Instrument cluster restoration (update w/ pics 5/7)

[Dino]

I pulled the instrument cluster, radio bezel and upper dash plate out of the '69 and will be restoring them over the winter.

At one point it was sprayed with flat black, likely because the vacuum plating was deteriorating.  

When I pulled the cluster all lights worked except the right turn indicator.  All gauges work although the fuel gauge only shows a little over 3/4 full when it's topped off, but I don't think the issue is with the actual gauge, likely it's the float.

The rheostat does not work, the dash lights are on full all the time and I cannot control the dome light, it only lights up when I open the door.

Question 1:  I have a spare rheostat that came with the car, how can I test if it works?  I have to say I do not have access to my car at this time so can't pop something in the dash to give it a test run.

Question 2:  When I want to install the performance car graphics decals which is the best black paint to use for the gauges?  I had it written down somewhere but lost it.  EDIT:  should I use performance car graphics decals or premium dash decals?  Which are better?

Question 3:  Do I need to remove the speedo needle to install the new decal and if so how?  Any other needles that need to be removed?

Question 4:  The panels will be redone in satin black, does it matter which brand I go with? Anyone have a favorite?

Question 5:  What is the best way to paint the lettering white and which paint to use?  I'm thinking a tiny roller would work great if I use a 'dry' painting technique and use multiple thin layers to slowly build up the intensity.


When all is taken apart, I will use easy off oven cleaner to remove all the paint and old chrome from the trim, sand smooth the edges and paint them with high gloss black followed by spaz stix ultimate mirror chrome.  If I prep it right it should be really close to the real deal.

Anything else I'm missing?

[WHITE AND RED 69]

I have used both premium dash decals and performance car graphics decals and they are both great quality. I liked the performance car graphics a bit better though, some of the numbers just looked better than the premium ones. But for the gaskets and turn signal lenses go with premium dash decals. As for the needles you need to remove them from the speedo and of course the clock. For the speedo needle you need to hold the the round cylinder peice behind the plate in place so it doesnt move and gently pull the needle off. (if you get the performance car graphics decals it comes with detailed instructions on how to do this.) For the small gauges I used a piece of straw to manuver the needle out of the way while I got the decals in place. For paint I used flat white for the inside of the cluster and the needles and flat black for the gauges. And for the dash bezel I used SEM trim black and a duplicolor chrome for the surrounding trim.

Here are some pics of an old cluster I redid with performance car graphics decals. (this is not the one in my car, I went with the white decals for mine)

 

[Dino]

That looks great!  Thanks for all that info!

[doctor4766]

Rather than a small roller to do the lettering, I used a paint pen.
You shake the pen with the lid on (don't ask me how I know you should have the lid on) and dab in onto a scrap of paper or any other non associated surface. This brings the paint to the tip of the pan. Then carefully dab the lettering on the dash fascia. Worked a treat for me.

[Dino]

I just finished stripping the paint from the three bezels, it's nice clean plastic now.   I have pics but have yet to load them on the pc and resize them.  I sprayed the bezels with easy off oven cleaner and wrapped them in saran wrap for several hours.  Then used a fine wire brush and scrubbed them in a basin with water.  I repeated this two or three times for the bezel above the glove box and the radio bezel, a few more repeats were needed for the instrument bezel but they all turned out great.

I'll get one of those elmer paint pens for the lettering.  Not sure which black to get for the main color.

[ODZKing]

Rather than a small roller to do the lettering, I used a paint pen.
You shake the pen with the lid on (don't ask me how I know you should have the lid on) and dab in onto a scrap of paper or any other non associated surface. This brings the paint to the tip of the pan. Then carefully dab the lettering on the dash fascia. Worked a treat for me.

Yep, did the same with mine.  Some are better than others as some are self leveling.  The brush strokes will all even out. I used the Testors "Chrome".  It's not really chrome but a bit brighter than plain silver.
Don't do it at an angle ... flat and they come out great.

[Dino]

That looks great!  Nice job!   

Here's spme pics of the current progress.  I don't have any before shots of the radio and RH trim pieces but they were covered in flat black paint like the cluster bezel.  Those two pieces are a green-ish plastic while the cluster bezel is black.  There's a few more specs of old paint or vacuum plating left but they are tiny.  I'll get those off by hand later this week.

There's one small crack in the radio bezel at one of the mounting studs and a very tiny part of the bottom edge on the cluster bezel is nicked, easy fixes and the they'll be ready for paint.

Easy off is awesome!

Btw, does anyone know where the short brown wire goes on the cluster, I kinda pulled it by accident...

[Dino]

Before and after one round of easy off.

[Dino]

Last ones for now.
Cluster bezel after a good 4 rounds of easy off.  I think I did the other parts twice, the cluster still had decent vacuum plating (except where I needed it), so it took some more oven cleaner!

[doctor4766]

Nice work.
I think the brown is off the wiper washer switch

[Dino]

Nice work.
I think the brown is off the wiper washer switch

I checked the fsm and found there's a wire running between the washer button and wiper switch which I would have never found if you hadn't told me.

Thank you much my good man!   

[Dino]

for the dash bezel I used SEM trim black

Is that #39143?

[WHITE AND RED 69]

That's the one.      I got mine from eastwood but they have a different product number on it. Same stuff though.

http://www.eastwood.com/trim-paint-satin-black-aerosol-15-oz-net.html

[Dino]

That's the one.      I got mine from eastwood but they have a different product number on it. Same stuff though.

http://www.eastwood.com/trim-paint-satin-black-aerosol-15-oz-net.html

Great!  I think one of the local auto parts stores has those, if not then I'll get it online.  Did you use a primer?  I have an adhesion promoter for plastic and I'm hoping it'll be enough.  I don't want to put too many layers on that plastic to preserve the crisp texture and lettering.

I just ordered the spaz stix chrome paint and high gloss black backing.  I may have to wait a while to paint though as it's getting a bit cold here.

[WHITE AND RED 69]

Nope, no primer on mine. Same as you I didnt want to add too many layers of paint cause it would hide the detail so I just cleaned it a few times with soap and water after I scraped off the old paint.

[richRTSE]

Dino,
Are you planning on spraying the chrome (base, chrome, then clear?) first, then masking off to spray the black textured areas? Is that paint used with an airbrush?
That easy off looks like it really worked well...no damage to plastic at all?

...nice job on the gauges WandR 69!

[Dino]

Nope, no primer on mine. Same as you I didnt want to add too many layers of paint cause it would hide the detail so I just cleaned it a few times with soap and water after I scraped off the old paint.

Excellent!  Just what I wanted to hear.   

[Dino]

Dino,
Are you planning on spraying the chrome (base, chrome, then clear?) first, then masking off to spray the black textured areas? Is that paint used with an airbrush?
That easy off looks like it really worked well...no damage to plastic at all?

...nice job on the gauges WandR 69!

The easy off is amazing, it takes it off gently so it doesn't do a thing to the plastic.  As soon as I removed it from the saran I started scrubbing it with a steel wire brush, tootbrush style, under warm water and it didn't even scratch the plastic.  As loong as you have a bit of time it it is perfect, if you want all the paint and old chrome gone fast you'd have to go to something a bit agressive.

Ideally I would like to do the chrome first yes, then mask that off and do the textured area.  However I still need to find out for sure, by way of experiment, if the chrome will dull once I hit it with clear.  Alclad does that, I'm hoping that either I can clear the chrome and not lose any shine or that the chrome is so tough that I don't need to clear it.  Seeing these chrome paints are usually pretty easy to scuff I'm hoping the clear will work.  Then I sand the overspray and spray the sem trim black.  The smooth chrome parts are much easier to mask than the textured part so it would make sense going this route.  

I will document the rest of the work so I can share the good and bad with this way of doing things.

Edit:  Sorry, missed that one.  I will be using the airbrush paint yes, for both black and chrome, but you can use any high gloss black aerosol and the spaz chrome is available in aerosol as well.  Since I have a compressor and airbrush I see no reason to buy a spraycan but if you lack those items then it's by far the cheapest route and should work fine.  It's spaz stix ultimate mirror chrome, bought it right off their website as I couldn't find it locally.

[Dino]

I just cleaned up the clock and it looks like new.  Do you guys ever reface these or will it match if I leave it as is and reface the rest of the gauges?  Seems a bit silly to get a decal for it now.  I do need to get a new stem for it, it's $13 with shipping so I hope this is not too hard to do.  Only want to do this once.

[ODZKing]

There are a few ways to go on the face Dirk.  You can buy the decals as you mentioned, but I'm fairly certain you'd have to get them all and would probably want to so they all match.
Or polish.  Bring back the black with some compound or car wax.  Don't press to hard, or the black will come off (ask me how I know that!!!).  Or if they're not too bad and just need a little brightening ... VinylX works great.  There is other stuff I've used too ... Back To Black (by Mothers).  I like the vinylX a bit better , it doesn't attract the dust like some of the others will.   

[roadrunner440]

do u repain the brown on the ralley dash or just clean it up n where do u find the right tone of brown if u paint it i want to redo my guage cluster on my 73 and 74 rr just not sure how to do it any help would be great

[ODZKing]

do u repain the brown on the ralley dash or just clean it up n where do u find the right tone of brown if u paint it i want to redo my guage cluster on my 73 and 74 rr just not sure how to do it any help would be great

Those are tough.  The first thing I would do is look for a used one. They are all over, e-bay, Craigs List, swap meets.  If you don't need the gauges, they should be reasonable.  OR buy it all and flip the gauges, you can probably get all if not most of your moneys worth out of it.
Repainting the bezel is tough because of the "grain" look of it. As far as the paint if you want to try, it is plastic ... I'd try a hobby shop or furniture repair place.

[roadrunner440]

ive got 3 uncut rally dashes just thought u could freshin it up some how n make it look like new again

[Dino]

There are a few ways to go on the face Dirk.  You can buy the decals as you mentioned, but I'm fairly certain you'd have to get them all and would probably want to so they all match.
Or polish.  Bring back the black with some compound or car wax.  Don't press to hard, or the black will come off (ask me how I know that!!!).  Or if they're not too bad and just need a little brightening ... VinylX works great.  There is other stuff I've used too ... Back To Black (by Mothers).  I like the vinylX a bit better , it doesn't attract the dust like some of the others will.   

Hey Bob, I also found out that you can't go nuts with the polish as my speedo now has a big white blotch where the black simply rubbed off!  Oops...   

Since I will not be ordering every single decal in one go as I need to look at the car this spring and see what else I need, I will order all the gauge decals except the clock.  It looks absolutely mint now.  If I really can't make the clock and speedo match then I'll order the clock decal with whatever else I need.  I just feel it would be a shame to put a decal over a perfectly good clock.

I'm almost done repairing the bezels, only a few tiny details left to do and they'll be ready for paint.

[Roth68rt]

Dino, where are you getting the stem?

Steve