How to refinish window rock guard?

Most of them come apart, so I would buy a piece of plexiglas and simply replace the old fiberglas with it.

Most of them come what???

I want to keep it looking stock.....I wonder if spray acrylic laquer would do the trick.

It's 26 years old and still in great shape other than the strands.

Look at the frame, they are usually either screwed or pop riveted at two corners. Take it apart. Then you can buy a piece of plastic or a sheet of fiberglas to replace the worn out piece. It aint rocket science and replacing it with a new piece is probably going to be cheaper, easier in the long run. A nice smoked piece of plexiglas would look good. Add a graphic of some sort and it could look better. Heck, Airstreams have used plexiglas on their front rock guard for years.

"I want to keep it looking stock.."

Otherwise you will be required to race it in the modified class.

Below is the only pic of have of the front of my 1981 Prowler taken in 2007 after I had painted the rock shield probably 3 times over that 26 year period using regular outdoor Rustoleum enamel and sometimes I spray coated a light coat of marine varnish over the enamel to make it last a little longer. IIRC I had to repaint about every 6 or 7 years with the first painting after around 15 years. I simply used a brush and went over the existing design and first sort of lightly sanded the surface. I also had fiberglass strands showing before painting and all that wear I attritubed to wind wear over the years. Note the right side of pic is just from the sun glare when the photo was taken and not from fading/wear.



Larry

donn0128 wrote:
Most of them come apart, so I would buy a piece of plexiglas and simply replace the old fiberglas with it.

Nope, "most" do not "come apart".

"Most" have a aluminum frame that goes around the fiberglass insert and it IS RIVETED or WELDED together.

One MUST cut, grind or drill the rivets or if welded cut the frame then come up with a away to piece it back together.

They are not designed to come apart easily.

I would also SKIP the "plexy" as it does not give ANY impact resistance and your cheapness may end up spending a bunch of money on new window glass that the cover was supposed to protect.

The OP just needs to simply resurface the existing fiberglass by sanding then priming then a splash of paint.

Easy to do and a quick weekend project for the price of a few sheets of sandpaper and a couple of rattle cans.

IF the material was beyond refurbishing, I would suggest using FRP (Fiberglass Reinforced Panels) material, you can find it at most home centers in a 4x8 foot sheet for under $30.. But you will need to give it a coat of paint or the fibers will eventually show.

What about a piece of plywood or sheet metal? Can't be too expensive.

If it's translucent, and you want the bit of light which gets through, you may want to avoid pigmented paint, which is going to make it darker. If the existing color is good and not stained/yellowed, I'd go with a quality clearcoat. Three coats, wet sanding between (to get the fiberglass fuzzies off).

If you don't care about the translucency, a good boat paint will last a long time. I like Interlux stuff, but there are lots to choose from.