1973 RS/LT/Z28 4spd - Gold/Parchment Restoration

[BCreekDave]

The wood grain is a pain to remove. Every inch of it has adhesive. Took me about 4 hours with a real thin blade. I then sent the thing out to be metallized and then had to mask off the edges with petroleum jelly. Then spray black. Got about 20 hours in the thing. I did this on mine about 20 years ago and it is holding up well.

[McCune]

I am going to try this out on my bezel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqZgAy6kRG0&t=60s

[BCreekDave]

I've got one of those pens, just haven't gotten around to trying it on anything.

Here's the one I got:
https://www.amazon.com/Molotow-ONE4A...WG7T5S3R3RP2E5

Here's another vendor:
https://alsacorp.com/

And a video of what appears to be magic:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GY0iNcApC8s

I was going to try this stuff on the dash corner vents. 70's were one year only on the vents. Impossible to find NOS.

[firstgenaddict]

Originally Posted by BCreekDave

For me the straightening was the easy part. I used a hot air gun, a 4 foot level on the undersides and a series woodworking bar clamps to slowly flatten it. My problem was the shrinkage of the original cover. This can be seen in your second photo down in post 71. The leading edge where it curls around is uneven. I heated and stretched and heated and stretched and finally got mine to wrap around somewhat to satisfaction. Not perfect, but close. Did you get yours better than the photo in 71?

I was afraid I was going to rip the cover after it started to split at the sharp angle to go over the edge after working it so much.
I used a halogen lamp and a few pairs of sheetmetal pliers with the WIDE clamping area and pulled it over.
Part of it was really good... the part I did after fixing the backing.


I first tried to stretch the drivers side about 2 months ago, prior to straightening - then straightened it and then pulled it over on the pass side. It cover was a good inch short from

I am going to get another screwed up pad and try a few things...
If I had an oven large enough I would have heated the entire thing up to about 200 or so...

I was thinking that in a black bag in the southern sun for a few hours would make the entire thing pliable.
If I were going to do a couple I would weld up a jig to hold them in the correct position so they could be straightened and stretched.

[firstgenaddict]

Some photos of the relaminating the cluster circuit board

[firstgenaddict]

There was an entire corner and half of the screw hole which were missing... I taped up the wood grain and used 3M automix repair material to build up the area and worked it back down.
The lighter gray color is all replacement material

[firstgenaddict]

HA I just picked up one of those at Hobby Lobby over the weekend.
Mine has a finer point with a metal collar half way up the writing tip... probably a 1 mm tip

[BCreekDave]

Nice work! I actually like the detail work better than the body work and engine stuff. It can be a challenge especially when you don't have many practice parts.
On the dash pad, did you flatten your or did you leave a bit of an arch? I didn't flatten mine completely as the dash on mine has some curve

[Mr70]

Pick up the bigger Molotow refill and save yourself some money.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MR2KER3...a-360766397241
Air brush it on in light coats and see how incredible it mirrors chrome.
The amount of paint they put in those felt tip pens is ridiculously small.

[firstgenaddict]

Originally Posted by Mr70

Pick up the bigger Molotow refill and save yourself some money.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MR2KER3...a-360766397241
Air brush it on in light coats and see how incredible it mirrors chrome.
The amount of paint they put in those felt tip pens is ridiculously small.

Thanks I wondered if it would airbrush or not...
IMHO it looks JUST LIKE vacuum metalized. especially when you are only seeing a small amount, it would be perfect for a chevelle gauge cluster.

THE DASH PAD I realized after the first fitting about the bow on the edges - that I fixed.

The air vents I took apart so I could tighten up the vent blades and then made a hand rivet tool from a pair of hole punchers to rivet them back together.