Any suggestions on what type of paint to use on my automatic transmission needle (and possibly speedometer needle)?

 

Check a hobby shop that has model car paint.

 

If you have Hobby Lobby I would give them a try.

 

Was thinking about Testor's enamel fluorescent orange, but the HobbyTown near me closed a few months ago. Does Hobby Lobby carry it too? Would acrylic paint work as well as enamel?

 

Do you have a Michaels in your town? They also carry model paints. The Testors you mention is what I used on mine.

 

 

I walked over to Hobby Lobby and they had Testors there for dirt cheap. Surprised they have modeling stuff there. Been in there a few times and never noticed it before. Picked up some fluorescent orange and some black for the dash badge/trunk lettering. Any suggestions on what kind of brush to use for the lines inside of the letters on the trunk molding? I saw some little brushes with ***** at the end that are supposed to hold the paint without dripping. Might have to bring my trunk molding over there tomorrow to find the right size.

 

I would think a brush smaller than the lines would be best. Get a couple sizes of smaller brushes. The brush will start to spread out the second you touch the trim, so smaller is better. Practice a little before you tackle the trim. But, keep a cloth rag and maybe some paint thinner handy for a quick swipe if you drip. Stretch the cloth over your finger to swipe quick. For smaller lines, a toothpick might work well. Good luck

 

Acetone on smooth rag like a T shirt will wipe the paint off the high areas like lettering and such.

 

Even the tiniest tiny paintbrush was too big to fit into the grooves. I had to lay the paint on top, let capillary action draw it down, then wipe the top off, only doing a couple lines at a time so I could wipe the paint off before it dried. I took a picture of before and after side-by-side, but the picture didn't come out as well on my computer as it did on my phone.

My dash badge didn't come out as well as I had hoped. I probably should've gone with flat black instead of gloss.

Transmission needle came out well after a couple of thick coats. Still not sure if I want to try the needles for my speedometer and gas gauge.

 

The letters turned out great. Don't worry about the paint drying out, it will always come off with Acetone. On the needles, the more flat you can lay them the better they will turn out, you don't have to worry as much about runs.

 

The needles in the instrument cluster shouldn't be difficult in general because I can just put paper behind them to keep excess paint from falling on the faces. It's keeping paint off of the hubs that worries me.

 

You did a great job on the letters. Tape the center hub on the instrument cluster needle with Scotch Magic Tape to protect them and give a sharp line. Don't pull the tape too soon or it might not give a sharp line between paint and hub. Practice with just half the needle and time how long to pull the tape..

 

Fuel gauge needle only needed one coat.


Speedometer needle needed two. Got a little bit of overpaint on the hub and had to scrape it off with a sewing needle.


I touched up some scratches on the faces of the speedometer and idiot light panel while I was at it.