Cluster Restoration

-

Sig 440

Active Member
Joined
Jul 25, 2020
Messages
31
Reaction score
23
Location
Australia
I’m giving my instrument cluster resto a go myself
Disassembled and paint removed back to bare plastic ready for painting I will keep posting my progress as I go

EDFA0EE1-117D-4CBF-A5ED-756CDFF3461C.jpeg
 
I’m giving my instrument cluster resto a go myself
Disassembled and paint removed back to bare plastic ready for painting I will keep posting my progress as I go

Hello Sig 440,
Thanks for sharing your resto endeavor with all the FABO comunity.
Question, How did you remove all the paint ?
I look forward to your updates as I will be starting my retro this winter..
Thanks,
Stay Safe.....
Happy Mopar :)
Arron.
 
Hi Arron
I use caustic soda mixed with cold water
Just get a plastic container big enough to submerge the bezel
Mix the caustic soda at half the mix ratio on the container
Let it soak for a good couple of hours or until all the paint is removed
Then dip it in a tub of white vinegar to neutralize the caustic soda
Then rinse with water
Make sure you use rubber gloves as it burns the crap out of your skin
It will not harm the plastic
Cheers Rob
 
Will you try to re-chrome?
Yeah mate I am not going to have it done as per the original process but will spray it and mask up and spray the black.
I will see how it goes. Had a mate mdo his the same way and it turn out pretty good because you are spraying onto clean plastic
 
:popcorn: I'll be watching this may be my next project.

Do you know how the caustic soda reacts to clear plastic or plastic lens!?! I want to do this to my gauge cluster as well as my Radio cover and it has a lens
 
:popcorn: I'll be watching this may be my next project.

Do you know how the caustic soda reacts to clear plastic or plastic lens!?! I want to do this to my gauge cluster as well as my Radio cover and it has a lens
You will have to remove all lenses
 
Yeah mate I am not going to have it done as per the original process but will spray it and mask up and spray the black.
I will see how it goes. Had a mate mdo his the same way and it turn out pretty good because you are spraying onto clean plastic
The spray chrome sucks. Never hardens—can’t touch without dulling it. After messing with respraying for weeks, I finally bought a new chromed piece. If you can live with metallic, use that.
 
I’m looking forward to see how this comes out. Lots of pics please!
 
Hello Sig 440,
Thanks for sharing your resto endeavor with all the FABO comunity.
Question, How did you remove all the paint ?
I look forward to your updates as I will be starting my retro this winter..
Thanks,
Stay Safe.....
Happy Mopar :)
Arron.
Easy Off oven cleaner will remove paint, chrome, everything, without harming the white ABS bezel.
I used about 40 dollars worth of Wesley Bleach-White in a soak tank to strip several rally bezels. For 1 small standard bezel, 1 can of oven cleaner should do it.
 
I used EZ OFF Oven Cleaner on mine - worked like a charm. The chrome can be tricky - I used Molotow silver paint pens for the silver. A little tricky but came out OK. Used the carbon fiber overlays from Detroit Muscle Technology and the white face gauge appliques from WhiteFaceGauges.com.

IMG_5249.JPG
 
The spray chrome sucks. Never hardens—can’t touch without dulling it. After messing with respraying for weeks, I finally bought a new chromed piece. If you can live with metallic, use that.
Lord sparky would love to have that luxury of a new one but in Australia you have to deal with what you got
I can have it redone over here but at a cost of 1000 so I will try and give it a go myself
 
Plastic prepped with wax and grease remover and sprayed with adhesive enhancer
Then the top coat of chrome.
Now let it harden for a few days mask up and the do the black

6AF7A270-3C02-4B34-BB2B-BE287FE2C9FD.jpeg
 
Bezel bakes in the oven for 30mins at 80c chrome paint nice and hard
Masked up ready for the black coat

0AAA6EE8-567F-444F-BC86-9CBF6D468964.jpeg
 
Needles repainted and instruments clean and checked all good
Hello Sig 440,
Looking Great....
keep the installments of your endeavor coming...
P/S Do you have a picture of the cluster before you dissembled it? Would be neat to see before and after pix..
Thanks,
Stay Safe....
Happy Mopar :)
Arron.
 
Hello Sig 440,
Looking Great....
keep the installments of your endeavor coming...
P/S Do you have a picture of the cluster before you dissembled it? Would be neat to see before and after pix..
Thanks,
Stay Safe....
Happy Mopar :)
Arron.
Unfortunately I don’t have any previous photos but it was not in good shape most of the chrome and paint worn off needles were badly faded
Finally finished didn’t come up to bad
Chrome paint looks alright not perfect but I’m not restoring to concourse conditions she is a cruiser so I’m pretty happy with it

83CF81BF-BB48-457C-B89B-181F0F1CD454.jpeg
 
I was playing around with my uv torch It’s a pity you can’t get black Light wedge bulbs for the cluster
Looks pretty cool

5A1A9BC3-F4A6-47EA-8CD2-BBC6AE1F5586.jpeg
 
There are some cool led replacement bulbs available you might want to consider while you're in there and maybe a digital instrument voltage regulator. Nice job!
 
-
Back
Top