1968 trunk panel trim restoration

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daves66valiant

daves66valiant

68 Dart 340/727:66 Signet Vert 340/5spd: 68 D100
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Anyone have a good tutorial/tips on restoring the tail panel on my 68 dart GT? Looks like the colors are Argent silver and black and some sections look anodized. Wondering if there is a step by step process for the diy guy. Thanks y’all.
 
Sounds very worthy of a detailed post. Not that it helps much but i believe the overwhelming problem is by the time you are done, the original anodizing is gone. If you can get someone to redo that, then the rest is just metal work (I think). Can't wait to see what others say.
 
You need a big oven to strip the anodizing then after that repair all the issues then get it re-anodized, not an easy task! I just send my cores out to Bill at Special-T's since he is local, worth it to let a professional do it. The King of Trim used to be in Cali, haven't heard from that company in a couple of years though...

Home – King of Trim
 
I’ve been to KOT’s shop about 10 years ago before they had to move iirc. They are in another planetary system with pricing because California fucks you on any of the environmental codes. Can just gets kicked down the road to the consumer. Not paying $1300 for a tail panel.

I’d be fine fixing all dents etc myself and just get it reanidized. I can paint it and polish it as well.

The old cans of oven easy off do a really good job of getting the anodizing off.
 
daves66valiant said:
I’ve been to KOT’s shop about 10 years ago before they had to move iirc. They are in another planetary system with pricing because California fucks you on any of the environmental codes. Can just gets kicked down the road to the consumer. Not paying $1300 for a tail panel.

I’d be fine fixing all dents etc myself and just get it reanidized. I can paint it and polish it as well.

The old cans of oven easy off do a really good job of getting the anodizing off.
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Any way you'd document the process for the monkeys among us (me)?
 
So how many hours did you have in restoring your panel? Stripping, fixing dents, reanodizing, and painting, plus materials? How much do you make an hour? If I weww to do my panels it would cost more than sending it out!
 
HemiSSDart said:
So how many hours did you have in restoring your panel? Stripping, fixing dents, reanodizing, and painting, plus materials? How much do you make an hour? If I weww to do my panels it would cost more than sending it out!
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So... who cares? If he wants to do it, what's wrong with it? it's boggles my mind when I see people asking how to do something etc and other folks come out and do their best to shoot them down.. You're response does nothing to answer the question. At some point, someone did this, then realized they were good at it, and eventially started a business doing it. Seems one of them is called king of trim or something... gotta start somewhere....
 
PocketAces just mentioned a place in Gardena for stripping and Bright Dip.

Read here: Bright Dip vs. Anodize

1969cuda mentioned a place in Sacramento that charged $85 just to strip two pieces. PocketAces didn't mention any prices.

daves66valiant, the whole piece is Bright Dip anodized. Then it gets painted. There are two paint schemes: Dart GT and then Dart GTS. IIRC, the GT has less black and more textured argent. Chose which one you want and have that as a guide.


So, for the home restorer...

#1 you need to first make a choice whether you want the done piece bare polished aluminum OR polished Bright Dip anodized. That will change things from the start...

If you want it Bright Dip anodized you first need to get ALL the Bright Dip off. ALL includes the front AND the backside. You can do it at home with yellow can of Easy Off. Its a major pain to get it ALL off, especially the backside. Personally if you really want it Bright Dip anodized again, I'd have it professionally removed by the same shop you have lined up to put the Bright Dip anodize back on.

If you choose to leave it bare polished aluminum, you can just remove the old paint and remove the Bright Dip anodizing from the exposed areas you see that don't get painted. Basically the outlines of the painted parts.

#2 Then you restore the panel's bodywork than sanding and polishing.

#3 Apply the chosen paint scheme's black and textured argent paint on the panel. for black I would you SEM Landau Black. For textured argent used Totally Auto or Herb Parts.
 
Cuda416 said:
So... who cares? If he wants to do it, what's wrong with it? it's boggles my mind when I see people asking how to do something etc and other folks come out and do their best to shoot them down.. You're response does nothing to answer the question. At some point, someone did this, then realized they were good at it, and eventially started a business doing it. Seems one of them is called king of trim or something... gotta start somewhere....
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Well yours is just another opinion, everyone has one. I have done it in my 40 years of restoring 67-69 Dodge Darts and Barracudas and if you have a perfect piece, which is pretty much impossible, then it is not too bad. You can have 80 hours in straightening the panel to get ready to re-anodize it! If you just strip the anodize and try to polish it, then the fixes have to be PERFECT! Why don't you give it a try before your mind boggles a little more...
 
HemiSSDart said:
Well yours is just another opinion, everyone has one. I have done it in my 40 years of restoring 67-69 Dodge Darts and Barracudas and if you have a perfect piece, which is pretty much impossible, then it is not too bad. You can have 80 hours in straightening the panel to get ready to re-anodize it! If you just strip the anodize and try to polish it, then the fixes have to be PERFECT! Why don't you give it a try before your mind boggles a little more...
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Hmm, you seem awfully butt hurt someone else has an opinion that doesn't align with yours. This isn't about me trying , though I probably will at some point since I'm not afraid to try and do something people tell me I can't for some silly reason. It's about you spouting off and telling the guy to not even try, because, it would seem, you've deemed it just to dran hard to do, so no one else should even try.... Again, I'll probably do it myself, on a small part just to see. Maybe I'll destroy the part, maybe it will turn out OK. Again, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Pretty sure the pros didn't listen to people like you when they said, nah, too much effort, just buy something from this guy...
 
Cuda416 said:
Hmm, you seem awfully butt hurt someone else has an opinion that doesn't align with yours. This isn't about me trying , though I probably will at some point since I'm not afraid to try and do something people tell me I can't for some silly reason. It's about you spouting off and telling the guy to not even try, because, it would seem, you've deemed it just to dran hard to do, so no one else should even try.... Again, I'll probably do it myself, on a small part just to see. Maybe I'll destroy the part, maybe it will turn out OK. Again, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Pretty sure the pros didn't listen to people like you when they said, nah, too much effort, just buy something from this guy...
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I am not butt hurt at all, you don't have a clue who I am. Just giving advice because I have been there and done that, your and his attempt to restore a panel may vary.I thought that this was a web site to give advice to people who are restoring their cars, that is all I am trying to do. Good luck, and get a better attitude, you might just want to try restoring Chivvy's...
 
I’ve been on the fence doing it. My piece is in really good condition. Just needs tlc. That’s why I was thinking of getting the tiny dents out and sanding out smooth to 1000 grit or whatever is recommended before dipping.

I have experience stripping my 66 valiant grills and it is a *****. Nasty job. But I found a NOS set and abandoned doing it myself. I’m revisiting the possibility of doing the 68 panel.

My dad lives in OKC and there are shops there that can bright dip for me for way less than KOT. We get fucked in Cali for everything. **** auto paint products, strippers, cleaners, etc. Not the same as getting work done elsewhere.

Money is not the issue for me but I’m getting to be an old fart who pinches pennies sometimes remembering the good ol’ days when rechroming a bumper was $100-150 bucks
 
My ‘68 GTS panel is on my list of things to get redone. Wish someone made new ones. Heck I would pay 1000.00 for a very nice one.
 
HemiSSDart said:
I am not butt hurt at all, you don't have a clue who I am. Just giving advice because I have been there and done that, your and his attempt to restore a panel may vary.I thought that this was a web site to give advice to people who are restoring their cars, that is all I am trying to do. Good luck, and get a better attitude, you might just want to try restoring Chivvy's...
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You're right, I don't have a clue who you are and it really doesn't matter. My response had nothing to do with "who you are" and still doesn't. it had to do with the fact the OP asked for advice on "how to do it" not how to pay someone else to do it. If that was the goal, then the post would have been, hey, who can I pay to do this... but it wasn't so.... Anyway, I'm sure you have a boat load of experience, way more than me I'd bet, but that's not going to stop me from trying even if that's a mistake. Restoring cars is about the journey for many, not just dollar signs after all. As far as working on Chivvys, nah, I'll keep my MoPar verts thanks very much.... Oh, and my attitude is just fine...
 
My apologies to the OP, best of luck to you, I'm sure it will turn out awesome.
 
daves66valiant said:
I’ve been on the fence doing it. My piece is in really good condition. Just needs tlc. That’s why I was thinking of getting the tiny dents out and sanding out smooth to 1000 grit or whatever is recommended before dipping.

I have experience stripping my 66 valiant grills and it is a *****. Nasty job. But I found a NOS set and abandoned doing it myself. I’m revisiting the possibility of doing the 68 panel.

My dad lives in OKC and there are shops there that can bright dip for me for way less than KOT. We get fucked in Cali for everything. **** auto paint products, strippers, cleaners, etc. Not the same as getting work done elsewhere.

Money is not the issue for me but I’m getting to be an old fart who pinches pennies sometimes remembering the good ol’ days when rechroming a bumper was $100-150 bucks
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This is a thread I found today. Please read through it and then make your own decisions. I personally have not tried this product , but I have seen Leanna's top notch work. Might be worth a try for the price.

Polished aluminum trim coating
 
Lildart said:
My ‘68 GTS panel is on my list of things to get redone. Wish someone made new ones. Heck I would pay 1000.00 for a very nice one.
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I was on a website last week that had 68 barracuda tail pieces for $960 , too much for this guy !
 
Plymouth Pete said:
This is a thread I found today. Please read through it and then make your own decisions. I personally have not tried this product , but I have seen Leanna's top notch work. Might be worth a try for the price.

Polished aluminum trim coating
Click to expand...
Yep already replied on that thread. I have a pint on order. MC-160. And a .8mm detail mini-gun. Together it can be useful for other things like my furniture woodworking.
 
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