Reading Burdar's resto thread has inspired a few interior projects, the latest of which was the lower dash panels.
As he mentioned, getting the old paint off the panels was the tough part. I ended up wet sanding them with fairly aggressive paper. I was able to get a near-perfect surface this way.
Next came the paint. I originally tried the VHT Wrinkle paint Burdar recommended but had no-so-great results. Not sure exactly what went wrong, but I ended up with a very uneven finish.
So... back to stripping off paint, this time starting with a razor blade to remove the wrinkle paint. Fun!
Next I tried Rustoleum Textured (7720 Black) I was very happy with the way it came out. Less textured than the wrinkle, which actually matched my original surface much better. Pretty much spot on.
So, SEM Trim black on the heater control area. Taped it off and hit with texture. Perfect.
Next came the chrome outline. I used a Krylon Silver Leafing pen. Very close to original. Honestly, I think it's spot on.
Finished with a fine-point Sharpie white paint pen for the lettering.
Now, not having anything but a 38 year old original panel to go on, and the aging that might have occurred, I can't say that this matches the way it looked when new, but I can say that it matches almost exactly the finish I started with. :-)
