Resident Sicko

I remember reading a LOT of info on the pros and cons of Powder Coating vs. painting the engine cooling fan.

I bought a brand new Genuine Porsche fan to replace the existing tired looking fan on my 40k mile C2S and wanted to take the "tired" fan and refinish it. Maybe gold to match my calipers, maybe gloss red (because racecar) or maybe even polish it out.

What is the final verdict for pimping the magnesium and thin coated OE cooling fan?
-Low temp Powdercoat?
-Eurethane paint and clear?
-Re-Anodize?
-DHT high temp caliper paint?
-Polish and rebalance?

Material thickness is a concern as well after reading a lot on those who did not compensate prior by sanding .5-1mm off the blade edges resulting in the fan rubbing the shroud or cracking.

Please advise and I thank you.

aribop

My fan and shroud are both powder coated. No sanding of blade edges and no problems for two years.

dgmattingley

I'm also interested in hearing opinions. I just powdercoated the fan and the housing, after disappointing results with using hi-temp paint an urethane on the fan. Spins nicely with no rubbing, but haven't gotten it all buttoned up yet.

jhg41977

Mine is pretty nasty, po lost a few belts so its coated with rubber. I havent bothered even cleaning it because I havent decided what to do. I was thinking polishing it, should it be clear coated after?

Don, how did you prep and paint the fan prior to powder coating?

Resident Sicko

I dove right in....now realize I need a bearing puller to pull the fan off the alternator shaft....duh. As well as the "Porsche tool" 12 pt allen tool to put everything back together as per spec. (Used a regular hex to get it off with little effort)

Anyone know of a simple method to get the fan off the alternator shaft without taking the entire assy apart?

Roche993

I just went through this when doing an RS hub update to a single belt. I had attempted the three very long bolt method of pulling the fan/ hub off the shaft. Very proud of myself for getting it off, I found that it was next to impossible to actually get the fan out because there was not enough clearence for the fan to clear the shaft and it would always hit something no matter which way I tried even with the ac completely out of the way. So the whole thing (alternator strap, etc,) had to be un-done and the alternator iteslf tipped upwards toward the sky to get the fan off. I did not mess with any wires behind the alternator. But to answer your exact question, three very long (2.5 to 3 inch) bolts inserted into the holes and equally turned pressing against the alternator itself will pull the hub and fan off of the shaft. Try to look through the holes in the center of the fan to see that each of the three long bolts has a nice resting spot before slowly cranking them down. Also it was not very easy to find 3 inch long bolts with threads all the way up the shaft. Maybe you can luck out with that or have a better hardware store than me. I had to order them. Good luck! You will get it, I am sure

http://api.viglink.com/api/click?for...13413414757225

See Geolabs last paragraph in this P-car link!

jhg41977

The local auto parts store (real store, not Autozone) stocked the 12 pt tool. Up here we have RObbins Auto Parts, not sure if they are down your way. Snap On also has them, but not necessarily on the truck. Sears should have a puller for you.

kjr914

Piece of sh*t tool don't bother. Get the snap-on Blue Point 3/8" 12pt socket socket for ~$7. If you search my id or other fan threads, there's a link to it.

I just suffered thru this and used a puller. I wished I'd used the long fan bolt method (mentioned above), which seems much easier. LOTS of Kroil/LiquidWrench/penetratingOilOfChoice and have some/lots of patience. Easy does it as its a $400 fan...

axl911

There is quite a bit of duscission on powercoat vs paint on Pelican. The general concensus is that painting doesn't last and will chip and flake.

I powdercoated mine and it still looks brand new. The $50-75 cost for powdercoat will easily make up for the hours and hours of sanding and prepping you have to do to paint.

Same logic applies to the engine tin. I spent half and hour wirewheeling and scrubbing just a small section of the engine tin. So I took them to a coater and they were perfect for $175.

Falcondrivr

I replaced my fan and shroud in April. I polished the shroud, then bead blasted the fan and painted it with high temp paint. I've already put 2000 miles on it and it still looks great.

gaby1088

how hard is it to remove? I wanna paint mine normal metal color at least sand it down

edit: nevermind i cant do this, if i do itll be the beginning of the slippery slope to do things to the car..

Resident Sicko

PITA!

Finally got the fan off after hacking the pulley puller to fit...AND THE FAN DOES NOT COME OUT WITHOUT TAKING OR TILTING THE ALTERNATOR!

Also am curious why everyone has a metal shroud when mine and other 98s I know have some sort of fiber reinforced plastic shroud. (See pic above) Will a 964 metal one fit?

Resident Sicko

Ended up unbolting everything and fan is now off. Like everything else on this car, the job is much bigger than I imagined..If anyone else reads this or is planning on doing this project, save yourself a LOT of frustration and bloody knuckles and just remove the entire fan/alternator assy from the beginning. Pics to follow.

benjr

Hi

What did you use to polish the fan housing?

Ben

cobalt

Don't forget these components are magnesium alloy and if left exposed will corrode and eventually fail. Proper cleaning and preparation of the surface is critical if you expect the job to last. Also don't leave the exposed magnesium to the elements for too long. Humidity is enough to start the corrosion process and if you coat it after corrosion has begun it will eventually continue under the paint or coating without being seen.

Proper approach is to do a chemical conversion of the casting prior to painting but most skip this step. The advantage to powder coating is the hardness of the coating. It is less prone to chipping. Debris gets sucked in by the fan at speed and will eventually chip the paint on the blade edges, touching up these chips is critical otherwise you can see corrosion of the blades which could lead to catastrophic failure.

BTW original fans were painted and paint color used on the fan is Zermatt silver which turns goldish in color over time. Never leave a fan without some protection or it will fail quickly.