Dash restoration

[satchall]

So i'm changing the color of my interior from blue to black and i'm trying to decide what the best way of restoring my dash is. On a budget, but dont want to skimp so I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for doing the entire dash (going to buy a new dash pad obviously). Could I take it out and paint it over myself? Is it better to just pay someone, and if so, what sort of prices are reasonable?

 

[Dustdevl340]

All I know about dash restoration, Mr Heaterbox charges 1200.00 to re-do a rally dash. Restores the instruments and mods the ammeter so it won't be a problem down the road. Haven't pulled the trigger yet but I know Brent does great work and one day hopefully I'll have mine done.
Not sure about the cosmetics though if that's what the inquiry is. Should be doable with repro woodgrain and I think it's Herb's parts that has the correct paint for the metal parts.
Good luck with your project.

 

[kiss]

OK dude here's the deal since you said you're on a budget. YOur profile says Montgomery.I assume thats montgomery AL which = humid which means your car is getting air-tighted year around by corrosoion.

Here's what you do. Disassamble the dash down to metal. Spray paint the metal. Your plastic pieces? Sand off the flaking chrome and paint it black. To paint plastic properly buy a rattle can of adhesion promoter (look it up) as well as plastic spray paint.

Like 4 cans of spray paint you can do a very good job. If you want your ash tray to look semi-stock just use Mopar argent gray/silver. You can also use that on your rear view mirror parts. It's similar enough to the plated lead/tin (I forget what its called) and can be used in many places

 

[harrisonm]

When you say dash, do you mean the instrument panel, or the actual metal dash? I eventually had my instrument panel (Rally Dash) professionally restored, but at first I painted it with satin black Krylon. After several days of drying, I masked off the areas I wanted to stay black, and sprayed the areas I wanted to look like chrome with Testors silver model airplane paint. It looked pretty good. With LOTS of masking, spray the metal dash with the black of your choice. Use a paint made for plastic and vinyl for the dash pad. Like Kiss said, use an adhesion promoter. In fact, read the instructions on the paint can label and they will tell you how to properly prep for spraying.

 

[satchall]

When you say dash, do you mean the instrument panel, or the actual metal dash? I eventually had my instrument panel (Rally Dash) professionally restored, but at first I painted it with satin black Krylon. After several days of drying, I masked off the areas I wanted to stay black, and sprayed the areas I wanted to look like chrome with Testors silver model airplane paint. It looked pretty good. With LOTS of masking, spray the metal dash with the black of your choice. Use a paint made for plastic and vinyl for the dash pad. Like Kiss said, use an adhesion promoter. In fact, read the instructions on the paint can label and they will tell you how to properly prep for spraying.

Actual metal dash.

 

[Tadams]

I have been in the process of restoring my dashboard from my 65 barracuda. I used a small compressor with an inexpensive spray gun. I went to a local parts store and purchased the paint there. I believe it cost less and does a better job than spray can paint. You will probably want to paint your door panel and other trim parts as well.

 

[satchall]

I have been in the process of restoring my dashboard from my 65 barracuda. I used a small compressor with an inexpensive spray gun. I went to a local parts store and purchased the paint there. I believe it cost less and does a better job than spray can paint. You will probably want to paint your door panel and other trim parts as well.

View attachment 1715041360

Why do the panels?

 

[Tadams]

Why do the panels?

If you are changing the interior color I would paint the panels to match

 

[75slant6]

I'm in the middle of a budget dash redo myself. For the dash frame, I just sanded it all down good, wiped it off with a wet rag, then wiped it off with paint thinner. Then I masked off everything around it with news paper, poster paper and tape and sprayed the dash with semi flat, black paint in a spray can. Here are some pics.

 

['Cuda_ragtop]

If you have it out...

Disassemble

Original frame was too rusty to use. The replacement still needed blasting and body work.

Then primed and painted with SEM Landau Black.

Instrument Bezel is from Classic Dash. Have to fabricate my own piece for the glove box though. Weird that they don't make that piece.

Not going to stay Faux Carbon Fiber either, looks too fake. Plan is to Hydro-Dip a new yet to be determined pattern...
Filling the holes with Speed Hut gauges.

The rest of the interior sheet metal is going to be Body Color to match the rest of the car.
Ashtray cleaned, blasted, primed and painted SEM Landau Black and Silver VHT Caliper Paint. Caliper paint only because it was silver and I had some leftover in a can...
While far from perfect, it will do. It will never be used again. Might find some other use for the space but for now it will just have a power port where the cigar lighter would have been.

If you want to take the dash out without removing the windshield, I've heard you can grind off the screws from underneath and then screw it back in from underneath too.
Just make sure your screws are not too long!

Have fun and good luck with your project.

 

[satchall]

If you have it out...

Disassemble

Original frame was too rusty to use. The replacement still needed blasting and body work.

Then primed and painted with SEM Landau Black.

Instrument Bezel is from Classic Dash. Have to fabricate my own piece for the glove box though. Weird that they don't make that piece.

Not going to stay Faux Carbon Fiber either, looks too fake. Plan is to Hydro-Dip a new yet to be determined pattern...
Filling the holes with Speed Hut gauges.

The rest of the interior sheet metal is going to be Body Color to match the rest of the car.
Ashtray cleaned, blasted, primed and painted SEM Landau Black and Silver VHT Caliper Paint. Caliper paint only because it was silver and I had some leftover in a can...
While far from perfect, it will do. It will never be used again. Might find some other use for the space but for now it will just have a power port where the cigar lighter would have been.

If you want to take the dash out without removing the windshield, I've heard you can grind off the screws from underneath and then screw it back in from underneath too.
Just make sure your screws are not too long!

Have fun and good luck with your project.

Wow that is a really nice job. What type of paint did you use on th dash? was it spraypaint? How'd you prep and prime?

 

[satchall]

I'm in the middle of a budget dash redo myself. For the dash frame, I just sanded it all down good, wiped it off with a wet rag, then wiped it off with paint thinner. Then I masked off everything around it with news paper, poster paper and tape and sprayed the dash with semi flat, black paint in a spray can. Here are some pics.
View attachment 1715041387 View attachment 1715041388
View attachment 1715041391
View attachment 1715041389 View attachment 1715041390

Nice!

 

[Rocky_JS]

I powdercoat the dash frames, particularly when black, they are durable as hell and retain that flattened slight textured appearance of the original.

 

[satchall]

I powdercoat the dash frames, particularly when black, they are durable as hell and retain that flattened slight textured appearance of the original.

Can you give me a process? Not sure what powdercoat is but it sounds like exactly what i'm looking for: something that looks original and is durable.

 

[satchall]

If you have it out...

Disassemble

Original frame was too rusty to use. The replacement still needed blasting and body work.

Then primed and painted with SEM Landau Black.

Instrument Bezel is from Classic Dash. Have to fabricate my own piece for the glove box though. Weird that they don't make that piece.

Not going to stay Faux Carbon Fiber either, looks too fake. Plan is to Hydro-Dip a new yet to be determined pattern...
Filling the holes with Speed Hut gauges.

The rest of the interior sheet metal is going to be Body Color to match the rest of the car.
Ashtray cleaned, blasted, primed and painted SEM Landau Black and Silver VHT Caliper Paint. Caliper paint only because it was silver and I had some leftover in a can...
While far from perfect, it will do. It will never be used again. Might find some other use for the space but for now it will just have a power port where the cigar lighter would have been.

If you want to take the dash out without removing the windshield, I've heard you can grind off the screws from underneath and then screw it back in from underneath too.
Just make sure your screws are not too long!

Have fun and good luck with your project.

Also, What is your process for sanding?

 

[Rocky_JS]

you have to sandblast (or whatever media you use) the frame to remove all old material. I have a local guy that does the powder work for me. I think it has been a few years but was around $60-70 if I recall correctly. Just have them tape off the grounding points. The nice thing about powder it is a strong yet thin coating.

 

['Cuda_ragtop]

That looks really good Rocky.

I used plastic filler to smooth out some dents so Powder was not an option for me. 450*F in the oven to bake on the Powder would melt my filler and make a mess.
Sand blasted, Eastwood metal prep, plastic filler, sanding, clean and prep, SEM Primer and SEM Landau Black paint. All rattle can.

satchall,
Powder coating is plastic that goes on as powder and then the heat in the oven melts it into an even thin layer.
If it doesn't need bodywork then Powder is a good option that is more durable than paint.
You pay for the oven/rack space so do all the parts you want done one color at same time. $60-$70 bucks would be an awesome price to blast and powder coat a dash frame!
I think I paid $30-$40 just to have my dash frame blasted. Costs about $100 to do a wheel locally here. That's for blasted and powder coated.

 

[Rocky_JS]

Yes correct, if using plastic filler, powder will not work.

 

[Back in Time]

So i'm changing the color of my interior from blue to black and i'm trying to decide what the best way of restoring my dash is. On a budget, but dont want to skimp so I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for doing the entire dash (going to buy a new dash pad obviously). Could I take it out and paint it over myself? Is it better to just pay someone, and if so, what sort of prices are reasonable?

Here is cheap...Sanded real well rattle canned then shot with clear. Bought some stickers online to make the gauges look new. My car is intended to be a 10 footer and a driver..No 10 point restoration.

View attachment 1715041601

 

[Rocky_JS]

I don't think it was mentioned in this thread, but they were satin/dull finish from the factory to reduce the effect of the suns reflective glare on the windshield.

 

[1969383S]

If you have it out...

Disassemble

Original frame was too rusty to use. The replacement still needed blasting and body work.

Then primed and painted with SEM Landau Black.

Instrument Bezel is from Classic Dash. Have to fabricate my own piece for the glove box though. Weird that they don't make that piece.

Not going to stay Faux Carbon Fiber either, looks too fake. Plan is to Hydro-Dip a new yet to be determined pattern...
Filling the holes with Speed Hut gauges.

The rest of the interior sheet metal is going to be Body Color to match the rest of the car.
Ashtray cleaned, blasted, primed and painted SEM Landau Black and Silver VHT Caliper Paint. Caliper paint only because it was silver and I had some leftover in a can...
While far from perfect, it will do. It will never be used again. Might find some other use for the space but for now it will just have a power port where the cigar lighter would have been.

If you want to take the dash out without removing the windshield, I've heard you can grind off the screws from underneath and then screw it back in from underneath too.
Just make sure your screws are not too long!

Have fun and good luck with your project.

What about the vin tag? Did you transfer or just not care?

 

[Rocky_JS]

What about the vin tag? Did you transfer or just not care?

Mine are 67, so the VIN tag is on the A-pillar not the dash. With that said ECS makes a transfer to restore the VIN tag.
ECS Automotive Concepts - FACTORY EXACT VIN PLATE TRANSFER

 

[1969383S]

Mine are 67, so the VIN tag is on the A-pillar not the dash. With that said ECS makes a transfer to restore the VIN tag.
ECS Automotive Concepts - FACTORY EXACT VIN PLATE TRANSFER

No.

I saw thumbwheel so assume 69 due to no lower pad. 67 was shaft radio right? All of it is nice work though, just curious that's all.

I had to tape mine up as I did not want to remove the rivets. Used suede paint and gun for mine.

 

[Rocky_JS]

Yes, 67 was shaft radio.

 

[CudaChick1968]

There ARE high temp metal fillers you can use under powder. After trying them all, the ones that were "designed" for powder coating use are nothing but crap in my opinion. I prefer the Permatex High Temp Metal Compound.