Powder coating a dash frame?

[themechanic]

Can the rubber wire guides attached to the back of metal dash frame survive the powder coating oven temperature? If not, I'll tape them off and blast the frame and rattle can it.

Thinking of powder coating the Cuda dash frame.

Thanks

 

[hunt2elk]

I would probably remove the rubber before powder coating, but you should ask Leanna first. Then just brush on some liquid rubber. That stuff works real nice, it is for dipping tool handles in.

 

[zyzzyx]

When I had my car blasted, I used "Plasti Dip" with an artist's brush to re-apply the coating from the factory.
It worked great! When I painted the engine compartment they looked brand new. The factory stuff will burn
off at 400 degrees, so you have to remove it all. Just one thing, Powder coating aint what it's cracked up to be!
Good luck!

 

[gkent]

The big question is how do you plan to strip the dash for paint, powdercoat or whatever !!

 

[themechanic]

The big question is how do you plan to strip the dash for paint, powdercoat or whatever !!

I'm taking the frame and associated parts to a local powder coat shop. They'll use the appropriate media to blast it.

 

[themechanic]

Here's the Cuda dash. Not much painted metal shows after the pad and trim are assembled.

 

[gkent]

Not much painted metal shows after the pad and trim are assembled.

Then IMHO powdercoating is a waste of money. Consider what you're paying for ... stripping ALL the metal, loading the powder gun with your specific color and shooting it separately from anything else on a separate cart. Then the oven time. All this when a $10 spray bomb would likely yield satisfactory results !!

 

[gkent]

A B-body has a lot of metal showing even after installing all the pads, etc. so "maybe" powdercoat is a good option. HOWEVER, what about the underside ... do you want that the same color as the top side or bare metal? if left bare then its likely yo flash rust quickly. Painting it before powder is out of the question. Painting it afterwards and you have to do a very good masking job.

When I did the one for my 69 RR, I had it chemically stripped. I primed the whole thing with rattle can etch primer. I shot the underside with Rustoleum "stainless" which looks a lot like bare metal. I then sprayed the outside with rattle can Rustoleum black textured. Looks "factory" for under $100..

 

[peabodyracin]

I ran a production powder shop for roughly 20 years. Most powders will require around 350 to 375 dgrees F to cure, which will ruin the coating on the wire retainers.

One bigger caution: grounding. When you reinstall the dash you need to be sure there's bare metal exposed at minimum of one point where a bolt attaches dash to body. Same thing for gauge cluster and possibly wiper motor depending on the year.

Powder is typically a thicker coating than spray liquid and won't fracture as well under the pressure of a fastener as liquid does to provide a ground. It can actually act like an insulator.

Years back one of our guys powder coated his whole car body mounted on a home made rack to hold it. As he reassembled it he was chasing grounding problems constantly until we realized what was happening.

Like body work, the results you get can vary greatly depending on the quality of prep.

 

[hunt2elk]

When I had my car blasted, I used "Plasti Dip" with an artist's brush to re-apply the coating from the factory.
It worked great! When I painted the engine compartment they looked brand new.

Yes, Plasti Dip, that is the stuff I use as well. Just couldn't remember the name. I coat all the wire hold down tabs in the trunk, headlight area, and in the cabin with that stuff, looks just like factory.

 

[themechanic]

I think I'll just wrap up the rubber wire guides and have the parts blasted. Then wipe everything down with wax and grease remover, spray on self etching primer and flat black or satin paint taking note of the grounding areas left bare at the factory and leaving those bare metal.

 

[CudaChick1968]

Since this thread is about powder coating a dash, I'll toss these in even though your decision has already been made just for illustration purposes. The first is for an A Body convertible, the second is for an import (MG) and the third is most of a famed Rocky Mountain Dash insert all with different finishes. (The glove box portion of the RMD has yet to arrive.)

The A Body was done in satin black with its ashtray in a goldish silver, the MG's was a black wrinkle texture, and the RMD was finished in a black "leatherette" (it really does look like leather!) with metallic silver gauge pods matching his color sample. All of them have a bare spot somewhere on the back matching the factory's for grounding purposes. Keep in mind too @themechanic that all the little plastic/rubber bumpers and protective sleeves are half a century old and need to be carefully removed if you plan to clean and reuse them. (A blind riveter would be handy to put the ashtray assemblies back together like the factory did too but is unfortunately not in my budget for the occasional frames that arrive here.)

The masking for this one was really ..................... fun.

The pod backs were just tacked in place in 2 or 3 spots leaving a slight gap around every perimeter.

@peabodyracin probably understands my Faraday Frustration Frenzy better than most LOL

Here's a close up of the leatherette.



Good luck with your paint job! Be sure to post up and let us know how it turns out.

 

[Chris Many]

I would be concerned about all of the grounding spots. Ash tray light, map light, glove box light switch, radio, harness gnd wire, dash frame to A-pillars, etc. Make sure you bench tests as much as you can.

 

[gkent]

I don't see what the big concern about grounding spots is. If you don't have some sort of tool in your arsenal that you can sand/grind off some powdercoat with then maybe you shouldn't be playing with cars !! And if you're worried about originality then you shouldn't even be considering powdercoat.

 

[themechanic]

Looks like the dash frame grounds to the A pillar on either side with the bottom 2 bolts; the back side of the mounting points are bare metal. Also, the back side is bare metal under all thee screw clips.

 

[themechanic]

This is not a B body and is a restomod Cuda, for those who lost track.

 

[gkent]

The WHOLE back side is bare metal with the excerption of where they might have hit it with overspray. But most will be covered with flash or surface rust - hence my point of painting with Rustoleum stainless.

As for grounding, IIRC on my RR the ground for all the under dash wiring is a lug bolted to the body. But keep in mind that things like glove box light, ash tray light, reverse light, etc, etc, all ground at their mounting point as most are single wire. So if something doesn't work its quite likely going to be a bad ground.

 

[CoronetDarter]

When I restored the Coronet's dash I used John Deere Blitz Black out of a rattle can. It's a great looking finish. Then painted the back/inside of the dash silver to give contrast when chasing wiring issues in the future. And yes, there was a lot of masking involved.

 

[themechanic]

The WHOLE back side is bare metal with the excerption of where they might have hit it with overspray. But most will be covered with flash or surface rust - hence my point of painting with Rustoleum stainless.

As for grounding, IIRC on my RR the ground for all the under dash wiring is a lug bolted to the body. But keep in mind that things like glove box light, ash tray light, reverse light, etc, etc, all ground at their mounting point as most are single wire. So if something doesn't work its quite likely going to be a bad ground.

That's why I took note if where all the screw clips were; there's bare metal under them all.

 

[cosgig]

Since this thread is about powder coating a dash, I'll toss these in even though your decision has already been made just for illustration purposes. The first is for an A Body convertible, the second is for an import (MG) and the third is most of a famed Rocky Mountain Dash insert all with different finishes. (The glove box portion of the RMD has yet to arrive.)

The A Body was done in satin black with its ashtray in a goldish silver, the MG's was a black wrinkle texture, and the RMD was finished in a black "leatherette" (it really does look like leather!) with metallic silver gauge pods matching his color sample. All of them have a bare spot somewhere on the back matching the factory's for grounding purposes. Keep in mind too @themechanic that all the little plastic/rubber bumpers and protective sleeves are half a century old and need to be carefully removed if you plan to clean and reuse them. (A blind riveter would be handy to put the ashtray assemblies back together like the factory did too but is unfortunately not in my budget for the occasional frames that arrive here.)

View attachment 1204385

View attachment 1204386

View attachment 1204379

The masking for this one was really ..................... fun.

The pod backs were just tacked in place in 2 or 3 spots leaving a slight gap around every perimeter.

View attachment 1204381

@peabodyracin probably understands my Faraday Frustration Frenzy better than most LOL

Here's a close up of the leatherette.

View attachment 1204382

Good luck with your paint job! Be sure to post up and let us know how it turns out.

And, would that Cuda dash be this one here? Still looks as good as the day you did it!