Ta Da!....and what color to paint the shroud

[carnut169]

If any of you noticed earlier today I was having a bit of trouble removing the fan assembly but finally got it. Polished up the fan and:

So I have also blasted the shroud and was thinking about painting it. Powder coat? Brake caliper paint? Polish it up as well? I thought I could just get some good brake caliper paint and paint it black myself. Next is the strap which I have had a look at removing- it looks like a pain, but should it be painted as well? If I went w/ the black shroud, and the polished fan, what to do with the strap... red?

[carnut169]

This is what it looked like a few hours ago:

[Adam]

Looks great, Sean.

What did you polish it with? I have a bench grinder with buffing wheels on it, so it'd be an easy job for me.

I hope you hook up that plug lead before you drive it next, too!

[Botman]

Looks Great! What was the issue in getting it out earlier?

[carnut169]

I used glass beads to clean it up, then 400 grit wet, 600 grit wet, a drummel (things are waaay to small), and then polished it about 5 times with Brasso and Never-Dull. Could still be better, but I am happy it looks as good as it does considering the time and what I started with.

Here is the earler post:
Need help w/ alternator removal!

[slakjaw]

that looks good!!

i polished my fan too but its got bubbles and crap on it

what did you use to make it shiny??

[APKhaos]

Now THAT is a beautimous thing! Congrats.

You might want to think about a decent 2-part clear coat to keep it looking like that - the magnesium alloy tends to discolor fairly quickly due to oxidization.

The question of colors is a hard one - there are lots of examples on various recent threads. Powdercoating is the clear winner here - it's durability is the best for the interior surface of the shroud which takes a pounding from dust particles in the very high speed airflow around the circumference of the fan.

If you are going with black for the shroud, then polishing a clearcoating the strap should look really good with your polished fan. Too many colors is bad boogee imho.

The strap is a pig to remove - you will need to remove the AC compressor and the oil pressure sender to create enough clearance to get that puppy out. Alternative is to remove the distributor, but safer to work the other side.

Should look great when you get it done - waiting for a pic!

[Fishcop]

The trick is to keep it shiney!

Magnesium (the fan) does not hold a bright surface for long.

[EWPurdy]

The magnesium will indeed corrode quickly, especially if you used steel wool to polish it. Small pieces will come off on the magnesium surface and accelerate corrosion. If your sand paper had any metalic particles in it, that will accelerate the corrosion too.

[autobonrun]

I also polished my fan. The metal belt was so difficult to remove, I left it in place and polished it also. You can use steel to polish it although you shouldn't use steel on the magnesium fan.. I powder coated my shroud red.

[CamB]

Powdercoat the shroud if you can (for durability).

Is clear powdercoat available??? For the fan?

[FlaCarrera]

How about chrome plating both fan & shroud? A curious neighbor mentioned this as i puttered away under the hood yesterday.

Ted in finnally sunny Fla
86 Carrera Targa Blk/Blk

[vesnyder]

I did mone several moths ago. Mine looked like that, but after driving for several weeks it went back to the same grey dull finish! I had the shroud powder coated black and polished the strap just like the fan - looked great. Curious if you can clear powder coat the fan?

[d S coupe]

Hi Sean
I polished my fan too, and every week I had to clean it. I put clear coat on but it didn't stick. End result, I finally got fed up with recleaning, and let it go back to its 'original look'.
Good luck.
Daniel.

[slakjaw]

someone needs to invent a way to chrome mag

[APKhaos]

Clear powdercoat may be the answer for the fan. I used it on the induction manifold [pic in my earlier post this thread]. The polished fan looks the best, and clear powdercoat will keep it looking good. Check with your local PCA guys to find a local powdercoater who understands complex alloys - the patio furniture guys are trouble!

BTW< if you are going the powdercoat route, you will need to remove around 0.5mm length from each fan blade to allow for the thickness of the powdercoat.

[skinnerd]

Although I didn't polish the fan, here is a view of the shroud powder coated black. Mine has a slight texture to it, but not enough that the ends of the fan blades hit it. For the fan, I drilled out the rivets and had the hub re-cad plated. I had the fan itself bead plasted, then treated with Alodyne (used in the aircraft industry to seal alunimum), and then clear coated. The refinished hub was riveted back on the fan. The strap was also re-cad plated as well. Maybe not exactly what some of you are after, but another option.

[APKhaos]

Nice work, Doug.
Really like the engineered look that the cad plating gives - much better imho than some of the technicolor finishes we've seen.

[Targa Dude]

Hey Carnut.. very nice job..you are now known as "Polish Nut"

I spoke with a buddy of mine who owns and operates a very well known powder coating shop here in the Bay Area.

He said you can Clear Powder coat your Fan and should look nice for at least a few years.

another option that I have seen is Electroless Bright Nickel Plating MIL-C-26074 CLASS 3 GRADE B with a nice polished fan like yours it will look very good.
Nickel is very durable and will not fade.


Jorge (Targa Dude)

[aseem]

Nice polishing job.

I'm confused. I thought the "shroud" was the the "tinware" covering the engine, leading the air from the fan over the cylinders. Most of the repliers on this thread seem to use "shroud" when refering to the fan housing.
Ref.
Shroud and Fan Housing

According to Peter Morgan, you can tell if it is a T, E or S by the color of the cooling shroud. The T had black or yellow. The E was green and the S was red.