Anyone else had paint reactions on the gauge bezel/dash trim parts?

[K9COP]

Hi guys, I'm just going through a mild tidy up of the gauge bezel and black/silver trim pieces on my '70. After carefully cleaning, prepping and painting the radio bezel and lower side trims, all went well. I cleaned them off, wiped them with paint thinner, allowed them to dry, then masked and painted them with black interior trim paint. All went well and I lined the silver edge with a silver paint pen.

I did the same treatment on the gauge bezel and glove box upper trim.

When I painted those, certain areas of the paint reacted, in what I would describe as the old 'enamel vs. cellulose paint crinkle' on both parts. After nearly wearing out the 'F' word on my own, I took another week to paint strip those two parts with Testors 'ELO' plastic friendly paint stripper, and cleaned off all the old paint almost down to the chromed backing.

Upon painting the glove box upper, all was well, looks awesome, but the F'ing gauge bezel has reacted in certain (different) places again

Any suggestions please guys?

K9

[tsmithae]

When I painted mine I used SuperClean concentrate.  I soaked the parts in that for a day or so, scrubbed them clean, rinsed them off and sprayed with the plastic primer then paint and have had no issues. 

When I have done painting plastics in the past before I have had similar issues as you.

[Brock Lee]

It could be old paint remnants reacting with the new paint. I would strip it of all of its old black paint.

Or, take the safe approach. Dust on coats super dry and do not try and get coverage with them. Dust on some paint, let dry, dust again, let dry, on and on until it is covered with new paint, then apply a final medium wet coat to tie it all together.

You could also try something like SEM adhesion promoter, but I have had issues with that stuff causing old paint to crinkle too.

[64dartgt]

It's probably that demon Armor All or some other silicone based miracle dash cleaner. Which should NEVER be used in a car. 

"Armor All® Original Shine Protectant contains water-based silicone emulsions, surfactants, and ultraviolet light inhibitors, humectants, dispersants and gloss enhancers."

Mineral spirits/paint thinner is a good bet...I used it to remove silicone oil which is a nightmare...and is probably a key ingredient in Armor All.  The key is that you never use the same cloth or wipe on two surfaces.  You need to change wipes early and often and be careful not to move the silicone around onto already cleaned surfaces. 

[K9COP]

Thanks guys, I think it was a combination of factors. I think as I tried to get greedy and get too much coverage at one sitting, the excess of solvent in the new paint got to the old paint, and reacted. I had stripped off all the old black paint, almost down to the underlying silver, and thoroughly cleaned it with paint thinners before painting.

I think I've got it about there now, by being patient (not a strong point.... ) as Brock suggested.

I think it's OK for my 'driver' standard car:



My lower right corner was already broke but until my new panel arrives I fixed it with a little piece of trailer textured stone guard, which is actually painted the same colour trim black as the panel, not lighter as it looks under the glare of a flash photo....  

Over near the 'brake system' light you can see the key hole for my battery cut out switch and next to the wiper switch is where I moved my high/low beam headlight switch to...

I took advice and used the 'silver pen treatment' for the gauge rings, but have alloy gauge trim rings coming, watch this space! I used a technique from my scale modelling days called 'dry brushing' to highlight the letters etc, where you mask off around the words (gently, paint doesn't stick well to the panel) then sand down the tops of the letters, then put silver paint on a flat brush and brush most of it off onto a paper towel, and then carefully drag the brush across the letters. The edges and surfaces of the letters pick up the silver paint without having to worry too much about the paint going everywhere. It's a technique used to add 'weathering ' and 'wear' to scale aircraft models etc. Took a couple 'coats' on the panel but looks OK without being too in yer face, I think...

Another pic:



I swapped the factory Ammeter for an after market volt meter in the cluster too....

In the very bottom left of the picture above, in the small piece of lower dash trim, you can see where I added my second headlamp switch. I've added 'angel eyes' head lamps to the car (with a relay kit  ) and so now I can have the LED rings on which are wired to the park/running lights (first position on the original 'upper' switch) with the doors open without the headlights on, just with the running/park lights on. The second 'lower' headlight switch controls just the vacuum to the headlight doors independently. I just routed the hoses down instead of up.   I also added three gauges (oil pressure, coolant temp, another volt meter) into the 'A' pillar, which I accept may look a little Heath Robinson, but I like it..  

Lights:




K9

[TexasStroker]

Very nice! 

I'd like to see some shots of the A-Pillar.  I've been debating how to layout my gauges and haven't decided if I'll opt for the A-Pillar, or console...I do plan on putting tweeters in if nothing else.

[K9COP]

Here you go. Not great I admit, but a '70 Charger has a VERY short A pillar!





Took a while but I didn't want all the gauges in the dash... time to get her all back together! 

K9

[TexasStroker]

Nice!  Did you just bond a pre-fabbed A-Pillar with the mounts to the factory piece?  Seems like years ago I had read that s10 pillars would fit an A-Body, but I never explored it past that...If you look at the Duster's A-Pillars wrong plastic flakes off, lol. 

[K9COP]

Nice!  Did you just bond a pre-fabbed A-Pillar with the mounts to the factory piece?  

Just? I'm embarrassed to say yes , but it seemed like a lot more effort than 'just'...

I spent a long time clamping and heat forming the pre-formed piece to try and get it to follow the contours of the factory 'A' pillar. My A pillar covers were, non-original to my car, trim painted ones anyway, so I wasn't too upset at sacrificing it. I got it so that it would actually 'grip' the side of the A pillar moulding and then, from the inside, through the gauge holes, ran fast setting two part epoxy, and let it run down the joining faces between the two parts. I bought a gauge pod with a similar texture to the interior trim, then filled the edges with paintable sealer, and trim painted the whole thing again. Then it was just a matter of running the wiring up the A pillar in a spiral wrap with the feed for the temperature and pressure gauges. If you do this with gauges, bear in mind that a position on the A pillar is further away from the engine than the dash, so make sure the capillary  tube for the temperature gauge is long enough....

K9

[TexasStroker]

Haha, didn't meant it like that.  I know it is a lot of work, that is why I haven't gotten it done and was asking 

When I was kicking it around a few years ago I was down to glassing the factory trim to modify, ordering in a new pair to modify, or the most practical thing was trying to find a slight shorter A-Pillar.

The Charger actually has very crisp lines and the A-Pillar trim is pretty complex compared to the modern stuff, and even an A-Body.  There is the center line and the wrap around, not to mention the drop down to wrap the lower panel and then the run under the dash.  I'm hoping if I get a dash pad I'm happy with to get the cover done and set this up.  I will want tweeters on both sides and I'm debating mounting an A/F gauge in the pod, but that makes me think I should have 2 gauges...lone gauges always bother me for some reason.  Your's came up very nice!

[K9COP]

Thanks  , I think two gauges would fit the space better, but I wanted a separate volt meter as well as the coolant temp and oil pressure gauges. I know what you mean about lone gauges, two on the pillar and a spare would bother me too...

Worth the effort IMO, I just like the fact that it's a bit unusual on our cars.

K9

[TexasStroker]

Thanks  , I think two gauges would fit the space better, but I wanted a separate volt meter as well as the coolant temp and oil pressure gauges. I know what you mean about lone gauges, two on the pillar and a spare would bother me too...

Worth the effort IMO, I just like the fact that it's a bit unusual on our cars.

K9

Agreed...Probably makes some cringe, but I love the look and think it suits the cars. I've also grown accustomed to A-Pillar gauges and find it easier to monitor them in that position vs the conventional locations.  I've honestly been surprised Auto Meter, or someone in the aftermarket hasn't come out with this stuff for us yet.  There is something a bit sinister about pulling up on a car and catching the glow of A-Pillar gauges    I'm hoping to get a dash pad in and get back on track.