robmug

OK, at the risk of being pulled over by the Rennlist fashion police, I wanted to know your views on painting the engine fan...

I'm planning to start cleaning my engine bay next week as one of my holiday jobs, and I know I'll keep looking at the fan and wondering how I can improve its appearance.

5 questions:

1. What colour are they ex-factory?
2. If I remove it & clean it will it return to this colour?
3. Is it OK to paint it?
4. If I paint it, what colour should it be (ie body colour?), and do I need to use high temp paint?
5. What's JB done - I'm sure yours is clean enough!

Finally, sorry if this is a really bad thread!

johnfm

I was thinking of doing mine the same yellow as the oil filler cap - but it is about 987 on my list of must do's. If you know a local powder coater, you can probably get it done there for not much!

robmug

Hadn't thought of powder coating...know just the man.

Not sure about the yellow though...I'll have to look and see!

robmug

Hmmm - I see that John Boggiano's is red...painted I guess



May try mine slate grey then...or yellow!

Phil Raby

Rob, you really haven't thought this through, have you? The fan should really tone in with the colour of your garage walls...

Cheers

Phil

robmug

Phil, can't - they are white! (you know most people won't understand this don't you?)

Phil Raby

You're right - my wife's always telling me off for making private jokes. Looks like I've killed a perfectly good thread now...

Sorry about that

Cheers

Phil

John Boggiano

I'm not sure if mine is powder coated or painted - I got Tech9 to have it done while my car was in for a lot of work. (I wanted something I could actually SEE for all the money I spent!)

I'll post a decent pic later (much).

Edit: Not all that much later - I managed to squeeze it in before leaving for work...

(work is that place where I have to keep doing Alt+Tab a lot!)




FWIW, I think it's about 18 months/2 years since this was done. The finish is beautifully smooth and shows not the slightest sign of cracking/flaking. It's better than some bits of the bodywork!

Further Edit: This picture reminds me, if anyone has droopy soundproofing over the engine area, 'No More Nails' (B&Q, etc.) is great for sticking it back up. Just leave overnight, secured by some insulating/masking tape and Bingo - nice tidy soundproofing!

Phil Raby

One thing, if you do the job yourself, aluminium needs a special primer, otherwise the paint will flake off very quickly. My guess is that powder-coating is the way to go.

Cheers

Phil (desperately trying to revive a dying thread...)

robmug

Update...not sure what to do now! It is the colour I'm stuck on, as I think it will look odd in slate grey - I'd like it to stand out like JB's...perhaps yellow!

John Boggiano

Rob, it certainly makes the engine bay more attactive in a bright colour.

FWIW, I almost chose yellow. Yellow is the new red!

I also like mid/dark blue.

This is of no help at all, is it?!

Andy Roe

Rob,

If you're stuck on the colour, have you thought about having it polished instead? You could also put a clear lacquer on top to ensure it keeps it's shine.

Andy

robmug

Andy - I like that idea...

BTW, I took my exhaust tailpipe off last night to repaint the black end...rubbed the paint down to prepare for paint, and found shiny stainless steel underneath...decided to keep polishing until gleaming!

robmug

Yes it is helpful! Blue would definitely look wrong on my car though..interesting re the yellow. I may try to polish first, then try yellow...

Are these expensive? Sounds like I need to have one off the car to play with - anyone know?

Greg_L

Thats great news Rob, i've been thinking about buying a stainless steel tip, but if i can do it myself . . . What product did you use to remove the paint without loosing the finish on the steel? And i presume you have a standard exhaust?

Regarding the fan colour, i think red would look best - especially if you had big red calipers. I think yellow would look wrong unless the car matched.