For those of you like me, who have been wondering how to restore the grey faceplate of your speedometer/gage cluster, I have found the answer.
Go to ebay, and look for the lovely dark blue 1966 coupe for sale, and take a look at the pictures of the speedo--perfect. I wrote Bob Waldman (the owner), and asked him for his recipe for restoring the gray. His response:
"To remove the clear acrylic backing from the faceplate I used a razor blade and carefully cut off the nibs holding it together. Once the faceplate is free I again used a razor blade to nib away at the edges of the colored indicator lenses until they were free. The faceplate is very thin brass and must be handled with care. On most of them the original factory paint is already flaking in spots, so I helped that along by slowly prying up the edges of the old paint with a fresh razor blade. It doesn't need to be scraped so much as just 'lifted' by the edges and it will flake away in nice large pieces. The adhesion near the inner edges is a little harder so just take your time. It took me about an hour. Once all the paint was removed I sprayed it with Krylon Wrinkle Black and cured it with a heat gun. The next day I sprayed a topcoat over the wrinkle finish in Ford Gray, which I think most closely approximates the original color. Reassembly of the indicator lenses and backplate were done with a glue gun."
Bob went on to provide a little more detail: "The Ford Gray has a satin finish - just right. Good luck with the GT, refinishing the cluster is a satisfying job and in my eye one of the finishing touches of a good restoration. I was dreading putting it back in the car because it was a bear to remove, but for some inexplicable reason it went right back in with no problem. On a side note, the acrylic back face and indicator lenses were polished with Novus grade 2 fine scratch remover, available at most TAP plastic stores or hobby shops."
Thanks to Bob for so generously sharing the secret to properly refinishing the speedo faceplate--and congratulations to him on a spectacular restoration.
Go to ebay, and look for the lovely dark blue 1966 coupe for sale, and take a look at the pictures of the speedo--perfect. I wrote Bob Waldman (the owner), and asked him for his recipe for restoring the gray. His response:
"To remove the clear acrylic backing from the faceplate I used a razor blade and carefully cut off the nibs holding it together. Once the faceplate is free I again used a razor blade to nib away at the edges of the colored indicator lenses until they were free. The faceplate is very thin brass and must be handled with care. On most of them the original factory paint is already flaking in spots, so I helped that along by slowly prying up the edges of the old paint with a fresh razor blade. It doesn't need to be scraped so much as just 'lifted' by the edges and it will flake away in nice large pieces. The adhesion near the inner edges is a little harder so just take your time. It took me about an hour. Once all the paint was removed I sprayed it with Krylon Wrinkle Black and cured it with a heat gun. The next day I sprayed a topcoat over the wrinkle finish in Ford Gray, which I think most closely approximates the original color. Reassembly of the indicator lenses and backplate were done with a glue gun."
Bob went on to provide a little more detail: "The Ford Gray has a satin finish - just right. Good luck with the GT, refinishing the cluster is a satisfying job and in my eye one of the finishing touches of a good restoration. I was dreading putting it back in the car because it was a bear to remove, but for some inexplicable reason it went right back in with no problem. On a side note, the acrylic back face and indicator lenses were polished with Novus grade 2 fine scratch remover, available at most TAP plastic stores or hobby shops."
Thanks to Bob for so generously sharing the secret to properly refinishing the speedo faceplate--and congratulations to him on a spectacular restoration.
