the fan. I am getting tired of doing it after a year or so, so I am going to look at other alternatives.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Yeah, 89911 what was done to that fan? Polish or powder coat in chrome? I love the sort of subdued, not-quite-bright look it has, but the housing looks to be untouched, or am I wrong? It looks great, I'd love to do that to mine.

[ThePointman]

Yep, Mothers mag wheel and aluminum or billet polish is the ticket with lots O elbow grease ...

[wholberg]

I found this online, all you ever wanted to know about magnesium coatings but were afraid to ask ;-)

http://www.magnesium-elektron.com/data/downloads/DS256SU0.PDF

[Early_S_Man]

If you polish the manesium and leave it bare ... exposed to air, even dry air in west Texas ... it will discolor and start to tarnish within a week or so! Clear coating with laquer peels after less than six months, two-part polyurethane ... within a year or so!

[Milu]

I'm polishing mine this weekend with steelwool and speedy polish. I'm going to experiment with finishing with Renaissance wax which is used on antique metalwork in museaums. Hoping this preserves it a little longer.

[S785Carrera]

Originally posted by Early_S_Man
If you polish the manesium and leave it bare ... exposed to air, even dry air in west Texas ... it will discolor and start to tarnish within a week or so! Clear coating with laquer peels after less than six months, two-part polyurethane ... within a year or so!

Yes, clear coat does not seem like it would work on a polished surface, maybe bead blasted but not polished. As far as tarnishing, that might be OK depending on what it looks like . Thats why we need pics! Post pictures of your tarnished fans with
how long it took to get that way after it was polished ! If it looks like 89911s fan after it "tarnished" I could live with that.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Yeah, that looks great. I would really like to know definitively what was done to this fan?

I had thought about using colors, etc. but if I could get this look I think I'd only do the strap in gloss black, although I might do the large diameter holes along the strap to let that polished (or whatever) case show through. I think it would look classy and dressed up without being overstated.

[89911]

Originally posted by S785Carrera
Hey 89911 in the thread you posted above you wrote "I strongly advise against painting the fan blade, either by powder coating or painting. The speed the fan is turning will eventually cause the leading edge of the blades to chip and then oxidize. Better to clean the fan once to polish and then let it accululate a matte finish that is maintenance free and acceptable. I've seen many a painted fan that is chipped up and look worse then when it started." You then posted a picture of a polished fan that I thought looked great . In that picture, how long since it was polished? What does it look like now??

Thanks,
Mike

That actually is the fan after a half season of using it. The polished fan looked like this:



The last picture is after is softened and turned to a matte finish. I really don't polish it anymore, but it still looks much better then it did originally with all that crud on it.

[project 911]

I spent a huge amount of time polishing my fan and when fresh it really makes for a great focal point. I would also re-polish with Mothers, and tried both wax and WD40 to try and keep it bright with little luck. It would get dull within days, and if left too long it would become difficult to polish up. I'd have to use Scotch-Brite pads. It may have to do with the weather here too... fog, big temp changes, etc. Personally I'm going back to a painted fan to avoid all the work.


(Before) Here's when it was first done.



(After) Over time it would get really crusty and dull. Having to us harsher methods to clean it gave the fan a more satin finish.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Mike,
Thanks a lot for that info. I'm wondering if when I do mine, I should have Al Reed polish and clear coat the housing but not clear coat the actual fan, because as you say after awhile the leading edge will slowly get messed up. I wouldn't mind preiodically polishing the fan blades, I'd just hate the housing to tarnish under the black strap I plan on using with no way to polish it except to disassemble it. It looks GREAT when fully polished. I am saving that picture.