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  1. #1
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    82GTforME's Avatar
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    Default Fan Shroud Restoration questions

    I had to find a replacement shroud for the original that was broken in an accident.

    The original was in very good condition and had an eggshell/sheen finish to it. The replacement, while in good shape has a couple of minor issues.

    I'd appreciate some feedback. Thanks!

    1. Oxidation on the exterior, upper and top portion The interior looks like it was unaffected. As you can hopefully see, the replacement (top) looks faded. The "oxidation" for lack of a better word, seems to be surface. I tested a small spot scratching with a fingernail and it looks like it's only a layer on top. I did a light attempt with some compound but no real impact. Can a method be recommended to remove this? I'm leery of jumping into abrasives right off, scratching it up and ruin it.

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    2. Paint overspray. In it's life the replacement's car had been sprayed and there is some paint and overspray (grey and black) on the underside. I'm not sure of what material the shroud is made from and whether I can use any chemicals or whether I should go with abrasives when I do the oxidation removal.

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  2. #2

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    I've had decent luck sprucing up stuff like this with plastic or rubber cleaners & protectants. I'm not going to say the A word since some people have had bad things happen with that stuff. It's always worked fine for me though. There's also milder tire shine type stuff too that just gives tires a natural look, rather than a crazy shine. Or Back To Black kind of things. Lot of options!
    Brad

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  3. #3
    FEP Power Member Broncojunkie's Avatar
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    You might try that headlight restore stuff...in a bottle. I believe it's supposed to lightly melt the outer layer, so to speak. I'm guessing it would work on about any type of plastic. Just a thought... never tried it myself.

  4. #4
    FEP Super Member gr79's Avatar
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    Did a search
    Shrouds are ABS plastic.
    Protected from sun fade by hood.
    Fade permanently by uv.
    Abrasives will scratch it.

    Type of finished look depends on overall engine compartment shape.
    New looking shroud stands out if area is not presentable.
    Old shroud stands out on show car.

    Have dripped engine oil on mine during refills.
    Wiped off with shop rag. Seems to have preserved it.

    Others have ran across the same situation:
    http://www.78ta.com/HTAF/index.php?topic=43426.0
    http://www.detailingspot.com/?page_id=21
    http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/rest...im-161748.html
    https://procarreviews.com/best-plastic-restorer/
    Some use:
    heat gun to restore surface color.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQs2ik1dzzE
    Linseed oil
    Clean with rubbing alcohol, simple green. No acetone, etc.
    Satin black trim paint
    Kiwi black shoe dye
    Last edited by gr79; 05-25-2018 at 11:27 AM.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by ZephyrEFI View Post
    I've had decent luck sprucing up stuff like this with plastic or rubber cleaners & protectants. I'm not going to say the A word since some people have had bad things happen with that stuff. It's always worked fine for me though. There's also milder tire shine type stuff too that just gives tires a natural look, rather than a crazy shine. Or Back To Black kind of things. Lot of options!
    Quote Originally Posted by Broncojunkie View Post
    You might try that headlight restore stuff...in a bottle. I believe it's supposed to lightly melt the outer layer, so to speak. I'm guessing it would work on about any type of plastic. Just a thought... never tried it myself.
    Quote Originally Posted by gr79 View Post
    Did a search
    Shrouds are ABS plastic.
    Protected from sun fade by hood.
    Fade permanently by uv.
    Abrasives will scratch it.

    Type of finished look depends on overall engine compartment shape.
    New looking shroud stands out if area is not presentable.
    Old shroud stands out on show car.

    Have dripped engine oil on mine during refills.
    Wiped off with shop rag. Seems to have preserved it.

    Others have ran across the same situation:
    http://www.78ta.com/HTAF/index.php?topic=43426.0
    http://www.detailingspot.com/?page_id=21
    http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/rest...im-161748.html
    https://procarreviews.com/best-plastic-restorer/
    Some use:
    heat gun to restore surface color.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQs2ik1dzzE
    Linseed oil
    Clean with rubbing alcohol, simple green. No acetone, etc.
    Satin black trim paint
    Kiwi black shoe dye
    Guys, all good suggestions. Thanks!

    I never thought about it to realize these shrouds were ABS and I also have never really seen this severe of degradation before. I had also never paid attention and seen the over the counter products like Brad noted and in the links shown by gr79.

    As this will be going in more of a "show" car versus a fixer-upper, I needed to do something to improve the appearance.

    I followed the advice in this link to utilize an applied product http://www.detailingspot.com/?page_id=21

    "In the end, if not cared for properly, what we end up with is a material that suffers from cracking, chalking, color changes, bleaching, and loss of its physical properties.
    For plastic/trim/molding/cladding/etc. that is faded due to degradation, i.e. the plastic has changed its appearance permanently, you have a few options: You can:
    1) apply a dressing to temporarily change the appearance – this will darken the polymer and probably last a few weeks before you will have to reapply it,
    2) use a dye (e.g. Forever Black),

    3) replace the part that has degraded, or
    4) paint it with a polymer specific paint.
    Options 1 and 2, in my opinion, are the best options depending on the size of the part you are trying to restore. Applying dressing is the easiest; dying the polymer will provide a very nice finish, is easy, and will last a long time; replacing the part is costly; and painting it, while a viable option, is difficult to do. Hence, we are conveniently left with options 1 and 2!"


    So after a few applications, it darkened the ABS enough to me that it did not stick out as super obvious. You can see in the one picture before application where the deterioration will somewhat scratch off with a fingernail. It would be challenging to find a way to do that to the whole area. I will do as they recommend in point 3 above to look for a better replacement.

    I used a product that was on the top 5 list of the procarreview link, plus it was off the shelf available locally http://www.detailingspot.com/?page_id=21

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    Fingernail scratch tests.
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    First layer of application where it started to have fading.
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    Here you can see up close how it's really lipstick on a pig as you can still "see" the deteriorated substrate.
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    In the side by side to compare with the original and against the first photo above. The results were better than I expected for the limited effort it actually took.
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  6. #6
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    There are companies who restore plastic fan shrouds. I have seen them mentioned on the Concours Mustang Forum. The older ones may be a bit different as they seem to be glass fiber based.
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  7. #7
    FEP Super Member erratic50's Avatar
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    Shoe polish does wonders on them if you want a temporary solution.

    I cleaned the shroud on my 1986GT with brake clean until I was certain the dirt and grease were removed. Once it was dry I basically painted it with an interior plastic parts dye.

    It looks new for the most part. One of the nicer parts on my ratty old 86 for sure.

  8. #8
    FEP Super Member gr79's Avatar
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    https://www.polyvance.com/vista.php
    search 'sanding abs plastic'

    Plastic can be sanded, including wet sanding. Headlight lens, bondo, flex bumpers.
    Not so much to cause plastic heating or melting, like high speed cutting with jigsaw.

    I have the same exact shroud. Now am aware they are not commonly found, much less new.
    All replacements i see, even of Ford tooling, are not deep tunnel, and are offset from center.
    I feel it is important to find out how to keep ours intact just in case.
    Different levels of look. Show vs concours new or like new.
    Kind of gave me the thought the old one can be repaired.
    Possible using a 3rd shroud and or fresh repair material.
    Its about keeping the original because of the look, patina.
    And even #2.
    Info intended to making things better, not worse, thru knowledge!

  9. #9

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    303 aerospace protectant might work.
    1985 Mustang GT convertible triple white
    Stock survivor

  10. #10

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    dynodon64 is doing some research on vapor blasting and mentioned it restores plastic to like new. I'm sure there are services that do it using vapor blasting. He was looking at building his own. Your shroud looks like the prefect candidate for that technique.

  11. #11
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    Yes Gt Town is correct. Look into a company called Vapor Honing Technologies up on You Tube. You'll see what Gt Town is talking about.

  12. #12
    FEP Member SECESH's Avatar
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    Ought to be possible to restore it similarly to what would be done to restore a dash pad, for example. Heat under hood might dictate what finishing product would work.

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