Red fan shroud refinishing - paint or dye?

[james]

My red fan shroud has been painted in the past & I am now wanting to refinish it for a more original finish.

My plan is to strip off the paint using paint stripper.

Doing a search I found this thread :

http://www.early911sregistry.org/for...ght=shroud+red

where chuck demonstrates how to restore the finish.

Do most people refinish using this method or should I repaint the shroud?

[raspy2point2]

In my thinking the red dye that Chuck Miller describes is one of the best options. This was also printed up in the Esses magazine from the Early S Registry. Paint does not stick to fiberglass very well. It might take a couple of applictions of the dye. Regards Chris Early S Reg. #205

[fryardds]

James,

I did the CM dye method to my RS red shroud when the motor was rebuilt and it turned out real nice. The red shroud on my 2.2S was a different story. It had been painted but was basically un-useable due to degredation of the fiberglass. I bought a reproduced one from Damon at Series 900 and was really pleased with the outcome.

[james]

That looks very nice

I am going to be stripping the paint off today. Hopefully the shroud is in good condiion beneath the paint.

Another method that has been suggested is to use Autoglymn Bumper restorer on the shroud. Apparently this works really well

[james]

stripped off the paint & discovered why it had been painted

[pmjt]

stripped off the paint & discovered why it had been painted

James - I spoke to Lee earlier today and gave him your number - he'll call you and see if he can repair / replace the gel coat to refinish it

Philip

[boxster03]

angry mechanic

[james]

Had family around all easter so not managed to spend a huge amount of time on the shroud, but here are the results :

'wet & dried' the worse areas of the fibreglass with a fine grade. Followed this with some cutting compound I had, farecla G4.

Folowed this with the Autoglym Bumper care

From this:





to this :



The 'light' is different for this photo, but it is a deffinate improvement

Of course the gel coating is still cracked & the shroud will never win a concours, but for an approx outlay of £5 it looks OK ish.

I'm not quite sure what to do now. The shroud is presentable, but still not upto the quality of teh rest of the car .... but it is the original shroud & does show 'patina'

Or should I save my money up to do it properly / find a replacment ?

[72targa]

Nice work. I'd keep it until you find one better. It could be a long wait. Nice patina, too!

PS - For the reproduction mentioned above:

Damon Josz at Series 900 in Sunapee, NH - 603/863-0090 or email him at series900@nhvt.net