Frankie the Fink

On close inspection my cluster is pretty dinged up - does anybody know where around Central Florida I could get it repainted ? Most shops I've talked to don't want to do such a small job....

TopLess62

Frank, with all the problems you are having with your car, why don't you just ship it up here to the Frozen North to me and forget about it?

As for the cluster, I have seen guys use some filler compound to smooth it out and sand it down and then spray bomb it. You should ask Big Earl what he did to his since it looks like he is restoring it in this thread: http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...923361:cheers:

K2

Frank;
Get some paint stripper and just strip off the old paint and then go out and buy yourself a small gravity feed spray gun and a quart of acrylic enamel with hardener and spray it yourself. With all the stuff you have done on your car you can do this too. Whatever you do, DON'T get it powdercoated unless you want a Salvador Dali sculpture to hang on your wall.

AZDoug

Here:

Strip with chemical stripper.

Wet sand with wet n dry 120 grit until ALL the paint is off. Finish sand with 240 grit

Get a rattle can with a FAN TIP nozzle, color of your choice, I recommend epoxy but almost anything will work.

Spray lovingly, avoid runs or too dry.

Bake in over at 300 F for 3 hours after it dries. this just hardens it up.
Optional:Apply final coat of clear of same type, bake again.

Doug

Install

Frankie the Fink

I bet you'd like to have it now that I am close to getting everything fixed; except for the washer pump, and the deck lid weatherstrip, and the new top I need, and, rechroming the front eyebrows, and, well -- you get the idea...

Frankie the Fink

Doug - 240 grit ? I would have said 800 for finish sanding at a minimum? Is that because its aluminum ?

TopLess62

Yeah, I can tell your car needs a ton of work...it sure looks like a POS to me!!

PS have you looked at my car?? Check out my profile pic....

Frankie the Fink

Hey - every old vette is a treasure; don't care what shape its in.

And I do 90% of my own work...I just HATE painting (anything). I'm too spastic and too **** about it. I'm sure everybody has that one thing they know they suck at. I may still farm this out. My son-in-law works in a marina here restoring Universal, Disney and Bush Gardens boats; I may take him up on his offer to shoot the cluster. Also, I have a Homeowner's Assoc that doesn't allow vehicle work. So, I do a lot of creative 'car-washing' - like removing dash clusters to REALLY get them clean.

AZDoug

I left out part, should be 240 then finish with 400 grit.

Or, rather, lets get rid of the 120 and just use 240 and 400, i was thinking of steel, not cast soft metal when i mentioned the 120

i think 800 is too fine for good paint bite, but I am not a professional painter.

Doug

Frankie the Fink

Does anybody know the value of the capacitor on the back of the ammeter gauge ? Mine has leaked all over and the text on it is unreadable except for "200V" - needs replaced.

Frank