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Old Jan 15, 2010 | 10:09 PM
  #1  
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Default bezel refinishing

What can be done to refinish the bezel??? { besides krylon spray paint }

I have painted mine twice now, it keeps getting scratched.......I've been told that I can't powdercoat this pot metal, so what else??
Is there any kinda epoxy paint??
Has anyone actually powdercoated these things??

thanks...
Jw

wonder about thining some POR-15 and painting that on........I did my chasis with that stuff, and it dried hammer hard...

Last edited by tarheeljww; Jan 16, 2010 at 01:49 PM. Reason: idea...
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Old Jan 16, 2010 | 01:46 PM
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theres got to be something more durable that we can do to these bezels and make them look good........

Ideas???

I wonder what thining POR-15 and painting that on would look.......I did my chasis with that stuff and looks good and dried hammer hard, like powder coating....

Last edited by tarheeljww; Jan 16, 2010 at 01:51 PM. Reason: idea..
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Old Jan 16, 2010 | 06:01 PM
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I used JohnDeere Blitz Black on mine for a stock appearance.


I'm careful so I don't scratch things but if you just want durable powdercoat it.
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Old Jan 16, 2010 | 07:49 PM
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Can you powdercoat these things???

Has anybody done it???

I would love to do that, and my gauge bezel...
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Old Jan 16, 2010 | 08:12 PM
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Don't think you can power coat that type of plastic due to it warping or melting in the oven during the power coat process. I would just repaint it with gloss chassis paint or something like that and clear coat it or better yet take it the a paint shop and let them epoxy prime, paint and clear coat it.
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Old Jan 16, 2010 | 08:13 PM
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Originally Posted by tarheeljww
Can you powdercoat these things???

Has anybody done it???

I would love to do that, and my gauge bezel...
If it is possible to powdercoat, I am sure it would turn out all black, with no chrome edging. IMO, it would take away from all the fine detail. I just carefully masked all the edging and spray bombed with Duracolor Trim Black from the auto supplier. It has been on there for about 4 yrs and seems to be holding up.
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Old Jan 16, 2010 | 08:21 PM
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Powercoating requires baking at 400F or higher. That would just melt the pot metal bezel which is made of a mixture of metals that liquifies around 300F. It can't be done.

If you strip off any existing paint with a chemical stripper, wash/rinse/dry it completely before painting, the paint should hold up pretty well if allowed to cure for several days before use. You might also consider priming is with a zinc chromate, self-etching primer first. But you would also need to peel the primer off the letters and edges that will be left chrome (10-15 minutes after spraying...be careful with the soft primer that will stay), prior to painting with semi-flat black or Blitz black and peeling the excess paint on the chrome stuff a second time (about 20-30 minutes after spraying). Again, the finished product needs to cure several days for it to be durable.
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Old Jan 16, 2010 | 08:23 PM
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I used black "wrinkle finish" (VHT-I think) on mine, spray a lite first coat then a heavier 2nd,then it wrinkles. Note: how heavy you do the 2nd coat will determine how heavy the wrinkles are,
also temp affects the process.I used a hair dryer when I did mine.Covers up small dings & scratches pretty well too.
Hope this is help.
At my age I should be avoiding wrinkles not encouraging them LOL.
Cheers
Gav
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Old Jan 16, 2010 | 08:48 PM
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thanks for the posts guys.......I had been told before that u couldn't powder coat, but by someone that I wasn't sure if they knew what they were talking about...

I would think that there is some kind of epoxy paint that would dry very hard.......maybe not.

thanks again for the info....
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Old Jan 16, 2010 | 10:15 PM
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Originally Posted by 7T1vette
Powercoating requires baking at 400F or higher. That would just melt the pot metal bezel which is made of a mixture of metals that liquifies around 300F. It can't be done.

If you strip off any existing paint with a chemical stripper, wash/rinse/dry it completely before painting, the paint should hold up pretty well if allowed to cure for several days before use. You might also consider priming is with a zinc chromate, self-etching primer first. But you would also need to peel the primer off the letters and edges that will be left chrome (10-15 minutes after spraying...be careful with the soft primer that will stay), prior to painting with semi-flat black or Blitz black and peeling the excess paint on the chrome stuff a second time (about 20-30 minutes after spraying). Again, the finished product needs to cure several days for it to be durable.
Good post!

I didn't realize the temperatures used in powder coating were so high. Nothing worse than finding a puddle of molten bezels.
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Old Jan 16, 2010 | 10:44 PM
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I just sprayed mine with a semi-flat black paint and just scraped the black off the chrome with my finger nail.It comes right off. Done it twice and it works well.
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Old Jan 17, 2010 | 10:27 AM
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Default Not true

[QUOTE=7T1vette;1572778318]Powercoating requires baking at 400F or higher. That would just melt the pot metal bezel which is made of a mixture of metals that liquifies around 300F. It can't be done.

This is not true!
Zinc can be made to close tolerances and with thinner walls than Aluminum, due to its high melt fluidity. Zinc is alloyed with Aluminum (4%), which adds strength and hardness. The casting is done at a fairly low temperature of 425 ºC (800 ºF) so the part does not have to cool much before it can be ejected from the die.
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Old Jan 17, 2010 | 10:38 AM
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PHILVET.....are you saying these bezels can be powdercoated???
Do you know anyone who has done it?? or someone who can...??

I guess it would only cost me 120.00 bucks to find out as thats what a new bezel costs...

Thanks,
Jw
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Old Jan 17, 2010 | 11:00 AM
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In the Oct 2009 issue of Corvette Fever there is a how to on painting your console. They do the fiber optic bezel but the same method can
be used on the console.
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Old Jan 17, 2010 | 11:05 AM
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What about electrostatic coating?
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Old Jan 17, 2010 | 11:12 AM
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what is electrostatic coating?????

As 76vette stated above....."I've done it twice".......as have I.
Currently installing a vintage air system, and while my dash is apart, I would like to find a process that insures that this is my LAST time......

Thanks for all the feedback........

Jw
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Old Jan 17, 2010 | 11:26 AM
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Philvet...

You are speaking about 'zinc' cast parts. I'm talking about "pot metal", which is an amalgum of many soft, low temp metals that has an even lower melting point. The 60's/70's metal trim parts (console plate, gauge bezel, etc. were made of pot metal...not zinc. Zinc alloy melts at around 700F, so there's no problem with powder coating it. Go ahead and powder coat your pot metal parts and let us know how it works!
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Old Jan 17, 2010 | 12:16 PM
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Default Pot Metal

Originally Posted by 7T1vette
Philvet...

You are speaking about 'zinc' cast parts. I'm talking about "pot metal", which is an amalgum of many soft, low temp metals that has an even lower melting point. The 60's/70's metal trim parts (console plate, gauge bezel, etc. were made of pot metal...not zinc. Zinc alloy melts at around 700F, so there's no problem with powder coating it. Go ahead and powder coat your pot metal parts and let us know how it works!
There is no such thing as pot metal, that’s what its called by anybody that does not know the mixture of the material, its all die cast, the lowest melting material is mainly zinc, and the highest is mainly aluminum. I have built molds for 40 years for die cast parts, Trico, windshield wiper and washer parts. Rochester Products, carburetor parts. We still make molds for Phoenix Die Casting, model cars ect.
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Old Jan 17, 2010 | 01:27 PM
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Originally Posted by tarheeljww
PHILVET.....are you saying these bezels can be powdercoated???
Do you know anyone who has done it?? or someone who can...??

I guess it would only cost me 120.00 bucks to find out as thats what a new bezel costs...

Thanks,
Jw
I'm saying that the part will be able to stand 400 degrees if thats what powder coating cures at, If that helps.
Take an old inexpensive die cast part and try it.
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Old Jan 17, 2010 | 02:15 PM
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Hi jw
Isn't 'electrostatic coating' the process we call 'powder coating'?
Regards,
Alan
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