[esears]

Any suggestions on how to get this dash panel looking like new? I was thinking of getting the old paint off and using one of those krylon paints that I was reading about in here. I'm pretty sure all the gauges work and I'm not really interested in replacing those. Looking at keeping it pretty reasonable price wise and I am totally open to doing all work myself.



Thanks for any help

Eric

[horvath]

I think the Krylon paint's a good idea, Eric. It'll definitely look better than it does now. The real trick will be using a color that works with your interior.

Alan
54 Chevy Pickup

[esears]

Thats the one good part. I'm totally open to making my interior match my dash Seriously atm for interior its just going to be carpet and a driver's seat. Eventually down the road I may put the rest of the seats in. I'm trying to get a functional car before I get a pretty car. I just can't stomach the idea of looking at that dash all the time and it seems like it would be cheap to fix.

Eric

[Jag Daddy]

How hard is it to remove the dash? Bead blast it and then repaint it. You'll need to feather those chips to have a smooth dash.

Regards
Mark

[302 Z28]

I would remove it and work on it outside the car and paint with a high quality automotive paint. Krylon always looks cheesy IMO.

Vince

[esears]

Yep was totally planning on removing it from the car. Maybe tommorow in fact. Any suggestions as to a good auto. spray type? Don't have access to a spray gun. Was just going to take a wire brush to the dash depending on what its made of since I haven't looked to close at it yet. If it is totally trashed was going to try and fab a dash from some spare metal at work for that aluminum look.

Eric

[302 Z28]

A resourceful GI should be able to wrangle access to a spray setup. Only problem is that you will have to buy way more paint than you will use. Most auto paint shops will not mix paint in anything smaller than a quart. There is a place you can mail order smaller quantities if your interested I will look up the web address. There are several very good paint brands like PPG, Sherwin Williams, RM, and Valspar (House of Kolor).

Vince

[esears]

Yah, actually a guy I work with owns a body/paint shop. I really don't see how he has time to do body/paint work after being in the military all day long. I keep looking for cheap ways to get my car done. But I guess on some stuff quality is probably better than cheap stuff. I really can't wait till the project section is up so I can post what I do. This is my first real car build up and I am really excited about it. When I became a mech. in the army I lost interest in doing it when I got home too. Took a great deal on a body and a block to get back into it. But I'm very glad I did. Great way to make new friends. Out of curiosity where are you in Texas?

Eric

[pzatchok]

I would totaly dissassemble the dash down to the last screws. Copy down the wiring diagram as you go.
It looks like the dash was already painted once. The silver paint looks to be coming off and showing a real nice shiny aluminum metal underneath. I would use paint thinner and a plastic scraper to see if the metal was origionally buffed shinny. If it was I would just gently pull the paint off( don't use paint stripper as it might etch the aluminum) and buff it up again.
Paint the main body of the dash(the blue part) the same as the exterior of the car using the same paint.

When I was in the Airforce we had on most bases an auto shop next to the motor pool. Just for us do it your self-ers. Even had a tool rental Heck some of the guys built dragsters and other racers for fun nights on the weekend. I know of one base that shut down the flight line and opened the base up to drag racing every other weekend. They were even sanctioned as an official drag strip.

Maybe someone in the motor pool would let you use a paint gun for an hour or two on the weekend if you don't have a hobby autoshop.

[302 Z28]

Originally posted by esears
Great way to make new friends. Out of curiosity where are you in Texas?

Eric

Located in Nederland, Tx., near the Lousiana border. I know what you mean about working as a mechanic. I did it for 7 years after I git out of the Air Force in 73. It was a long time until I enjoyed working on my own cars again.

Vince

[esears]

I was actually curious if the rest of the dash was just metal and not vinyl covered. Will make repairing it a lot easier since its in pretty decent shape. A little bondo here and there and I should be good to go. Going to take the dash off in a couple hours probably and see what I have.

Eric

[Goldduster360]

If you don't have a sprayer a can of Duplicolor works pretty well. It rubs out like lacquer and you can find allot of oem colors that should work well no mater what you go with.

As for the instrument panel bezel you should send that out and have it redone if it was originally "plasti-chromed". Otherwise carefully removing the loose paint or using a good paint remover that won't damage the plastic if it's plastic would be a good idea before repainting it.

Pre-Val makes a pretty good spray bottle set up that uses a propellant cartridge. Napa used to carry them don't know if they do now. I used one years ago to repaint the top of a fender and ti worked great. You could spray whatever paint you want with one of those on the cheap.