Rallye Dash Resto

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dan5354 said:
I wanted to add a suggestion for restoring the dash. I called Chrome Tech in WI. and talked Chromebob into just chroming the dash and letting me do all the detailing. It worked out great. He even gave me some tips to help with the detailing. I was able to buy an airbrush with the savings and it still didn't cost as much as a re-pop - which by the way you have to buy the glove box trim separately.
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That cost will vary. If the original bezel needs repairs ( most do ) invisible repairs are nearly impossible at areas where chromed. Chrome amplifies flaws.
The long brim of the original rally bezel is often wavy. If a reproduction didn't have a nice straight line where the brim meets the dash pad I would send it back. You cant expect "like new" from a rechromed bezel.
 
I am struggling with this dilemma too. On one hand i can strip, repair and detail my original plastics. They will be better than they are now, but will lack the pop of a new chromed bezel. The 47 year old plastic of my bezel is so brittle its really not worth it to try to repair it. I used plastic polish on my lenses, and will repaint the center circle trim pieces semiflat black, then tape and paint the centers either dull aluminum or bright aluminum. Not so sure i want to pony up $200 to get these new.
 
Not bad checked out Gcar. $41 to redo the 3 gage centers. I already micropolished the lenses. Thats waaay cheaper than $215 for a repop set of lenses. Took apart, cleaned, and tested my gages. They all work ok. My cuda only had 60K on it before somebody parked it and left it to rot in 1981. I will prob still buy the repop bezel. Their prices are reasonable until you hit that $50 per hour repair charge. Mine has a broken corner by the glovebox end, dryrotted at the turn signal cutouts, pieces missing there, stripped screw holes and various cracks. By the time they fixed it, i could have gotten a repop cheaper. This being said, this is a viable alternative if the plastic is in solid shape and doesnt need any major repairs.
 
Hi y'all,

I talked with Mike Ross over at B/E&A parts about a dash pad for my cuda. He no longer stocks dash pads forvour A bodys. Once he depletes what he has of these he said he wont reorder. He is out of the 69/76 pads in black. He may still have some of the other colors.

That is not the reason for my post. We talked about the instrument cluster bezels and the glove box bezels for the rallye dashes. What he explained to me was that the factory back then used what was called vacuum metalizing. This process is what we see the aftermath of when we look at the faded , jacked up chrome and plastic peaking thru in spots.

He said plastic rechromers use this process which essentially gives you the same issues as the original process. Heaven forbid you get windex on it, as the ammonia will eat the metalizing off the part.

Mike said his dash bezels are actually chromed plastic. My 2007 mustang GT has chromed plastic bezels, and chromed plastics are used successfully on exterior parts like pickup truck grilles etc and can handle the elements well. So it should last a lifetime on one of these bezels.

I decided to pony up the bucks and get a new bezel kit with the glove box door piece for 2 reasons. First my plastic is so brittle, and dryrotted its not worth fixing, and second i know chromed plastic tends to hold up better than vacuum metalizing does.

I will prob still have Gcar do the gage centers with vac metalizing as its a couple small parts, and is still way cheaper than a set of new lenses.

Hope this helps
Matt
 
Has anyone had success reattaching the corner of their dash trim near the glovebox, the piece that seems to break off for all of us? (Thanks for the help Dad, couldn't have done it without you!)

I realize I can send my dash out to have one of several places do the surgery, but I'm just wondering if the surgery is something that's easy enough to do at home. Melt the plastic just so, align and set, right? I'm guessing the skill is in the "just so" and "align" areas...

Anyone have experience with this?
 
67bluefish said:
Has anyone had success reattaching the corner of their dash trim near the glovebox, the piece that seems to break off for all of us? (Thanks for the help Dad, couldn't have done it without you!)

I realize I can send my dash out to have one of several places do the surgery, but I'm just wondering if the surgery is something that's easy enough to do at home. Melt the plastic just so, align and set, right? I'm guessing the skill is in the "just so" and "align" areas...

Anyone have experience with this?
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You could fix it with a plastic welder but... restoring the detail/contours takes time. Any flaw in a chromed area is amplified by the chrome finish. ( my custom bezel no longer has the "fish poop" screw there. Different fastener employed )
It's the passenger side seat back that breaks the bezel there. Those hinge points can be tightened up so the seat back doesn't move so easy and hit so hard and/or often.
 
67bluefish said:
Has anyone had success reattaching the corner of their dash trim near the glovebox, the piece that seems to break off for all of us? (Thanks for the help Dad, couldn't have done it without you!)

I realize I can send my dash out to have one of several places do the surgery, but I'm just wondering if the surgery is something that's easy enough to do at home. Melt the plastic just so, align and set, right? I'm guessing the skill is in the "just so" and "align" areas...

Anyone have experience with this?
Click to expand...

I would recommend using solvent cement to glue the piece back on, then super glue a thin scrap of sheetmetal, or thin plece of plastic on the back to help splint it in place.
 
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