I just bought the ten slate 10476 Astra Hammond quarter window louvers from Amazon. Amazon doesn't seem to have them listed anymore, but here's what I'm talking about.

Seeing as my car's alloy I wasn't concerned with painting them to color match, but now that I've got them, the package says "The material is not U.V. stable and will degrade over time. This part must be painted prior to installation". The Amazon page, and, as you can see, the Nino Sport page don't make this clear.

So, I started searching around the forum to get an idea of what painting them might cost. By all indications, I'd be looking at a minimum $150. That's pretty much what I paid for the louvers already. My plan was to do a bunch of "budget" mods. I never planned on spending $300 on these louvers.

Now, before I go any further, let me mention that being the impatient idiot that I am, I've already taken an Exacto and Dremel and opened the slats, so returning them is right out. As I said, I'm an impatient idiot.

Here are my questions for you paint and body guys. Any idea what "degrade over time" is? Are we talking a year and they're discolored and cracking? Aren't the grille and side mirrors ABS? How unreasonable would it be for someone with limited experience to consider painting them?

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

 

I have alloy and my louvers are painted ABS so I couldn't speak about degradation. My guess is that they'll grey over time plus become brittle. Mine are from hubcapsplus and were under $200 pre-painted and were a perfect march. Any chance you can return yours?

To properly paint them, I believe you'll need an airbrush and both the base paint and the clearcoat.

 

Nope, no returning them now. As I said, I cut the slats open. It's a matter of paint/don't paint, Paint myself/pay someone else. Looking for advice.

 

In that case, I'd suck it up and have a shop paint them. In my attached pic above, the Astra-Hammond rear window louvers were painted by my local dealer's body shop. They did a terrific job with the match. About 1 year ago and $150.

 

you could roll the dice and try treating them with a good sealant/UV inhibitor like Zaino CS.

http://www.zainostore.com/Merchant2/...roduct_Count=8

Might help minimize the sun damage. One bottle will last you a couple of years.

 

Well, you can always try using some adhesion promoter and enamel spray paint in the cans and give em a $20 paint job yourself. Its a pretty small area and should hold up pretty well.

First ad that came up in my search on your louvers says "must be painted". Next time you decide to buy something do a little research first.

 

lol should have just bought them painted for $159 on Ebay.. I did..

 

Sorry dude - did not mean to rub it in. So here is MO on the issue:

1. dont use silicone based uv protectants if you expect to paint them sometime. expect you will have to reapply whatever uv protectant you use on a weekly basis and it still may not fully protect them. If you go this rout you might want to try 303 aerospace protectant as it supposedly is the best uv protectant out there.

2. seriously consider painting them yourself with something like dupli-color spray paint. If you clean them with prepaint prep and use adhesion promoter primer it should come out real good and last a few years at least. Or try ordering the paint and using an airbrush if you prefer. If you have never spray painted anything then you probably shouldnt try it though.

3. look at your purchase this way: the style louvers you got are very close to the original louvers on the original Bullit stang and not many people have them. that makes them more unique and hence you are a leader, not just a follower of what everyone else falls for (aka SHR, Roush, CDC by the millions). Do not be down on the unforseen xtra cost cause its something worth a few extra dollars in the end.