Painting Fan Housing and Blade?

I would like to re-paint my fan blade and fan blade housing. I have the following questions:

What is the best paint to use? (Looking for guards red (or close) or gloss black. I sampled a few hi-temp paints and they all were flat, I would like more of a gloss finish.
I want to bake the paint for durability purposes. How hot should the oven (conventional) be and how long should you bake the paint for? Is there different heat and bake times for aluminum and steel parts?

Thanks

AMG
Why don't you consider having them powder coated? It comes in lots of different colors & is really tough. You might check past threads concerning powder coating these items. Seems like I remember there were a few.

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Marv Evans
'72 911E

Powder coat only, making sure to trim the edges of your fan prior to painting so that there is clearance when paint is finished.

Under no circumstances should you rattle-can the shroud or fan; you will have spotty chips everywhere within a week. Trust me on this one!

BTW, I polished the fan. I think that looks the best.

Jw

If you like the look of a polished fan & housing, you might like to try POR-15. They have a clear coating. The finish on the fans & housings deteriorate really fast. I've tried the black on several things & it's almost as tough as powder coating. It's used to paint over rust to prevent it from spreading, although I don't quite trust that. I always treat rust before I paint it on.

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Marv Evans
'72 911E

Powder coating is very good, but be forwarned that removing it is a nightmare. The PO of my 930 motor took the liberty of powder coating everything red. Probably OK if you don't have a red car. The job was terrible with pits and bubbles everywhere. I sent the fan to a friend. He soaked it, scraped, soaked, repeat, and then gave up and bead blasted the crap off.

You know by now that the 930 motor is not the most attractive of the Porsche engines. I saw little need to "polish a turd" by going with fancy colors, so I used hard enamel and stock colors. The fan is about the only thing you can jazz up though, it's the only thing you can SEE.

It is funny you posted this now, I just finnished painting my fan and shroud.I used Plasti-kote high temp engine enamel that I got at Pep-Boys auto supply.DO NOT DO THIS !!! I am going to have to re-do mine!
I used a universal red glossy which matches my guards red nicely and I painted my shroud
gloss black.I then used a clear coat to finnish the fan and shroud.the clear coat was also high temp Plasti-kote.When I finnished it was beautiful!!! however after going on a one hour drive, the fan paint got wavey and started to flake off !! I was later told the I put the red on too thick and I should not have used the clear coat.The gloss black shroud still looks great but the fan is a total mess.I have seen other fans that have been painted that look good, there is a ceramic paint that I have been told works well.Powder coating a fan, I have been told will cost $40.00.
Ask lots of questions and try and find someone that has sucessfully painted a fan and see what kind of longivity they got out of it.Best of luck !

[This message has been edited by chuckr (edited 04-11-2001).]

A fellow in our club had the fan powder-coated. The job was about a year old when he showed it to me. Close inspection reveals lots of tiny pits and chips in the finish, even as hard as it is. This is caused by the fan "inhaling" dirt from the road.
Considering this, I think polishing might last longer.


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Doug
'81 SC Coupe (aka: "Blue Bomber")
Canada West Region PCA
members.home.net/zielke/911SC.htm

I painted my fan with engine enamel about 1000 miles ago. I baked it on, then let it sit for about 1 week before installation to get it good and dry.

Looks beatiful. As for durability, it is holding up pretty well. Close inspection reveals some very small chips on the leading edge of the fan blades. I would say that in 10,000 miles it would be to the point of being noticable.

Next time I will go the powder coat route.

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Chuck - '86 Cab, '77 Targa, '85 toyota 4wd rain mobile http://www.cheaterswayside.com/911/

My fan cost $25 to have professionally powdercoated, and was done in a day. A no-brainer, I think (as opposed to spending time and effort using a spray can). Its been a while now, and I don't notice ANY chips.

I agree that the best way is to polish it. I have seen powder coated fans at our yearly concours and you can see the leading edge of the fans gets blasted by the dirt and particles, chipping the paint. At high rpms's, these fans are really spinning. The magnesium looses its luster after a few weeks and will turn to a matte finish. Overall though, it is a clean look.

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8 9 9 1 1, The last of the line.

I've decided to polish the fan blade after reading everyone’s reply.

So now I have a few new questions :-).

What is the best way to polish the fan blade?
Should I use sand paper first? What grades?
Should this be done by hand or orbital?
Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Happy motoring!

Polish the fan and powder paint the housing! I personally don't like the fans painted red...I have several pictures if you want them, you decide.

I will email you "The Complete Buffing and Polishing Book" by Caswell Electroplating...It is a great reference and will answer all of your polishing questions.

Check out this engine...not mine, but makes me drool



David

AMG

Send me your email address.

David