Dash Paint Question

sconnors

sconnors

Well-known member
I own a 1930 Deluxe coupe which was manufactured in June 1930. One of the color schemes for that year was black body and vermillion red wheels and pinstripe which is how my car appears.

I know the car has been restored at some point before it got to me and the dash rail has the wood grain appearance. The dash however is painted in brown. From what I've read and seen it appears the dash should match the body which would be black. My question is, has anyone ever painted their dash while still in the car and do you have any tips on doing so? (see the red circled portion in the attached photo - not my car just an image I grabbed online)

I'm thinking of dropping the instrument panel, masking off the dash rail, steering column, and putting drop cloths down to cover the floor and blankets to cover the door panels and then attempting to paint the dash that way.

Thoughts fellas?
 

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It'll take all of five to ten minutes to remove the dash rail from a Coupe. A couple screws across its face and one each at the bottom where the flanges bolt to the "A" door pillars. By the time you masked everything off you listed, you could have the dash rail removed and sanded, maybe even primered.
The Deluxe Coupe dash rail should have a wood-grained finish, not body color because your Coupe is a DeLuxe. Standard Coupes received body paint or upper body color.
Marshall
 
What exactly are you referring to as the dash? You mention dash rail and instrument panel so can we assume by "dash" you mean the back/bottom of the gas tank?
 
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Marshall V. Daut said:
It'll take all of five to ten minutes to remove the dash rail from a Coupe. A couple screws across its face and one each at the bottom where the flanges bolt to the "A" door pillars. By the time you masked everything off you listed, you could have the dash rail removed and sanded, maybe even primered.
The Deluxe Coupe dash rail should have a wood-grained finish, not body color because your Coupe is a DeLuxe. Standard Coupes received body paint or upper body color.
Marshall
Click to expand...

I'm not referring to the dash rail, that has the wood grain on it. I'm talking about everything under it
 
Y-Blockhead said:
What exactly are you referring to as the dash? You mention dash rail and instrument panel so can we assume by "dash" you mean the back/bottom of the gas tank?
Click to expand...

My dash rail is wood grain. I'm talking about the red circled part in the attached pic (not my car, just grabbed an image online)
 

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Lower body color, which since your car is now black, this area should be black. By the way, this area is the gas tank you're talking about. That's gasoline sitting your lap!
M.
 
Am I correct that the tank is currently blue?

Yes, you can paint the tank while it is in the car. But you will have to mask out everything, and I mean every square inch. Ceiling, seats, glass, floor, doors, steering wheel, firewall, shifter, hand brake.

You could either go single stage of base/clear coat.

You're going to have to find a pinstriper or mask out the stripes yourself. Take pictures as to how it is currently done.
 
old31 said:
Am I correct that the tank is currently blue?

Yes, you can paint the tank while it is in the car. But you will have to mask out everything, and I mean every square inch. Ceiling, seats, glass, floor, doors, steering wheel, firewall, shifter, hand brake.

You could either go single stage of base/clear coat.

You're going to have to find a pinstriper or mask out the stripes yourself. Take pictures as to how it is currently done.
Click to expand...

No it is currently brown and the car is black, the photo I posted is just an example
 
Remove the dash rail, instument panel, and the steering column. To paint it correctly you will need to roughen the original paint and apply a primer. You will need to mask off the headliner, door panels and anything else that could absorb paint mist. Removing the steering column will make access a whole lot easier.
 
And it's not just the portion of the gas tank facing you that needs to be painted. The gas tank rolls underneath towards the firewall. This is a tough area to spray even when the body is off the car and without anything in the way, such as the steering column, shift lever, e-brake handle, and cowl panels. And as CT Jack states, you've also got a cloth interior and upholstery to protect from overspray. If spraying Model A and T Fords as a hobby since 1983 has taught me anything, I've learned that overspray is an insidious element that finds its way to any unprotected surface, even where you wouldn't expect it. Use a heavy mill plastic tarping, not the thin stuff because paint filters through that. Then cover the plastic with cloth drape lengths. You'll have to be creative in masking off the headliner. Keep the spray gun pressure as low as you can without creating orange peel in the paint. That can be sanded and rubbed out if necessary, but you also run the risk of sanding and/or buffing through the paint.
What you propose to do can be done, of course. Just take a lot of precautions and you will succeed.
Marshall
 
CT Jack said:
Remove the dash rail, instument panel, and the steering column. To paint it correctly you will need to roughen the original paint and apply a primer. You will need to mask off the headliner, door panels and anything else that could absorb paint mist. Removing the steering column will make access a whole lot easier.
Click to expand...

Can I just drop the steering column or do I have to remove it from the car totally?
 
Marshall V. Daut said:
And it's not just the portion of the gas tank facing you that needs to be painted. The gas tank rolls underneath towards the firewall. This is a tough area to spray even when the body is off the car and without anything in the way, such as the steering column, shift lever, e-brake handle, and cowl panels. And as CT Jack states, you've also got a cloth interior and upholstery to protect from overspray. If spraying Model A and T Fords as a hobby since 1983 has taught me anything, I've learned that overspray is an insidious element that finds its way to any unprotected surface, even where you wouldn't expect it. Use a heavy mill plastic tarping, not the thin stuff because paint filters through that. Then cover the plastic with cloth drape lengths. You'll have to be creative in masking off the headliner. Keep the spray gun pressure as low as you can without creating orange peel in the paint. That can be sanded and rubbed out if necessary, but you also run the risk of sanding and/or buffing through the paint.
What you propose to do can be done, of course. Just take a lot of precautions and you will succeed.
Marshall
Click to expand...

Thanks this is all great advice! I’ll take my time and make sure everything gets masked properly. Much appreciated
 
That plastic looks good, better than what I used. I used the Home Depot thin mil plastic and overspray went right through it and onto the car. I was spraying something else in garage, so I covered the Model A with the thin plastic and the only cloth tarps I had on hand. Every place the plastic was exposed had overspray on the paint! I used my buffer and went over the entire car. Lesson learned.
Your plastic recommendation just might do the trick.
Marshall
 
Hello, couple of pictures of my tank , remove from car ,the hardest part of reinstalling is getting the welding in , some people will sew cloth on it to pull it down into place.
 

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Also on a deluxe version, the raised panels were buffed for gloss and also pin striped, on this example the stripes are slightly larger than should be.
 
I would just pull the tank out and do or get the work done. So much easier to work on out of the car when it's upside down on a work stand or some protected saw horses to keep from damaging the top side paint.
 
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