Paint code "light nonreflective silver"

[Peter_Boeckel]

In restoring my 100 "M" BN2 and is going to paint the instrument panel. The raised instrument facia is going to be painted as original "light nonreflective silver". Can someone help me with a paint code for this !

 

[Dave Russell]

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In restoring my 100 "M" BN2 and is going to paint the instrument panel. The raised instrument facia is going to be painted as original "light nonreflective silver". Can someone help me with a paint code for this ?

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Hi Peter,
Welcome to the forum,
After all these years, it's hard to know what they meant by "light non-reflective silver". I went through several tries on my BN2. I tried a number of aluminum, dull aluminum, & silver, brands & colors. A truly dull silver finish shows all dirt, scuff marks, & any attempt to clean it shows color/texture changes. Any cleaners, chemicals on it will cause a color change. Not practical at all.

I settled on an aluminum base coat topped with a satin clear. It looks pretty good & can be cleaned without color/texture changes. Don't know if it matches original factory or not.

What ever you use, experiment on another piece of metal first until you find what you want. I found that "some" aluminum paints darkened irregularly when topped with clear coat. I can't stress this too much. The alternative is to strip the dash & start over. I've done it.

Don't know what is available to you. I ended up with "Krylon Dull Aluminum" topped with "Krylon Satin Clear" top coat. Spray the top coats very dry & light. About 14 inches distance. With this combination, the base color did not change at all & it seals the aluminum so that it doesn't discolor when cleaned.

When masking the area to be painted, use a thin & narrow vinyl masking tape to get the initial outline. The 3M blue type, 1/4" wide.

A pic is attached.

Maybe someone will suggest an easier method
D

 

[Keoke]

Hi Peter, I do not know what the original color was either.However, I would suggest you take it to a powder coater and see what they can do for you.they have several shades of silver finishes on samples at the shops I visit.---Fwiw---Keoke

 

[Randy Forbes]

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... Maybe someone will suggest an easier method
D

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I definitely have a more difficult, labor intensive and time consuming method /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif

 

[Dave Russell]

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I definitely have a more difficult, labor intensive and time consuming method /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif

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It sure is! I've done this on a few rifle actions & or their bolts. Even more time consuming on round parts. No denying that it produces a very nice & unique finish though. Remember the old lathes & mills that had engine turned ways?
D

 

[KevinR]

Randy the turning looks great. on another note what size tires are you using. are they the same front and rear?

thanks
Kevin R

 

[Randy Forbes]

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Randy the turning looks great. on another note what size tires are you using. are they the same front and rear?

thanks
Kevin R

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Hi Kevin,

Thanks!

As for the tires, those "rollers" were bought just so the tires wouldn't be going flat on Paul Tsikuris while he had the car in his shop for paint work. They're Wheel Vintiques Ralle Sports(think Corvette) in a 15 x 6 "truck pattern" (5 on 5 bc) with Yokahama (somethings) 195/65 tires all around. The wheels were about $60.00 each (new) and the tires were perhaps $54.00 each.

Ideally, I'd find a set of Halibrand's 15 x 6, but I'm sure I'll be settling for the American Racing copy (Bonneville or something like that). With those, I'll probably go back to a 195/60 fr & 205/60rr tire like I had on it during the 80's.

 

[anthony7777]

randyforbes,wow!very very nice,i think the key in the painting side is to use a primer,base coat,and a clear that is of the same manufacturer,if you use brand 'x',use all thier stuff,they generaly combine compatable chemical stucture to thier entire line thus eliminating color changes or fadding problems in curing,or when cleaning etc. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/yesnod.gif