I just got my Aerowing from Hawks. I read that to paint it I need to sand off the gel coat but I was considering leaving it the gray color (I have an 89 Firebird Formula that's red but has the lower silver gray stripe). Is there any problem with just mounting it up as is or does it really need to be painted? Any suggestions?

 

I doubt they use a good uv resistant gelcoat since they expect it to be painted, so expect fading and chalking. Constant waxing may help, but the finish prob isn't that good. Is it primered? If so needs to be painted.
Really should paint it either way, seems a shame to spend the money on a wing to have it look like crap.
Assuming it is gelcoat surface and not primer, you don't have to sand the gelcoat off, just scuff or light sand. It probably has a few surface imperfections anyway that you can sand out. 320 grit should be sufficient.

 

It comes with a primer coat,Paint it!!.

 

Thanks. It came just as I was leaving for work so I only had time for a quick look for damage. It was the gray that I had been considering but now that I've got a good look I can see that it is primer.

 

I wouldn't sand the gel coat off just scuff with a 3M gray scotch bright and clean and paint

 

I sanded 90% of the black primer off, used 320, I then primed, wet sanded the primer and then painted. Looks pretty good aside from a couple runs (first time painting) and a random dog hair lol. All of which will be fixed after it gets sanded and buffed.