Has anyone attempted to restore the louvers to factory original condition, and if they have, does anyone have any tips?

 

I'm sorry I can't really help on the resto tips as I'm lucky my louvers are in very good shape but I can take pictures of them if that would help.One thing you may consider is if the metal section of your louvers need refinishing is to powdercoated them instead of painting.I'll post one I have and just let me know if this will help you.

 

Damn those look good. Well, looks like there has to be a first person for everything. I've noted that there's little "wafer" like washers holding the hex bolts to the louver. And two of mine seem to have been put together wrong from the factory. *facepalm* Add this to the fact they're ancient and brittle, and life gets all sorts of fun. I'll probably end up taking them off, taking them apart, and figuring out how to paint them and put them back together. Powdercoating is a serious idea, as aluminum seems to not like paint sticking to it. Maybe anodizing would be an idea too, but it'd cost a LOT. It'd look real good though.

 

I refinished my louvers, but they were not factory louvers. All I did was strip the old paint off with aircraft stripper, cleaned the aluminum, scuffed it up a bit then primered it. Instead of painting them when I was done, I used the black bumper coating. It gives it sort of a satin black and seems to go on more evenly than spray paint. I don't think I would powder coat them but that is just my opinion.

 

Did you have any problems with rattles, or the mounting system? I have some glitches with mine that I'm gonna fix when I tear 'em down. Depending on cash availability, it might happen sooner rather than later. All else fails they stay off for a while, and I get to put on a rear window decal.

 

yah, they rattle...only when going over big bumps and stuff like that. I don't think there is really any way around it, I just live with it. I don't even really notice it anyway.

 

Don't the louvers make it hard to see out?

 

http://myspace-951.vo.llnwd.net/0130...03502951_l.jpg those are mine, they are metal too....

 

a lot of people think that if you have louvers it limits visibility. My experienece is that it doesn't limit visiblity at all! There is enough spacing between the slats so where you can see just fine. If you're looking at it on an angle like outside of the car it might seem you won't be able to see out of it very well. All I have to say is not true.