insturment panel paint
 

I have a 31 coupe that has a repo instrument panel in it, so the areas above the gas gauge and below the spedo are not painted. I would like to paint them black. Does anyone have any tips on how to do this and not make it look like a "hack job"?
Thanks

Re: insturment panel paint
 

Two ways come to mind;

Small brush
stencil and paint sprayed.

Re: insturment panel paint
 

A third way is to get another instrument panel. If I remember correctly there were a couple of instrument panels (I think the main difference was between the oval and round speedometer, but I am not an expert on this). Maybe the problem is with a repro or maybe you have a repro of the wrong panel.

Charlie Stephens

Clarification: When I originally made this post I assumed that the paint was missing from the tank where the instrument panel didn't cover the same area as the original.

Re: insturment panel paint
 

Mort,

Originally those areas were masked and sprayed semi-gloss black so they would have had a slightly "fuzzy" edge on the black. Its not the easiest thing to duplicate, but it can be done if you are determined. An easier solution would be to drop it off with a local sign painter and have him paint the two areas. It won't be technically correct but will likely look fine for a driver and probably won't cost you $15 or $20.

Deron

Re: insturment panel paint
 

I did mine by first thoroughly cleaning & de-greasing the area to be painted and insuring that any loose paint is removed. Then fine-sanded any remaining old paint edges to a smooth feathered edge. OR - use paint remover to remove all of the old paint. Use Scotch-Brite or fine sand paper to rough up the bare metal or old paint surface for better adhesion of the new paint. Be careful NOT to rough up or scratch any of the surrounding decorative bright metal surfaces.

Next, I very carefully masked off the areas to be painted using that blue masking tape that paint stores, etc. sell. I used an Exact-O knife to trim the masking to a "perfect" edge then sprayed the color on. The tape should be slowly pulled off as the paint begins to dry or else you will pull up the edges of the painted area too.

The tricky part was to apply a heavy enough coat of paint so I'd only need one coat and so it would "puddle" smoothly and hide the underlying texture of the base surface - all without over-flowing the taped edges. The instrument panel must be laying perfectly level so the paint doesn't run to one edge.

Of course if you have a good steady hand and an artful technique, you can forego the masking tape and use a nice soft, medium-length artist's brush to lay the "puddle" of paint in by hand and work it carefully out to the edge of the depressed area. The paint must be thinned out (almost "watery") so that it flows easily. The paint should be laid on thick enough that it will "flow" into a smooth surface before it dries or you'll see brush marks when it dries.

I used a lint-free rag with some paint thinner on it to carefully wipe away any paint that got beyond the edge of the depressed area after the tape was removed.

Post photos of your completed job if you can!

Earle