Console resto completed. updated Hey all, Earlier this year I started a post on Console restoration. Well I just completed it and would like to share a few pics. And also thank those who helped lead me in the right direction. I have around $300.00 in the project and am very happy with it. Woodgrain decale kit for console and Instrument panel. Console shifter top rechromed. Sems sand free prep and Sems vinal and plastic paint, which was recomended fron the previous post. Also the correct shade of black to use. Then luckly, The Parts Place came out with the new repo console plastic chrome lid just in time to complete the project. I also used 3M plastic polish on the top buick logo cover which snaps in. Also went to Sears and bought their metal polish rouge kit and bench grinder polish wheel for the stainless trim around the outer edge. For the shifter slots I used the soft side of several new rolls of peal an stick velcro, That was quick and an easy install, Looks Great. Keep in mind the camera i used is not the best.
RESULTS!!!:TU: Looks like a nice job....parts like this really show off your hard work. The SEM products are great products.
Hey Richard, looks good. I just came in from the garage where i've been taking mine apart. Save me the trouble of looking up the old thread and tell me what color of SEM you used on the plastic part of the console and where did you send the plate for rechroming? How did you get the old decal off? Thanks a lot. John
Looks very nice! Since no one gave me an answer to my post on the console decal, could you share any tips on how you applied it? Did you use water like a model decal or just be carefull. Any insite would be helpfull.
The ones from Greg Setter are peel and stick. Very sticky. I did my dash bezel last night. I just lined them up in one corner and worked out in both directions slowly using my fingernail to seal it up against the raised section of the bezel. The console will be the same. I haven't done it yet, but I intend to start at the bottom and work up through the two "legs".
I have had several PM questions so here is some info. Those old console decales are hard to remove without heat. You can use a hair blow drier I guess, but I use a heat gun which looks like a hair dryer but gets hotter. On the Console Pot metal chrome top move it back and fourth in a area 3 or 4 inches to warm it up . Then start pealing up that area till it starts to get hard again. Then repeat the process at that area untill you have finished the hole part. Then remove any excess glue with paint thinner or reducer,or maybe goofoff,ect. If you do the lid plastic chrome, and it is in great shape, be very careful or the chrome may peel off with the decale {If nice,dont clean with thinner or reducer may etch the plastic chrome finish }. The Parts Place is now selling the Plastic lid chrome for $49.00 and you cant beat it .I am glad I did not spend the money on the old one for a rechrome. Pics below show a Heat Gun, old lid the chrome came off, new lid installed. I will be posting on the console thread on how I installed the hew decales, ASAP.
This is the way I did the woodgrain decale install. Because I already have installed the decales, I made a paper pattern for an example. some different type decales have the peal off backing cut in the middle so you can peal it off easier and center the decale and peal off one half at a time. So I pealed the backing off about half way and cut it in half {the peal off backing}. Then I cut off an extra 1/2" where I cut it in the middle.This allows you to place the decale in the correct place and then push down the center area where the 1/2" of backing is removed to stick it in place so it wont move. then use a shooth edge credit card or trin off about a 2" section of a NEW bondo spreader. This will be first used to work out any possible air bubbles in the prestuck 1/2"area. And also the rest of the decale as you go. This works on both parts of the console which use the woodgrain. Then lift up one side of the decale at a time and peal off the backing, start at the center and use the smooth edged card to push down the decale from the center out while holding it up at the ends till you work up to the end with the card, when finished there should be no traped air, and the decale should be right where you wanted it. SORRY ABOUT ALL THE DETAIL, JUST WANTED TO MAKE IT CLEAR. LOL
Re: Console resto completed. Sem Product Here are pics with part numbers and product color name which were recomended to me when starting th project. When you read the directions each product gives the recomendations on application, follow then. I used the Sand free prep, and the landau Black dye. BUT I DID NOT USE THE RECOMENDE SEM SOAP. After repairing a small crack from the back side with Plastic weld, from O'Rileys Auto. I washed it 2 times in the bath tub with HOT Water and dish soap, then 2 times with 409. Rinse with hot water throughly, then let dry. Also I recomend checking for lint and remove with a tac rag if needed. See below pics of products I used. Also included are pics of the plastic weld for crack repair, Plastic polish for the snap in buick logo cover.and the velcro strip pack fron O'rileys which I used the soft side to line the shifter slots.
Also--anyone considering this WITHOUT A SPRAY GUN/AIR COMPRESSOR should realize you can get the same SEM products Richard used in spray cans...Sand Free and the Landau Black paint/dye. The spray cans run about $12 or so each and one can of each is more than enough to spray a console. The name on the Sand Free is sort of self explanatory. SEM intends this product for plastics (especially ABS like the console) that really can't be sanded due to their textured surface. Great post, pics and info Richard. Thanks.
Thanks Rich! That's the type of info I was looking for. :TU: Once again nice work on the console resto.
Cool! Nice to see a finished product once in a while (my car is column shift). Thanks for the kind words - I appreciate it! You are right, that adhesive is some nasty stuff... way back when I started these I did a test "glue" with some of that adhesive on a piece of masonite siding that slipped on my house in Iowa. In the three years we were there, that piece never came loose again....:laugh: GS
Greg, Thank you for the great job on the repo decales. Will there be any problem with the dash A/C-HEAT Selector Decale when reading the selector with the headlamps on ? I have not installed them yet. The Woodgrain looks the same but I did not look to see if the decale is as thick as the console decale. Either way I,m not concerned, I think that I will be able to turn on the A/C at night.
