[bhill86]

Have a set of rear window louvers for my 77 T/A (yea I know, some of you probably think they’re ugly lol) and prior to being in my possession someone used touch up paint to, well, touch them up. I’d like to repaint the center slats which are aluminum. My question is would you sand the spots of touch up and respray or would you completely strip them and if so how? I don’t want to do anything risky with them seeing as they’re hard to come by and pricy sometimes.

Thanks. They’re cragar “one piece” style by the way although there is no brand on them.

[chuckies76ta]

Be nice if you could find someone to dip them that would remove all the paint. Then prime and paint them.

[JUDGE3]

I don't think their ugly. had em new on my 1980 trans am years ago.

I would aluminum oxide blast them.

[bhill86]

Hmm, hadn’t thought about blasting them. Don’t really have a good place to do so though. Not with that type of media anyway.

[JUDGE3]

cheap bucket sandblaster, bag of aluminum oxide from tractor supply...........wear a mask.

[3X24SPD]

On a related note, I think it's just unreal how much crazy money they get for those Cragar louvers these days. $1500? $2K?? Stupid money.

I like the looks of them- on certain cars.

I have a set on both the 79 Z28 & also on my wife's old 84 TA high school car (still tucked in the back corner of the shop for the last 25 years).

Had them on my gold SMOKIN 79 TA in the 80s- my dad used to call them "The Venetian Blinds".
I thought they looked awesome. He hated them.

[ID67goat]

Aircraft paint stripper might be another option. While messy, it shouldn’t damage the aluminum like blasting could..

[78w72]

Another option is if the existing paint is in good condition & not flaking or signs of drying out/failing, leave it there and just prep it good and respray with the paint you like. Use a good wax/grease remover first or even a strong mix of dawn dish soap then sand the overspray areas & feather into the existing good paint, scuff the rest up & use a good quality primer/paint of your choice.

Stripping to bare metal is usually the best way to paint something but many times if the existing paint is in good shape & has lasted this long, it can be left alone and just prepped right for new paint. Blasting can damage some parts if not done right, too close or too high of psi or wrong media etc.

[bhill86]

I wouldn’t trust myself blasting these. I don’t have a lot of experience blasting anything. Thought about aircraft stripper. The paint looks good on them aside from the spots I assume got nicks and chips over the years that were touched up. I wasn’t sure if sanding the spots was the best approach. I suppose I could try that first then move on to a chemical stripper.

I agree though the price asked is outrageous. I hope nobody pays that. I was lucky and picked mine up 3 hours from me for what I considered a reasonable price. My dad doesn’t care for them either but I like them. Easy enough to remove and store too if I wanted the streamline look back.

[Greg Reid]

Aircraft stripper came my mind too. Put it on with a brush and hose it off with a pressure nozzle or pressure washer.
I kinda like those venetian blinds also. I wish I could find a cheap set for my Datsun.

[bhill86]

Thanks for the tips. When the time comes to try I will give an update. I was looking at them again this afternoon and may try sanding lightly first then feathering the area. If that fails I’ll move on to stripping them.

[b-man]

I would look for a place that specializes in chemical paint stripping.

Many years ago I would take items like front inner fenders, core supports, fenders and hoods to a place in Van Nuys CA to get body panels stripped down to bare metal, this was back in the ‘80s and ‘90s. Places like that in So Cal were few and far between even back then, the only ones that were still in business were grandfathered in.

This business was run out of a large metal building full of large vats of chemicals, some big enough to dip entire car bodies. They stripped antique wood furniture there as well. Going inside the building was nasty and you wanted to get out as soon as possible because of the heavy fumes and heat inside.

Perhaps in your area you can find an outfit like this. I fear doing it any other way will damage your fairly delicate window louvres.

[bhill86]

It’s worth checking into I suppose. We don’t seem to have a lot of that around here but maybe I never looked hard enough.

[400 4spd.]

In my city we have a powder coating business. They know how to properly remove finishes before powder coating. If you have a local service that can strip and powder coat your parts, that might be the way to go.

[bhill86]

Good tip, thanks.

[VCho455]

I would avoid any sort of blasting due to the nature of the louvers. Long thin flat aluminum pieces are going to be very susceptible to warping and blasting by nature distorts the surface of the material. This will cause one surface of the piece to grow resulting in a bow. One bowed or twisted louver is going to ruin the set. Aircraft surface skins are susceptible to the same sort of damage so for the most part they are chemically stripped.

Personally I would scuff the surface by hand and paint with black SPI epoxy primer and be done. SPI's black epoxy primer is UV safe and the perfect amount of gloss for a set of louvers.

For additional input try posing your question on SPI's forum. Lots of very knowledgeable people there. And there is a separate section of their forum dedicated to paint removal.

http://www.spiuserforum.com/index.ph...nt-removal.13/

Good luck. And post some photos oil of your results

[tjs72lemans]

If these are still factory painted, like on my 75 Camaro (actually three piece, where the center can be unlocked with key from stationary sides to lift and clean rear window), they seem to be aluminum anodized black. That may not strip off. I would just scuff, epoxy and paint.

[bhill86]

Another good point. I think I’m going to try sanding first. Whenever I get around to it anyway.

[misterp266]

I would never blast aluminum! You’ll destroy it.
Find a place that does aluminum anodizing and let them do the prep and anodize them. They will look much better than painting.

[Greg Reid]

I don't think I'd feel really comfortable about sanding it either. I would go with some type chemical rather than scraping, sanding, blasting or anything like that.