Fan Shroud Repair

[63gpman]

Here is some low dollar tech for you guys. Finding parts for our full size Pontiacs can be a pain, but some of them can be fixed. Here are some repairs that I did on a 66 Full size radiator shroud that I thought I would share. This one came from a parts car but was able to find all the pieces. You can buy the welding kit on ebay for about $20 and should be able to do many of these. I start out by aligning the crack and put foil tape on the back side, On the front side I grove down the crack about half way through the plastic and melt them together. You do not want to go all the way through otherwise it gets very soft and does not hold its shape (as it did on this crack that I photo'd). I spread the melted plastic together to "weld" them together. Not super great work by me, and some of you will do better. I added some more plastic over time of the repair area and will be able to sand that area down. On the back side, I melt in a piece of metal screen to add strength. You simply hold the iron to the screen and it melts into the plastic. Once this is all done, you can sand it all down nice and clean, use some filler if you wish and paint it. Obviously not for a 100 pt show car, but for most of us it will do just fine and may be our only option. Enjoy!!

[63gpman]

more pics

[indymanjoe]

Thanks for the tip! I always wondered if those kits worked.Nice job.

[marxjunk]

ive welded stuff together with an old wood burner for years...ive done some amazing stuff..


you can add strength by taking the point and shoving it thru and twisting it in circles in a few spots in high stress areas, by stitching every 1/4 inch and then weld it like youre doing ..if you dont get in there deep...it just lays on top and will crack and peel off...takes a little trial and error, but i enjoyworking with plastics..

[70ra455]

Brad use the plastic restorer from Eastwood once it's sanded down. It's more than a paint ... it actually levels off the plastic and comes out better than new. My shroud looks like NOS ... I'm going to do the other one I have in the near future.

[63gpman]

How far did one can go of the eastwood product? I have not sanded things down yet, but plan to bring a few shrouds down to the POCI so I need to get that done soon.

[70ra455]

I used it on my plastic grills and the shroud and believe one can handled that? That's my recollection. I used 2 lighter coats rather than one thick one. It sticks better and looks better.