Dash resto Tips

Discussion in 'Interior City' started by Chris Cornett, Sep 16, 2004.

  1. Chris Cornett

    Chris Cornett Well-Known Member

    Since Ihae to pull the cluster out toreplae my fuel gauge and speedo cable I figured I may as well spuce it up a bit. I have a new woodgrain kit for it but I need to touch up The silver/chrome. Any tips?
     
  2. GStage1

    GStage1 Always looking for parts!

    Well, if you just want to touch-up certain areas, you can use Testor's Paint Markers, Aluminum color. It will have a shine but will NOT be chrome. If you want to have your cluster rechromed, contact www.mrgusa.com
    They just did a bunch of interior parts for me and they look great. Expect to pay $150-200 for the dash refurbishment. There is a lot of masking and detail work to it which makes it expensive.
     
  3. Jim Weise

    Jim Weise EFI/DIS 482


    Hey Don...

    Just got one of these Mr.G things in the shop with a car that came in.. want to buy it?.. ain't good enough for one of my cars..

    I've sent much nicer peices back, and made a vendor do it over.. If you got nice pieces from them, you got lucky..

    JW
     
  4. 8587GN

    8587GN Well-Known Member

    I can attest to Jims standards. He is rechroming a dash for me,he got it back from the shop,and he was not happy with it,and he would not give it to me becouse it was not up to his standards. Thanks Jim for being "picky" :)
     
  5. Jim Weise

    Jim Weise EFI/DIS 482

    No problem Keith.. thanks for being patient..

    I got prototype parts from my new vendor that were breathtaking, then the production stuff was a letdown. Radio bezels and armrest plates along with accessory plates were nice, but the big hard piece to do, the dash bezel, was more hit and miss..

    Out of 8 bezels they did for me, I only accepted 2, and those went to guys who have been waiting quite a while for them.

    I hope to have them in stock for quick exhange at some point here, if my new vendor gets his act together. If he doesn't, I have already sourced the next vendor.. that makes 5 now in the 2.5 years since American went under.. and I don't want to even thing about how many $$ wasted..

    Good news is that we have now started adding a clearcoat to the chrome, to make it much more duarable. Our old American Plastic stuff was pretty tough, but scratched real easy, and I have seen some stuff from a couple other vendors litterally fall right off.

    It's tough to get anyone to do anything right these days. But I am working on them.

    JW
     
  6. r72gs

    r72gs Another project........

    I had American do mine, nice job. Such a shame they went under.

    Mr's G's is real hit or miss and from what I've heard they won't do it over if it has blems. They did do a nice job on my console lid.

    Painting that dash bezel is a real pain and very time consuming if you want it to look good when your done.
     
  7. Scott Mc

    Scott Mc 1972 GS 455

    I just did the testor paint pen last weekend. It turned out well. It took a few hours including touch up after it dried.

    Scott Mc
     
  8. BadBrad

    BadBrad Got 4-speed?


    Me too - a few months back. Pleased with it. Reccomend it if all you need is some touch up.
     
  9. Scott Mc

    Scott Mc 1972 GS 455

    Nice looking 70. I bet its fun rowing your own gears. My 72 455 is a turbo 400. I guess my 5 speed sho will have to do. High revving six not the same as monster v8 though.

    Scott Mc
     
  10. Chris Cornett

    Chris Cornett Well-Known Member

    Thanks guys, is there a special black paint to use on the actual bezel to touch up some nicks. What about the steering column?
     
  11. baking

    baking Well-Known Member

    I used SEM dye for the black part of my bezel. I dyed the bezel like dyeing vinyl; prep it and then shoot it. Came out pretty good, but definitely not professional restoration quality. Of course all I invested was about $20 and a few hours.

    IMO the chrome part is a trade off; chrome looks better than the paint pen, but if you get a scuff mark in the future you can touch it up easily with the paint pen. Also painting it yourself is much cheaper.
     

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