66 Barracuda dash paint

[Syleng1]

Good Evening Abody folks!

Does any one know on the early abodys - mine is a 66' Barracuda. Is the dash board shiney or satin finish?

I'm striping my dash and the paint is Krylon from Circa mid 80's and I just can't tell is the original paint have a flattening agent or is it shiney but dull from 50 years?

Thanks!
Joe

 

[chryslerfat]

The top inset from the pad out has flattening agent but the pad down on the inside is gloss.

 

[Syleng1]

The top inset from the pad out has flattening agent but the pad down on the inside is gloss.

Thank you for the clarification!

 

[66fyssh]

The flat helps keep the sun from glaring!

 

[clifftt]

I painted the top of my dash with a PPG base coat with no clear coat. The result is a flat green that looks great against my new dash pad. The dash below the pad I did clear coat. Couldn't be happier with the result!

 

[Syleng1]

I painted the top of my dash with a PPG base coat with no clear coat. The result is a flat green that looks great against my new dash pad. The dash below the pad I did clear coat. Couldn't be happier with the result!

Clifftt- If you dont put some sort of coating over the base coat are you not afraid it will start to fade or worse yet change color or peal?
I was wondering about the dash as the rest of the car's interior is base coat clear coat. Should I do the interior in a single stage paint and just the top of the dash add a flattening agent?

Also, I have a dash pad cover that silicons on to the original pad and is black- what has anyone done to prep that "plastic" cover for paint. Mine was installed in the car about 3 years ago but with the total rebuilding of the car- I want the dash pad to be red like the dash- but it too has to be a diffrent color red IF i am to be as factory correct as possible. Here in the North East it is rare that the car will ever be put against another 66' Barracuda so I have some wiggle room if it is not perfect- but If i take her to Carlisle... thats a diffrent story. Does any one around recover the original dash pads any more? I have a spare that is worthy of repair.
Thanks,
Joe

 

[RedFish]

Dash was a suede finish so it doesn't reflect onto the windshield.
I too have struggled with red guts, ( in a 67 fish ), the slight variations of shade. I learned that the different surface textures, along with different spray techniques will look different shades.
I had SEM product custom mixed to match the dash using the under column door as sample.
Sprayed the dash and dry spray the final coat to get close to the suede finish, defrost vents and all.
I prepped the dash metal with laquer thinner. SEM makes the chemical prep adhesion promoter for the plastic and vinyl.
Prepped the hard plastic dash cap ( it should have a vinyl like grain like surface ).
First with a neutral base coat ( you cant cover black with red ). Any off the shelf beige will do. I used Light Sand Stone if my memory serves. Top coat with the same custom mixed red, no dry spray. How it handles light will look a different shade. A little Armorall will increase the difference.
My door panels and seats were 67 metallic red so I had another custom mixed using a sun visor as sample. That would have been wrong for the dash pad/cap. Go figure. I think they probably used the same dash red in both bright red and metallic red vinyl interiors.

 

[66Dvert]

I did mine in a 2 tone top vs bottom. Tan color on the top ot match the pad and "cool vanilla " to match the car body paint, in order to get the bc/cc to look correct on the top I just used 1/2 teaspoons worth of baby powder in the clear coat and tested it . I ended up using that ratio 1/2 teaspoon of baby powder (or corn starch, no smell, baby powder leaves light scent) to 4oz clear. adjust to your taste on sprayout boards. but I did find that 2 teaspoons left it too suede"y" looking for my taste.
before total top spray it's glossy.

cool vanilla front

in and flattened , the defroster vents are the glossy color VS flattened paint on the dash top.

 

[clifftt]

Syleng, I am correcting myself...I did clear over the base coat with a light spray, so it came out kinda textured, it turned out pretty good, has almost no gloss. A matte clear coat would be great to lay over the base coat.
I ordered a dash cover from Dante's, along with other upholstery. I set it on the dash, but the fit wasn't very good. Dante gladly accepted it back for a full refund, he's a good guy!
I bit the bullet thinking when I'm driving this car, I'm spending a lot of time looking at the dash and steering wheel. So I did not skimp there. Dash Specialties redid my dash pad, which had a couple cracks into the foam. They did a great job, a 9 1/2 out of 10 in my book. A little pricey, but I am really happy with the result. Judge for yourself.

 

[Commando66]

My black 66 dash is all matte finish. I've had the car for 30 years and it was a pretty low mile car when I got it. Maybe the black ones were all matte and the the other colors were a mix of gloss and matte?

 

[Syleng1]

Syleng, I am correcting myself...I did clear over the base coat with a light spray, so it came out kinda textured, it turned out pretty good, has almost no gloss. A matte clear coat would be great to lay over the base coat.
I ordered a dash cover from Dante's, along with other upholstery. I set it on the dash, but the fit wasn't very good. Dante gladly accepted it back for a full refund, he's a good guy!
I bit the bullet thinking when I'm driving this car, I'm spending a lot of time looking at the dash and steering wheel. So I did not skimp there. Dash Specialties redid my dash pad, which had a couple cracks into the foam. They did a great job, a 9 1/2 out of 10 in my book. A little pricey, but I am really happy with the result. Judge for yourself.

View attachment 1714997841

View attachment 1714997842

View attachment 1714997843

WOW! That looks amazing! Nice job and I spoke to a painter today who says there is actually a "gloss reducer" you can buy that will take the shine down a bit on the top of the dash.
The dash pad just looks great and how do you like the aftermarket Steering wheel? I installed a Firm feel box level #2 in the car before I took it off the road for the rotisserie and with the factory wood grain steering wheel (now it is worn plain tanish after 50 years) the diameter is just too large and the steering is too easy. They suggested caster adjustment and a smaller steering wheel.
Again nice job. How long did it take?
Thank you in advance for the information.
Joe

 

[Syleng1]

I did mine in a 2 tone top vs bottom. Tan color on the top ot match the pad and "cool vanilla " to match the car body paint, in order to get the bc/cc to look correct on the top I just used 1/2 teaspoons worth of baby powder in the clear coat and tested it . I ended up using that ratio 1/2 teaspoon of baby powder (or corn starch, no smell, baby powder leaves light scent) to 4oz clear. adjust to your taste on sprayout boards. but I did find that 2 teaspoons left it too suede"y" looking for my taste.
before total top spray it's glossy.
View attachment 1714997700
cool vanilla front

View attachment 1714997701

in and flattened , the defroster vents are the glossy color VS flattened paint on the dash top.
View attachment 1714997702 View attachment 1714997703

66Dvert- that also looks amazing! Where did you get your pad recovered?
Thanks, Joe

 

[clifftt]

WOW! That looks amazing! Nice job and I spoke to a painter today who says there is actually a "gloss reducer" you can buy that will take the shine down a bit on the top of the dash.
The dash pad just looks great and how do you like the aftermarket Steering wheel? I installed a Firm feel box level #2 in the car before I took it off the road for the rotisserie and with the factory wood grain steering wheel (now it is worn plain tanish after 50 years) the diameter is just too large and the steering is too easy. They suggested caster adjustment and a smaller steering wheel.
Again nice job. How long did it take?
Thank you in advance for the information.
Joe

Thanks Joe. I really like this wheel. Grant makes two wheels. I ordered the less expensive one from Summit. It looked cheap, really cheap. After keeping it for a couple weeks while I worked on the dash, I was convinced I would not be happy with it. I returned it and bought the more expensive wheel, I think it was around $200. Again, since I'll be holding it all the time, it was worth it to me for the upgrade.
I think I'm in my fourth year of this restoration, not a rotisserie, though. I just recently got her running and had it up and down the street a few times while I work out the bugs.

 

[66Dvert]

66Dvert- that also looks amazing! Where did you get your pad recovered?
Thanks, Joe

Thanks for the liking of my dash pad. I did it.
it's just vinyl and glue to do the recover..oh and plenty of cussing to get the corners to come out right using a low powered heat gun.
I want to make one with 2 or 3 dash pods in it so I can have my boost gauge and others on the top of the dash pad. I hope I can figure out how to blend it in my extra pad I'm recovering (a different way than vinyl recover method).
here is the one in the picture above before recovering