Question on painting dash bezel?

[Moderator73]

I’ve been refurbishing my dash and console and have come to the Radio/Heater control bezel and trying to figure out how to attack this one.

The inner chrome detail and radio lettering is much more complicated to tape off than all the other bezels.

Just thought I’d ask if anyone has had success on this or perhaps better off leaving it alone in retrospect.

I threw in a few other pictures of my dash progress so you can see what I’m trying to accomplish. I recently got my dash back from the body shop that painted it for me. Midlife redid my harness and replaced my broken fuse box. I’ve got the Classic Auto Air system I’m putting in so the vent louvers and glove box are changed. Finally finished the painting of glove box area bezels yesterday. Also upgrading to all LED bulbs from HiPo Garage. So the passenger side is done.

Now I’m moving to the center part of the dash and appreciating all the wisdom of this group getting me this far. I never dreamed I’d be doing this kind of detailed stuff on a car before but I’m enjoying this journey.

Bob

 

[Don C]

I used Molotow chrome markers for refurbisihng the chrome trim on my center stack and shifter bezel. I haven't done the radio bezel yet, but will at some point in the near future. The lettering will be a little more challenging, but should be doable with just one cup of coffee for breakfast.
https://7173mustangs.com/threads/my-dash-center-section.34419/

 

[Moderator73]

I used Molotow chrome markers for refurbisihng the chrome trim on my center stack and shifter bezel. I haven't done the radio bezel yet, but will at some point in the near future. The lettering will be a little more challenging, but should be doable with just one cup of coffee for breakfast.
https://7173mustangs.com/threads/my-dash-center-section.34419/

Thanks Don, your center section bezel turned out great in your pictures. I used the molotow on my glove box area bezel chrome and it’s just okay. No doubt my skills need to improve. Because of how that went that’s what lead me to see how others tried this.

My molotow pen might be too wide. I used a 4mm one Probably way too wide for the radio’s Volume & Tuning lettering.

On your bezel did you apply multiple coats of the chrome after drying?

Thanks for sharing your experience on this.

 

[CJ miller]

I’ve been refurbishing my dash and console and have come to the Radio/Heater control bezel and trying to figure out how to attack this one.

The inner chrome detail and radio lettering is much more complicated to tape off than all the other bezels.

Just thought I’d ask if anyone has had success on this or perhaps better off leaving it alone in retrospect.

I threw in a few other pictures of my dash progress so you can see what I’m trying to accomplish. I recently got my dash back from the body shop that painted it for me. Midlife redid my harness and replaced my broken fuse box. I’ve got the Classic Auto Air system I’m putting in so the vent louvers and glove box are changed. Finally finished the painting of glove box area bezels yesterday. Also upgrading to all LED bulbs from HiPo Garage. So the passenger side is done.

Now I’m moving to the center part of the dash and appreciating all the wisdom of this group getting me this far. I never dreamed I’d be doing this kind of detailed stuff on a car before but I’m enjoying this journey.

Bob

how hard was it to color match your interior bits. Im ginger and there are things that are brown and door pulls look almost gold color. any special product line? appriciate your hard work.

 

[Spike Morelli]

If the chrome is still good, you can just spray the entire face with a matte black paint, and before the black completely dries, take an old t-shirt cotton rag over your fingertip with a small amount of lacquer thinner, or a Q-tip with lacquer thinner on it, and just wipe the black off the tops of the lettering and border chrome.

 

[Hemikiller]

The chrome on my radio plate was good, so I used the technique that Spike mentioned. I did tap off the perimeter chrome, but used a Q-tip just damp with lacquer thinner to clean the paint off the lettering and inner stripes.

 

[andyro86]

The chrome on my radio plate was good, so I used the technique that Spike mentioned. I did tap off the perimeter chrome, but used a Q-tip just damp with lacquer thinner to clean the paint off the lettering and inner stripes.

Hello
I am looking for the org. Paint code for my 1971 dark green mustang ? Any help would be great . Thanks
AJ

 

[RIBS]

Others have given great tips. I used the chrome pens. They make multiple sizes. Hobby Lobby sells them. Also i hand painted mine with thinned Rustolem so it would flow between the letters. Also if spraying, in some areas you can cover chrome with blue tape and razorblade it down to only cover chrome

 

[Moderator73]

how hard was it to color match your interior bits. Im ginger and there are things that are brown and door pulls look almost gold color. any special product line? appriciate your hard work.

I had the Body Shop figure out the color for me on this Avocado. Hemikiller had posted in another earlier thread the SEM Paint color mix specification for the Avocado shade. I took it along with 9 of my dash/console components to my local Body Shop I've used over the years and trust. They tried to match the SEM sheet, but ran into problems that I really don't understand. So then they shifted to the computer color match system they use for most of their body work.

The problem was finding the "right" piece of my 9 dash components (later increased to 11 pieces for the two kick panels) to use as the "Target" color. My color shades were all over the place like you describe on your car. So each color they mixed, they sprayed a paddle that could be used to compare to each of the parts. They ended up mixing 4 different formulas until I was happy with the compromise. So it was fairly easy for me, but a pain for them. It's not a perfect match but it's very close to the original Avocado. So that's how I did it. They used PPG paints to arrive at this custom color. The coverage is an amazing improvement, but I can't speak to the durability yet. For all the work they did, it was a pretty reasonable cost ($438) where half of the cost was mixing up 4 batches of paint. Overall this ended up a million times better than I could have done.

Here's the paint mix/codes they came up with for me. I know this Avocado mix doesn't help on your Ginger color, but maybe other details in the components they used to come up with this PPG color might help.

 

[Moderator73]

Great help, thank you guys! Fantastic. I hadn't even thought about the cleaning off the fresh paint and it turning out well. I'll do as Ribbs & Hemikiller says to tape off the perimeter chrome to minimize the amount of cleaning off. The chrome on this piece is the best of any other dash components but the black is rough. This forum is so helpful especially for us newbies to trying to renew a car for the first time.

 

[Moderator73]

Hello
I am looking for the org. Paint code for my 1971 dark green mustang ? Any help would be great . Thanks
AJ

Here's a Ford Paint Codes chart that I copied from a post from Hemikiller that has all the "interior" color codes and which components they are used on. It's been really helpful for me on my interior work. There is no "dark green" interior color so not sure if this helps for your question.
Bob

 

[Don C]

Thanks Don, your center section bezel turned out great in your pictures. I used the molotow on my glove box area bezel chrome and it’s just okay. No doubt my skills need to improve. Because of how that went that’s what lead me to see how others tried this.

My molotow pen might be too wide. I used a 4mm one Probably way too wide for the radio’s Volume & Tuning lettering.

On your bezel did you apply multiple coats of the chrome after drying?

Thanks for sharing your experience on this.

I just did one coat on the trim. I'm also replacing the speedometer and fuel gauge and adding a tachometer. I can't use the original chrome trim bezel for the fuel gauge, so am adding the trim on the new fuel gauge, with Molotow. It came out Ok with one coat, but not happy with it. I suspect the markers are too old, I've had them for 2 or 3 years, so will get some new ones at HobbyLobby before I try a second coat.
https://7173mustangs.com/threads/don-cs-project.44657/

 

[Hemikiller]

Here's the paint mix/codes they came up with for me. I know this Avocado mix doesn't help on your Ginger color, but maybe other details in the components they used to come up with this PPG color might help.

LOL, have to appreciate the humor on the first label.

Hello
I am looking for the org. Paint code for my 1971 dark green mustang ? Any help would be great . Thanks
AJ

AJ,

The SEM paint mix chart for the Medium Green interior is below.

 

[Bill Perkins]

I’ve been refurbishing my dash and console and have come to the Radio/Heater control bezel and trying to figure out how to attack this one.

The inner chrome detail and radio lettering is much more complicated to tape off than all the other bezels.

Just thought I’d ask if anyone has had success on this or perhaps better off leaving it alone in retrospect.

I threw in a few other pictures of my dash progress so you can see what I’m trying to accomplish. I recently got my dash back from the body shop that painted it for me. Midlife redid my harness and replaced my broken fuse box. I’ve got the Classic Auto Air system I’m putting in so the vent louvers and glove box are changed. Finally finished the painting of glove box area bezels yesterday. Also upgrading to all LED bulbs from HiPo Garage. So the passenger side is done.

Now I’m moving to the center part of the dash and appreciating all the wisdom of this group getting me this far. I never dreamed I’d be doing this kind of detailed stuff on a car before but I’m enjoying this journey.

Bob

So Sharp