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Plastic Paint???

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David_Doan

Jedi Warrior
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So the last thing I need to do to finish my dash is too make the plastic part that the steering column below goes through black again. (what's it called?)

The last time I think I just saturated it with tire-shine and let it dry. Worked for a while, but its is brown again.

Options I can think of are:

  • Satin black paint
  • Shoe polish
  • Black spray Plasti-Dip
Any thoughts or experiences?

DSC_9324+-+Copy.JPG
 
ANY good model shop will have a variety of good plastic paints
 
"I've restored a dozen plus trafficators over the years and I learned how to bring back
Bakelite without removing its unique look and patina from an elderly gentleman who
restored old radios (the knobs and assorted pieces were Bakelite). Bakelite is one of
the first plastics (Dr. Leo Baekeland, 1908, father of the plastics industry) made from a
formaldehyde formula and some sort of filler, which was in many cases wood (read
sawdust). It tends to dry out over the years and needs to be re-moisturized to keep it
from becoming more brittle than it already is and you will see that there are a number of
ways to accomplish this.
Usually I clean the pieces first with warm soapy and a toothbrush to get the years of dirt,
grime, grease and misc. crud off. If the surface is at all rough, which it will be if it has
spent any amount of time exposed to the elements, the surface will need to be
smoothed out. I usually will start with #0000 steel wool (equal to 600 girt sandpaper)
and then work through 1000 then 1500 grit wet sandpaper. I then polish the piece
carefully on a on a special soft string wheel with plastic polish on my buffer. WARNING,
be extremely careful to hold on to the piece tightly because if you lose your grip and the
piece hits the floor, it's history!
You may now notice that the piece has a speckled brown/golden tinge to it and no I'm
not talking about brown Bakelite, that's different, what you see I believe are the filler
specks (sawdust pieces) that have bleached out over the years from exposure.
Depending on the degree of discoloration the piece can be dyed with black India Ink.
The next step is to re-moisturize the piece. I normally use plain black Kiwi Shoe Polish
and then hand buff until there is no residue left. Other folks that I know have used
Neatsfoot oil, mink oil or clear mineral oil none of which I have tried but from seeing
some of their finished work it looked very good. Finally I will apply a good Carnuba wax
to finish. The results can be spectacular and far superior to just painting the piece,
which may be your other option if the piece is broken and you repair it with filler.
I hope this helps."
Cheers
Curt Arndt
Carlsbad, CA
'55 BN1, '60 AN5

__________________________________________________________________________________

There's also this product that I haven't tried:

https://www.pensburymanor.com/pensburymanor/Pensbury_Garage.html
 
the above post sounds very comprehensive - just to add (not from experience) but a number of boards I follow have people using boiled linseed oil with spectacular results.
 
David,
Good job! I really like the shoe polish method and think it keeps with the original look. I have a couple of plinths that have been painted by POs and would like to remove the paint, can you use a chemical stripper?
Rut
 
Rut said:
David,
Good job! I really like the shoe polish method and think it keeps with the original look. I have a couple of plinths that have been painted by POs and would like to remove the paint, can you use a chemical stripper?
Rut
Click to expand...


Chemical stripper "probably" would not hurt anything. The paint is likely not really stuck to the bakelite. If you soak it for a day or so in Evaporust or something like "purple power" or "Oil Eater", the paint will probably fall off.

I have been using Evapo-rust and Oil Eater to clean up a lot of little parts. In either case anything soaked long enough will lose its paint. I had a glass taillight that the PO glued on with what I think was black RTV. Left it in Oil Eater for a day or so and it all fell off.
 
David,
I've not tried Oil Eater, but Evaporust us the bomb. I'll give the OE a try on the plinth and see what happens.
Thanks, Rut
 
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