fan cooling shroud broke at bolt hole locations, fix?

[dimeified]

I'm in the process of replacing my fan housing due to cracks, while im at it, i would also like to repair the cooling shroud. Where the shroud bolts to the housing on the top in 2 places, LARGE washers were used by the previous owner because without them, the bolts would not be wide enough to grab any of the shroud material because the material had chipped away while the PO owned the car, probably from overtightening the oringal proper bolts.

The rusted bolts and washers make the engine look like a burnt up toaster that someone tossed out by the train tracks, or something you would see flying across your screen saver.

Are there any methods to repairing the shroud? Can i just take the bolts off and leave them off? I would think they only keep the cooling shroud fastened to the fan housing, that they dont provide any support for the fan housing, as that is done by the steel strap, correct? What have you guys done in my situation?

[porschefool]

mine is broken at the top hole. I've thought about epoxying a washer to the underside of the shroud. It's not critical to anything, a tiny bit of air leakage maybe, but it's not the prettiest thing! Interested to hear others' input.

[304065]

William, call Damon at 603 863 0090 and talk to him about his replacement fiberglass shrouds.

Those bolts and washers just keep the lip sealed so air doesn't leak out.

Replacing the shroud entails pulling the intake, you have to be careful removing the intake nuts so you don't snap the studs.

This is turning into a "while you are in there" project!

Good luck!

[Zeke]

The shroud is made of fiberglass reinforced plastic, or more specifically, polyester resin. You can get get FRP repair kits at home stores and hardware stores. Easy to use if you get the surfaces very clean and roughed up. There are numerous websites about FRP procedures.

What you do may not look all that pretty if you do it in the car, but it can be done. Just slip some thin cardboard covered with foil under where you intend to work so the resin doesn't get on the engine parts. Trim off the excess when the resin gets firm yet still rubbery.

That's not much info, just a tip or 2. Check out the web.

[Fleming]

Just be sure to clean the repair area prior to any repair attempt.

The oil film and dirt in the engine compartment have been absorbed by the shroud and will work as a "resist", making the repair difficult. The repair won't want to stick even after you trim back and roughen the adjoining area with a dremel tool and sand paper.

I didn't have luck when cleaning the area with lacquer thinner. It seemed to just carry the impurities deeper into the open weave of the shroud.

Good luck.

[User Name]

Originally Posted by Fleming

Just be sure to clean the repair area prior to any repair attempt.

The oil film and dirt in the engine compartment have been absorbed by the shroud and will work as a "resist", making the repair difficult. The repair won't want to stick even after you trim back and roughen the adjoining area with a dremel tool and sand paper.

I didn't have luck when cleaning the area with lacquer thinner. It seemed to just carry the impurities deeper into the open weave of the shroud.

Good luck.

when I've repaired similar, I clean the broken area, cut it back so that any impruities would only be in the bit you have cut off already, clean it again, rough it up
I'd make the area around the repair thicker than it was

[dimeified]

I would love it if someone release a fiberglass reinforcement overlay for that, just that one lip piece that goes from the left side cooling duct to the right side. Almost like a clamp, just put a little silicon on the bottom of it, lay it on the shroud lip, and bolt it down with nice clean original bolts. Additionally if the front edge bent downwards over the original lip, this would seal the airflow even more.

Paint it black, with nice P O R S C H E letters across it. Personally i would add one to my car even if i wasn't in this situation i am, just to prevent it from happening in the future. And the silicon is always removable so you dont damage your original shroud.

Where are the fabricators on this board? C'mon there's money to be made! A functional brace and decorative badge all in one!

[euro911sc]

Hehee Not a lot of money there...

When I repaired mine I used West systems FG products. I Taped some wax paper under the holes after I had cleaned them all up. Then I took some FG cloth and cut it up in small bits and mixed with resin. I then filled in all the holes and roughed out a larger semi-circular shape on the top connection points. On the top points I finished with a cloth piece overlay on top and bottom. After drying, I took a quarter and sharpied the shape I wanted. Some sanding a dremeling later the shapes were perfect in my eye. I sanded the other holes smooth. Painted red with Krylon Fusion after primer. Keep in mind I also removed the metal guide by drilling the rivets out so all I had was the FG shroud. That was bead blasted and painted with satin black engine paint. Waited for engine re-assembly to drill the holes so I would not over stress the part by badly aligned holes.

Some work, but the final product looks great! Not OEM, but great! No hole brakege either.

Best regards,

Michael

[JFairman]

Masking tape on cardboard, aluminum, or on the part being used as a male mold is the next best thing to mold release spray on a female mold because polyester resin will not go off on it.
The resin will stay gooey and semi liqued where it touches or lays on masking tape for hours after the surrounding resin has gone off. I don't why, but it does.

You can trim partially catalysed fiberglass with a razorblade but you have to do it right at the right moment before it completly hardens. Once hardened you have to grind and sand all the extra fiberglass off the edges.

I prepped and restored lots of fiberglass parts when I worked at a Porsche restoration facility and thats one of the ways it's done.
They even bought their fiberglass in big rolls from Germany. The same weave and weight Porsche used in the 962 bodywork.
It's really nice stuff. Nothing like your regular generic 4, 6, or 8oz fiberglass cloth available in the states

You can also buy color pigment from fiberglass and boat builder supply stores and mix it into the resin so it is red, green, or black all the way through like origonal shroud and not just painted on the surface.
Don't use too much or it weakens the resin.. a little pigment goes a long way.