348 Refinish Defrost Vents

Completed the refinishing of my defroster vents and reinstalled today. For those that want to do this, here are some I learned and the products I used.

- Since the parts are aluminum, I used aircraft remover to strip the coating. I would advise removing the soft-touch / sticky coating as much as you can using 99% isopropyl alcohol first, as it prevents the stripper getting to the coatings and primer underneath. I ended up using the aircraft remover, then alcohol, then another coat of remover.
- a wire brush worked well on the screen.
- a 400 grit sanding sponge/block worked well on the frame with all its contours.
- I used Duplicolor self-etching primer made for aluminum, followed by Duplicolor acrylic lacquer. Sanded the primer before applying the lacquer.
- many rounds of cleaning with alcohol till the rag had zero residue.
- used a dremel with a wire brush to get in the books and crannies, and also helped a lot with the mesh / screen.
- Buy a mini ratchet; it’s $7 well-spent, and will save a few cuss words for later use.

Pics below:



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Thanks. I should add that if I had to do it again, I would buy a cheap blaster and hit it with soda.

 

Sure, but that would defeat the rewarding experience of saving a buck, doing it myself, and sharing it all here!