[Royce Peterson]

I restored a spare dash for the Green GTE last month. The dash in the car looks nice but is the original unrestored one, everything else is new so now it looks old.

The drivers side came out really nice. Plastic bezel was rechromed by John's Classic Cougar. I did the paintwork and polished the plastic lenses and the woodgrain. The amp guage is NOS, the others good originals.

 

[Royce Peterson]

Here's my problem.....

On the passenger side the part with the toggle switches has white lettering that is missing. Anyone have a good way to stencil in the missing letters? Note that I have not polished the woodgrain on the switch panel so it looks different in color.

 

[tkdtkd]

What was the cost on the plastic rechrome?

 

[Royce Peterson]

It was $150 including the buttons in the middle of the tach and speedo. Also included the kitty in the middle of the steering wheel pad.

 

[cougarguy]

Looks phenomanal royce. where did you gett the appilique for the wood at? or was it still good and didnt need replacing? John has some areas that need work so i have been looking for an alternative or origanl for him.

 

[Modified7]

Royce,
Looks sharp........I will be having to do the same in near future. Did you do anything with the red line on speedometer which is typically orange from fading? I am interested in how do do a quality restore on that red line...........Keith

 

[Royce Peterson]

The woodgrain restoration requires polishing with KIWI brand brown shoe polish. Follow the directions on the can.

I didn't mess with the orange arc on the speedo.

 

[Neal_DePape]

Anyone have a good way to stencil in the missing letters?

Royce, that is probably going to have to be done by hand. I wonder if a sign painter might be willing to have a shot at it? I know the gentleman who does the lettering on my Dad's highway tractors and trailers has done some lettering on the dash and grille of his 67 GMC. Nothing that small though.

 

[conv cat]

Just a thought...there are white vinyl stick-on letters sold in packets at most art and stationery stores. There's a good assortment of fonts and sizes. You might get lucky.

 

[texrep]

I was talking to a guy at a trophy shop the other day and he showed me stuff that he was able to lasar print on... it looked very good, kind of a flexable plastic. he was making switch labels for a company's big trucks. Maybe something like that can be adapted to your application. Are those areas recessed?


Don

 

[70XR7ConvertCat]

Another problem with restoring the burl like veneers, is it has a plastic coating of some kind. This coating can chip or fracture around the edges causing a restoration problem. I have such a case with my XR7.

At a local crafts store, I bought a can of clear paint or coating (don't know what it's called off-hand) which is meant to go on in one thick coat. I plan to use this on the piece around the clock. If this works, I'll post a picture of the product, and result.

Steve C.

 

[MeanMerc68]

That is an awesome job Royce!! Good work. I will have to do that to mine pretty soon. I have some scratches on the wood grain part. The white lettering can be done with a very small paint brush and a very steady hand. Thats what I would do anyway to save some money. I need to know where I can get the toggle swich handles. I still have the actual switches, the handles are finally breaking off. I already threw one away since it broke in half. Any suggestions anyone? Keep up the great work Royce. I will check back often to get some pointers from you and anyone else. Later!!

 

[Royce Peterson]

The toggle switch handles are available in reproduction. Be aware '67 and '68 switches have different handles. Any of the vendors should have both.

Royce

 

[MeanMerc68]

I didn't know that 67 and 68 had different toggle handles. Thanks for the pointer. I kind of figured that I would have no problem finding the handles. Thanks

 

[catman]

quote:
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Anyone have a good way to stencil in the missing letters?
Here's my problem.....
On the passenger side the part with the toggle switches has white lettering that is missing. Anyone have a good way to stencil in the missing letters? Note that I have not polished the woodgrain on the switch panel so it looks different in color.




These placard pieces are made of a black petro-chemical plastic so you shouldn't use ANY kind of petroleum based paint!

Use a medium or high viscosity concentrated Acrylic. This one is titanium white.
NOTE, you can be sloppy (wiping method) with this method and it cleans up with damp towel while wet . Comes off flat surfaces easily when dry.
CAN"T do that with Enamal or Lacquer Paint! could damage the plastic film that covers the wood grain. Avoid wiping paint in the wood grain, it's hell to get off!

The L. MAP was measured on a optical measuring device. The letter depressions varies .015 to .017 deep so don’t Use sandpaper to remove paint .

To get a better understanding of the procedure and the desired effect, one must understand how it was done by Ford. After looking with magnifying glass you will notice that there aren't any sharp edges in the depressions. Everything has rounded, edges. A holding fixture, silk screen, and airbrush were most likely used.

The wiping method, as I have used will work, but not as detailed as an air brush or paint brush. Note this Acrylic can be Sprayed with an air brush too! A added optional feature! After the Acrylic dries a coat of Luminescence paint can be applied and it will glow in the dark. Note, This paint is made to use with Acrylic.
It is unnoticeable during the day but vert helpfull at night.

In the pictures, the non A/C panel is orig paint for a comparison.

The A/C panel: R MAP was done with the wiping method.

COURTESY is orig paint for comparison.

PANEL was done with fine brush then excess wiped off.

L. MAP was done with brush. The excess wiped off. After it dried a top coat of Luminescence paint was applied. Can't tell it's on during the day but it's REALY is EASY to SEE at night .

The purple tools are modeling clay tools, very useful for removing paint.

The brush is a super fine artist brush

All of this can buy purchaced [except for the panels] at any craft store for around $15.00.

but the
Compliments… you'll get are Priceless!!!

 

[catman]

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[catman]

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[catman]

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[catman]

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[catman]

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