How To: Louver Reconditioning

[mr_han_solo]

Late last year I picked up a used louver for...FREE. I wasn't happy with the paint, or the condition of the weatherstripping so I set out searching if anyone had reconditioned the louver before. I found a few dead end threads, but all in all I got the general idea and set out to do it myself.

 

*Disclaimer* After getting started with the process I realized that a how-to was not really necessary as it's pretty much a straightforward process. However, I took pictures anyways, and I have some free time so I decided to write this up and post.

 

*Disclaimer #2* This is for the stock style metal louvers. Not the plastic or aftermarket ones. This how-to pertains to the original 70s style metal ones.

 

Here is how the louvers looked after I bought them. Faded paint, and dry rotted weatherstripping:

 

 

The first step was peeling off the weatherstripping and wet sanding the whole thing:

 

Once I wiped it dry I put on the first coat of paint. I tried to get a general idea of how it looked originally. From the pictures I saw it wasn't satin, and it wasn't high gloss either. Thus I painted it PPG Flat Black. I used two coats of the flat with a light sand in between (1500grit). I topped the whole thing off with two coats of clearcoat:

 

Now comes refurbishing the latches. They are fairly easy to disassemble, just unscrew the lever and the whole latch is spring loaded. *BE CAREFUL* The spring and toggle will shoot across the room. The spring itself is very fragile and may need to be replaced. Mine were okay so I didn't source a part # for replacement. Ended up cleaning all of the parts with some sandpaper. Used white lithium grease to lube then reassembled:

 

Here is what is needed to re-assemble the weatherstripping around the outside. Permatex or 3M weatherstrip adhesive (be sure to buy the black and not the yellow like I did!), I got the weatherstripping from ebay. 10 feet of 3HCJI U channel. This weatherstripping is 3/4", slightly larger than the original. It can be hard to work with at times so you may want to use L weatherstripping instead.:

 

Lay down your glue, then slide the stripping on. Use clamps and wooden blocks to hold it in place until it dries:

 

It may take several applications to get the stripping to hold around the bends at the top, I think I had to apply and clamp it twice until it stayed down for good. Remember, don't use too much adhesive! Cleanup sucks.:

 

After it dries, I used all new stainless steel hardware and reassembled the mounts. Then I measured, drilled and mounted. Here is the finished product:

Edited February 25, 2016 by mr_han_solo

[ferrariowner123]

Thanks for this, this the exact one I have on my 77. This was very helpful!

 

Many thanks

 

-Kyle