Types of paint, method of prep and application would be very helpful.

THANKS!

 

If you can live with a duller, not so shiny finish, silver sharpie pens work great! Clean surface with some alcohol, then write it on!
It is an aluminum color, not chrome-like.

 

I read in several forums that people use nail polish - I actually just ordered some to try - the suggested one to buy, and the one I got, is Sally Hansen's Hard As Nails Chrome. Carefull if you order it there are many colors of chrome available - the plain "chrome" one is hard to find locally - so I did ebay to get it. I ordered both a bottle and their new pen type applicator polish - I will let you all know how it works out, and post some pics when I am done.

 

I've always had good luck with the paint pens/markers from my local craft store. Metallic silver with a medium tip matches up well.

 

I'd like to get as close to actual as possible.

How about an artists brush and chrome model paint?

 

And don't forget the REALLY steady hand. An artists brush will be overkill IMO. It will be tough to get the edges uniform with that. You want a fatter tip which makes it easier on the edges. Also, with an artists brush, it might require multiple passes which could leave overlaps. A single pass is preferred which minimizes the paint edges. You'll also probably want to tape off the raised edge. I've done it like this before with good results. And model paint is really thick so you'd want to thin that out some before applying or it will glob up on you.

 

I used the paint metallic silver pen from Menard's/home depot etc. its 7 bucks works well, almost a perfect match and you can use it on the AC vents to - if you have AC. Worth the try

 

Scott, What "raised edge" do I need to tape off?

Anybody got a pic of the finished product?

 

I've used a paint pen made by Testors to touch up some of my silver trim. It's like a fat-tipped magic marker that applies model paint and makes it very easy to control by just going along the raised portions only. It's a close match and good for touching up small areas that allow it to blend in. It probably wouldn't look correct if done on very large areas though. Available through Testors or any model store.

 

Would this also work on an 80's car as well

 

I see that you have the dash out already. I used American Restorations in Ma. to re do all the plastic chrome on the dash/glovebox as well as the instrument cluster. They also disassembled the AC vents to restore the plastic chrome as well as the felts inside. The dash and vents came back painted as well and they installed the woodgrain kit that I supplied. Very happy with there work,I will try to post up some pics when I get to work.

 

If you don't mind me asking, how much did they charge? What was their turn around time?

 

Here are some pics of what I have sent up to American Classic Restorations and the work that they did. The dash was recovered by Just Dashes. If I'm not mistaken they did all the plastic chrome, dissassembled and restored the vents, applied the wood grain and also sprayed the 8 track housing that 's not seen in the photo for around $1300.00. I think it took about three months. I would think that it may take less time in these economic times.

 

I think my silver paint pen was $3.99

 

Very nice work. I have done at least a dozen 70-72 complete dashboard restorations, i love doing them. It pays to get the correct parts..


Steve

 

Guys that make kit-set scale model cars use a kind of silver tape to stick onto the models exterior door-handles etc, I THINK you stick it on and rub off the stuff you don't want..I said I THINK that's how it is applied..- don't ask me what it's called or where you get it!

 

OK guys,

I went to my local craft store. I bought both the Krylon and Elmers silver leaf pens. Then I went to CVS and bought a Sally Hansens chrome nail polish.

I rubbed the silver off my old dashboard and did a side by side test of about 3 inches of each of the above.

I put two coats of each. Krylon pen won hands down. It is a little shinier than the other two. The ELmers was next with a little duller finish. The Sally Hanson was a distant third. It was more silver grey than chrome.

There you have it. I will post some pics of my dash soon.

 

thanks for the comparison I am interested in pics either comparison or completed (hopefully both )

 

this is good to know , for my dash trim is mostly dulled , but what about the areas that are lifting ? I beleive mine was a tape if I remember correctly

 

It's called Bare Metal Foil...kind of like a super thin aluminum foil which is applied and trimmed with a razor blade. Looks real close to chrome (at least on a model). Just not sure how you would go about trimming it once applied on the dash. Most serious hobby stores carry this product. The pens will probably work better....good thought though!

 

I couldn't get the pics to show the difference in color. It was more the shimmer of the paint that I liked.

I have pics on my Facebook page link below. It is an open link so ANYONE can view it. Go to the 442 pics.

 

i don't know if this will gonna be the Best way to restore silver outline on 1972 dash, but this is what i did to restore the silver outline of 1972 dash.
first wash it with soap, then use a wax for cleaning and a grease remover. next is apply 1 coat of bulldog which is an adhesion promoter which comes from spray. this can be re coated with dye in an hour or so. then apply 2 coats of SEM landua vinyl elastometric dye, allow sometime to dry the coats. using testors agent silver leafing marker i do the silver outlines. It will need 2 coats and you'll also need a small jar of the Argent silver and a very good artist brush to color in the outside corners as the marker can't cut it tight enough.

 

I used the Bare Metal foil on my dash 5 years ago and it still looks terrific. You have to have lot of patience to make it look nice though.

I burnished down over size strips and then carefully trimmed it. Make sure you clean the surfaces really good.

Looks lots better than any metallic paint and is tons cheaper than getting the parts re-matallized.

 

I used the elmers silver mettalic pen found at walmart in the craft section. It is very close to the sharpie but I only found the sharpie in very fine and the point was to small

The color is an exact match to 40 year old worn out chrome. thats not bad any section of my dash that was worn the color is very close to. it is silver mettalic not chrome. any section of the dash where it wasnt that worn and its a nice chrome this pen does not match that but will cover it well to make a match

it states permanent on the marker (my limited testing has shown its resonably durable)

it was very easy to apply and get good coverage no masking required w a steady hand.

like stan said its hard to get a great pic but here are two one w flash and one w out flash

(the left ac vent is not done yet for comparison)

 

That is what I did.


If you are really **** about it, remove the dash and send it to Chome Tech.


http://www.chrometechusa.com/


They will vacuum metalize it like the factory did.