13611

I am restoring a 68 Coupe and am to the point where I am cleaning all of the center console/dash stuff to restore. The black needs to be repainted on all of this stuff for that fresh look. My question is... do I have to mask off all of the chrome trim and words like "volume", ect. prior to painting or can I just spray the whole thing and then remove the paint from the chrome somehow. Maybe a Q-tip and laquer thinner? I would love to hear from the members on how to do this. Thanks in advance!

Jason

Easy Mike

I masked all that I could reasonably mask. For areas I could not mask, I sprayed the semi-flat black, then used lacquer thinner on a rag over my thumb or the end of a finger (or a Q-tip) to remove the black before it set up -- tacky but not completely dry.

dochorsepower

For very small things like chrome lettering there's a little trick to aid paint application. After all prep work and just prior to spray painting, Rub a bar of soap over the letter faces. Then after the paint dries, just buff the dried paint off of the letter faces.

Jasonb86

Yes, that method works well - or use a petroleum jelly like Vaseline.

Mooser

Same here, I let it go dry more or less and then one or two passes to remove the bulk and then a fresh cloth to clean it up
It really doesn't stick to the chrome anyway so it comes off easy in those areas
Mooser

Alan 71

Hi Jason,
ALL good suggestions!
I've had good results spraying the complete piece and then slicing the paint off the raised edges that should show the chrome.
You can spray, and then as soon as the the paint 'flashes', (2-3 minutes for Krylon 1613), you slice the paint off. Using an x-acto knife blade the paint comes off in long strings because it's still somewhat soft, but dry enough to not stick to the painted surface if it happens to.
By the way, the original paint was semi-flat, not flat or gloss.
Good Luck!
Regards,
Alan

oldsarge

Like Alan has done, I did mask all the chrome edges, but for the lettering, when the paint was dry, I used a razor blade scraped flat across the letters.

mrmagrath

I found it better to do it while the paint was still a bit soft. The harder paint tended to chip off and sometimes leave jagged edges. But Alan's results stand up for themselves!

Vicky Vette

Alan, that is a good looking radio. Has it been restored?

Bob

1974ta

Agree with Alan. Krylon 1613 Semi Flat.

It is now found as an industrial coating since it is lacquer.

Razor blade worked perfectly and a little final clean up with lacquer thinner.

Bill

13611

Thank you all for the input... I learned first hand the importance of prep today! That's an entirely different post!!!... But the chrome looks good. Thanks again and I'll do better prep tomorrow so I can put all of your suggestions to use. Jason