I have a set of the nice original GM rear window louvers on my '89 IROC and the paint is kind of faded.

First off, are they all aluminum or not? I can't tell if the sides are plastic or aluminum. Trying to figure out out to prep them for fresh paint and if part is plastic, part aluminum, that will surely complicate things.

Secondly - what was the original paint finish - flat or satin black?

Thanks,
K

 

i belive the finish is satin if it was flat they would never come clean. i also think the louvers are half alum half plastic. but tat depends on the make of them.

jeff

 

The center slats are aluminum and the curved sides are ABS. Is the ABS faded also? If not, tape them off and spray the centers only. They were a satin finish. My slats also need to be repainted. The factory didn't put enough paint on them and the bare aluminum is showing thru on a couple of my slats.

 

Good - that is as I figured, that the slats are aluminum and the sides are ABS. I think the sides are a bit faded, or just have a flatter finish, than I would expect. So, how do I deal with painting the ABS part? I would imagine that to paint them I'd have to deal with flex aget in the paint and all that good stuff for painting plasitc - don't really want to get into that.

Is there a way to restore the finish of the plastic part without painting? Sure, I could use armor-all-type product, but in my experience, that always comes right off with a rain and then streaks the paint etc...

And one last thing regarding the aluminum slats - do you recommend stripping the paint off entirely, or just some mild sanding as in a normal prep for new paint? Scott - I know you have pretty nice looking louvers, how did you refurb them?

Thanks guys - really appreciate the help.

 

mine are made by crager....what kind of material is that

 

I would check with a body shop for paint suggestions. I don't know the best way to do them myself.

Mine are fairly new. They haven't been refurbished, yet. The finish on mine is the way they came from the factory. If they were still under warranty, I'd get them replaced, but I got them for a good price because of their age and the fact they discontinued.