Hey guys,

Just updating my website and figured I would make a quick post on this in case anyone ever runs into this issue and wants to fix up their cowl panel too. This might be totally obvious to some, but it wasn't to me, and I figured it out by watching some guy fix a bumper on YouTube. So anyway, hopefully this is useful to someone.

My Fiero sat in the Florida sun for a good 6-8 years, without being driven... so the cowl panel was trashed. It was faded, and in some cases, a little warped. I fixed it doing the following steps (below).



The first thing I did after removing it, was to clean it really good with dish soap and to get all the grime off of it. I also vacuumed in case any crap got between the screen mesh and the plastic. I then laid it out on my garage floor, and got my heat gun. I normally use the heat gun for shrinking electrical wrap. I used a special attachment on it, and I went over the cowl area slowly. The heat gun is VERY, VERY hot (can't use a regular hair dryer). The goal is to melt the plastic ever so slightly. What this does is basically melt the oxodized plastic, and the natural oils resurface. So rather than a chalky faded black look, it restores the natural glossy black plastic look. You have to be careful and you don't want to go over it too many times or it can do one of two things: the first being that it can eliminate the texture that's on there, and two, it can warp the plastic. That said, you can use the heat gun to help UN-warp the plastic in areas where the sun has distorted it. Once that was done, it looked pretty good.

The next step to restoring it was to paint the mesh. There's no easy way to do it... basically, I flipped it over, and sprayed the mesh with gloss-black Duplicolor Enamel. Then, I put it back right-side up, and sprayed it that way too. Now, I realize that it will also end up spraying the plastic honecomb, so what I did is have a lint-free shop rag handy, got it ever so slightly damp, and immediately after painting, I wiped down the plastic, and took all the paint off the plastic, there-by only leaving the paint on the top-part of the screen mesh.

The very last thing to do is to paint the coil spring. I did this AFTER I took the picture, but for that, all I did was lay some news-paper on the cowl, and basically had the spring taped off, and then just shot it with some Duplicolor.

Anyway... hope this helps some of you guys. I don't see that they sell new ones, so until the Fiero Store remakes these... I think we're out of luck.

You can also then "hose it down" with whatever your favorite plastic shine spray is... (like Armor All or whatever...)


------------------
Todd,
2008 Jeep Patriot Limited 4x2
2002 Ford Explorer Sport 2dr 4x2
2002 Ford Crown Victoria LX
1987 Pontiac Fiero SE / V6
1973 Volkswagen Type-2 Transporter

[This message has been edited by 82-T/A [At Work] (edited 03-13-2011).]

I cleaned my cowl panel and painted the entire thing with SEM trim paint. Just the right amount of shine.

------------------
My World of Wheels Winners (Click on links below)

3.4L Supercharged 87 GT and Super Duty 4 Indy #163

quote Originally posted by fierosound: I cleaned my cowl panel and painted the entire thing with SEM trim paint. Just the right amount of shine.

I never thought about that... that probably works really well too.

In the above picture, this is before I put any armor all on it or anything...

------------------
Todd,
2008 Jeep Patriot Limited 4x2
2002 Ford Explorer Sport 2dr 4x2
2002 Ford Crown Victoria LX
1987 Pontiac Fiero SE / V6
1973 Volkswagen Type-2 Transporter

I plan on painting mine off the car Gloss Black to mach the Paint on the car

Anyone know where I can buy a cowl panel, for an '86 GT, new or used?

quote Originally posted by Timpilot: Anyone know where I can buy a cowl panel, for an '86 GT, new or used?

You can get a good used one from the Fiero Factory by going to www.TheFieroFactory.com, and giving them a call. I've left a few e-mails for them, and the new owner maybe doesn't check e-mails anymore? So I would recommend giving him a call instead.

Thanks for that. Good ideas. And, I figure it beats painting, seeing as it will never chip. For that matter, probably waxing the cowl whenever waxing the car should keep it from sun damage.

-Michael

------------------
"A guy know's he's in love when he loses interest in his car for a few days." -Tim Allen

He who dies with the most toys... still dies.


My '84 Resto

I also cleaned and then sprayed my cowl trim panel with SEM semi-gloss black.
Properly done, the SEM will never chip, flake or peel. I've been using the stuff for years with never a problem.



I also got carried away and fabricated a removable cover to hide all the "junk in the trunk"
and then nickel plated the cowl latch mechanism and a few other parts....

Trying the "re-melt" process with a heat gun sounds llike it takes a *very* delicate touch, and not a little bit of luck as well.
Glad it worked out for you so nicely though and thanks for the tips!.

[This message has been edited by randye (edited 05-19-2011).]

quote Originally posted by randye: I also cleaned and then sprayed my cowl trim panel with SEM semi-gloss black. Properly done, the SEM will never chip, flake or peel. I've been using the stuff for years with never a problem. I also got carried away and fabricated a removable cover to hide all the "junk in the trunk" and then nickel plated the cowl latch mechanism and a few other parts.... Trying the "re-melt" process with a heat gun sounds llike it takes a *very* delicate touch, and not a little bit of luck as well. Glad it worked out for you so nicely though and thanks for the tips!.

That looks really nice! It never occured to me to just paint it, actually... but like with what you did to the cowl, I actually ended up doing that to the plastic fender wells, and it looks awesome. I used my pressure washer on it, then went over it with a paint promoter (basically a cleaner I think), and then shot it with some vinyl flat-black paint... looks awesome.

The heat gun process really wasn't so bad. I used a cheap Harbor Freight heat gun, and you get the hang of it after a couple of minutes. You just have to be careful about going over it too long in one area, because it can either shrink the plastic, or cause the texture to go smooth. But... the heat gun seems to be the only thing that will let you repair areas where the cowl panel is warped... and that seems to be a big issue right near the passenger side of the cowl (at the front) just to the side of the latch.

Another item that makes the cowl look nice, after you clean it you can use Turtlewax Ice on it. Also makes any external black trim look nice.

quote Originally posted by fierosound: I cleaned my cowl panel and painted the entire thing with SEM trim paint. Just the right amount of shine.

I do it this way too. I never like using any kind of oily, shiney stuff on my cars. It just attracts dirt and dust and looks cheap or tacky in my opinion...not even on my show cars.

I clean mine, and then apply Turtle Wax Ice. Dries completely, not sticky, and looks good.

quote Originally posted by TopNotch: I clean mine, and then apply Turtle Wax Ice. Dries completely, not sticky, and looks good.

I'm amazed that they still insist on rendering wax out of turtles.
Carnuba plants seem so much easier to care for, plus how much wax can you reasonably get out of a turtle anyway??
Surprising that PETA or even Greenpeace hasn't complained after all these years, I mean look how little whale oil we use now......

[This message has been edited by randye (edited 05-19-2011).]

I will agree that Ice makes trim look nice. I use it on all the blacked out trim around windows. Its not shiny and lasts for a good while. I tried it on paint and if its cooler or damp out, it is hard to get it dried and polished without a film on the surface. The other great thing is like on satin black painted hoods. It does a nice job and dont turn white down in the grain. A lot of my Mopar friends now use it on their hoods.

another item to use on black trim like the lower air dam and the cowl..... black liquid shoe polish.

That also works well on black leather steering wheels and shifter knobs. I used to do my Corvettes with it just a few times a summer to keep them looking new.

Black shoe polish, what a great idea. I never thought about that but it makes sense. I'm going to have to try it, on all of my vehicles.

Do you think that this would work on the plastic for the sail panels to?