C-3 fan shroud question

[Mark A.]

I have an original fan shroud for my 69 427 coupe. It has 2 cracks in the top of it. Does anyone know if this shroud is repairable? I would want to repair it perfectly so the repair is not visible. I beleive it is a fiberglass, plastic composite. I would like to keep it as it is the original. Thanks for the help. Mark

[Joe L.]

Re: C-3 fan shroud question

Mark-----

I don't know the exact description of the plastic formulation used for these shrouds. It's definitely not a conventional fiberglass with polester resin-type of material. It's more like a fiberglass (or, some other fiber) and graphite reinforced, polypropylene. This type of material, while very resilient to breakage, is very diffiuclt to glue----most glues just will not adhere to it. However, I believe that there are some newer adhesives on the market that are effective on this type of plastic. I just don't know where to get them.

I think that you will find, though, that most conventional and easily obtained adhesives will not effectively repair this material.

[Mark A.]

Re: C-3 fan shroud question

Joe,
If I could find a proper adhesive, I still don't know how I would blend the repair to be invisible and of the same texture, do you? If it is not repairable, do you know if the present replacements will pass judging? Thanks for the help! Mark

[Joe L.]

Re: C-3 fan shroud question

Mark------

It depends upon how it's broken. If it simply requires the bonding together of the pieces where a crack has occurred, then I don't see why any significant "blending" is going to be necessary. If it's a question of pieces missing, that's another story.

The 3959119 fan shroud is now discontinued. However, later SERVICE pieces were considerably darker in coloration than the originals. Originals were more of a medium gray; the last GM SERVICE shrouds were nearly black.

You might garner more points with an original requiring some repair than you would with a later SERVICE or reproduction shroud.

[Dick W.]

Re: C-3 fan shroud question

3M and SEMs both have some wonderful adhesives. I am not sure that JB Weld would not be close in color. Lightly glass bead the area to be repaired. Force the crack open slightly and force the mixture into the crack. Let catalyze. Again very lightly bead the repair and surrounding area. You may have to lightly spray the shroud with a satin clean to get the finish that you are looking for. I have repaired several over the years and have never had one called on the judging field. But then again, there is a first time for everything

[Mark A.]

Re: C-3 fan shroud question

Dick,
Thanks for the helpful advise, I will give that a try. Mark