Painted Fender Louvers ?

[tkb289]

To Paint or Not To Paint ... that is the question ...

My 289 ERA will headed to paint sometime in the near future and I considering not having the fender louvers painted.

In looking at some previous posts on the subject, I believe the original cars had the louvers painted the body color.

I have seen some cars on this forum that do not have the louvers painted. Since I am not going for a totally period correct look, is this one of the areas where it's up to person preference?

To my eye, depending on the color of the car, roll bar and side pipes, the unpainted louvers can add a bit of visual highlight ... particularly on a dark car with black roll bar and black exhaust.

Anyone have any idea as to what the mix of painted versus unpainted louvers is for cars being built over the past few years ?

Any thoughts ???

Thanks.

- Tim

[tboneheller]

Paint them.

[trularin]

chrome

flat black called "Solar Black"

[rustyBob]

black sidepipes and roll bar on a dark color car? paint them black and keep the theme going or if you want them to stand out from the rest of the car paint them red.

[Excaliber]

Mine are painted, BUT, I think I would like them to stand out more. Stainless would be a good call. Chrome doesn't work for me, generally speaking, it tends to rust with age unless it's a very heavy coating of chrome. Which is unlikely on the thin fender louvers.

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by tkb289

Any thoughts ???

Tim, they're removable -- just tell Peter you want a separate set, or two, and paint one set black, chrome the other, and see what you like. Just have the original ones painted the same color as your car. That way you can even switch them around to change the appearance, or if you get bored of the look.

[tkb289]

Originally Posted by patrickt

Tim, they're removable -- just tell Peter you want a separate set, or two, and paint one set black, chrome the other, and see what you like. Just have the original ones painted the same color as your car. That way you can even switch them around to change the appearance, or if you get bored of the look.

Pat,

Thanks for the info.

I will get the one set painted with the car for sure ... then one more set to experiment with ... great idea!

- Tim

[lnfletcher]

I powder coated mine black to match the roll bar and exhaust. I like how they turned out.

[Excaliber]

I thought they were glass not metal on the ERA's? I was thinking chrome paint or replacing them with metal.

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by Excaliber

I thought they were glass not metal on the ERA's? I was thinking chrome paint or replacing them with metal.

Only on old crappy ERAs. Newer ones are metal and are removable.

[Excaliber]

Well dang! I guess mine is an old crappy one then.

BUT, they are still removable. I'v had mine out before, as I recall they were glass.

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by Excaliber

Well dang! I guess mine is an old crappy one then.

BUT, they are still removable. I'v had mine out before, as I recall they were glass.

Gosh I'm pretty sure Jim Holden told me his were not removable (at least on one of the half dozen ERAs he's owned). Maybe it's a FIA v. 427 thing.

[Excaliber]

Lightly "glued in", I didn't say it was easy getting them out!

...or maybe,,,mine is really crappy and they used some worthless glue? Now I'm all paranoid, thanks a bunch.

[marcalan]

I do believe that my louvers are removable (FIA) so its not a 427 vs FIA thing

[patrickt]

Tim, I can't tell whether the louvers came out easier forward, or out the back -- and I've never bothered to unscrew them to find out. But they have to come out one way or the other. BUT, if they come out best via the back side of the fender well then getting to them will be more difficult, but not if you also opt for the extra venting. You can see on my shot below that if you have to remove them from behind taking out the vent will give you ample room by working through the vent hole.

[tkb289]

Pat,

I don't recall reading about 'extra venting' in the ERA FIA manual ... is that for both the 427 and 289 cars?

Also ... I need to check with Walt at CCC, but do you know if the louvers are painted in place ... or are they painted separately from the body, then installed after the fact?

Thanks.

- Tim

[fkemmerer]

You might want to consider a mild polish. Depending on the color, this can be a nice detail.



- Fred

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by tkb289

I don't recall reading about 'extra venting' in the ERA FIA manual ... is that for both the 427 and 289 cars?

Yes it is for both cars, see page 18 of the FIA brochure ($150). http://www.erareplicas.com/brochure/fia.pdf

Originally Posted by tkb289

Also ... I need to check with Walt at CCC, but do you know if the louvers are painted in place ... or are they painted separately from the body, then installed after the fact?

I don't know the answer to that question, but I bet a careful inspection of my louvers would tell me. Let me toss down a few more cups of coffee and I'll try and figure that out. I'll also try and figure out whether you take them out from the front or back. Of course, I'll post pics.

[patrickt]

The louvers appear to be one single item, not individual louvers. It comes out as an assembly. There are hex screws holding them in. at the top and the bottom I think the assembly must come out from the back -- I don't think the assembly will fit through the hole in the fender well, but maybe it would -- I'd take it out from the back though. They appear to have been painted while outside of the car. I can't see any over spray anywhere, and there's not even a hint of any spray on the set screws themselves. In the second picture below you'll see I placed a mirror behind a louver and you can see the nice even line where it was taped. I'm pretty sure the assembly was painted while not in the fender well.

[trularin]

Ernie, Pat knows you are going to respond.