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Who restores instrument bezels in a timely manner?

hunt2elk

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I have been waiting for the driving season to end here in WI to pull the dash bezel out of my Duster to get it restored. Got it out this past weekend and called Glenn at GCAR today. He is a solid 6 months out right now. Talk about job security. There has to be someone else doing this kind of work, isnt there? I did find one other, but they are now hooked up with Instrument Specialties and I am sure backlogged as well. Any recommendations?

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What about Redline in Southern CA ?
 
I have restored several of those myself.......Lots of prep and taping........

It kills me and how far these places are backlogged....Keep in mind when they say 6 months it really means 10 when it gets back in your hands....

The biggest hold up is the plastic chrome..........the second is the obvious rest......

If not an OE show car, just do it yourself......Not many will even notice....

As far as recommendations the ones I know has been mentioned....and all have the same backlogs.....
 
Vacuum Orna-metal in Michigan. 6 weeks door to door. Frank does the restoration work for some of the dash restoration places. Here are the pieces he restored for the wife's '63 Dart.... He will give you a quote based on the car. Excellent communication and was true to his word on delivery. There was exactly zero trace of plastic chrome on these parts when I sent them.

https://www.vacuumorna-metal.com

He did the Push Button shifter bezel, instrument cluster bezel, radio bezel, heater control bezel and arm rest bases for me including polishing the lenses.

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I gave up and didn’t have it done. Tried to cheat and get in line early on the phone with $$$ bribe. Didn’t work. No queue til actually received. I’m 65.
 
I gave up and didn’t have it done. Tried to cheat and get in line early on the phone with $$$ bribe. Didn’t work. No queue til actually received. I’m 65.

Like I said Dennis call Frank! I was totally blown away how great the pieces looked and how quick he turned them.
 
Vacuum Orna-metal in Michigan. 6 weeks door to door. Frank does the restoration work for some of the dash restoration places. Here are the pieces he restored for the wife's '63 Dart.... He will give you a quote based on the car. Excellent communication and was true to his word on delivery.

https://www.vacuumorna-metal.com

He did the Push Button shifter bezel, instrument cluster bezel, radio bezel, heater control bezel and arm rest bases for me including polishing the lenses.
Guess I did run across that site. Looked more like knick knack household stuff from the pics they post. I will contact them, six weeks would work in my world.
 
Call Performance Graphics in Tallahassee FL. They did my vent handles and heater controls which look awesome. I met a guy who had his gauges done there and they look as good as mine for half the cost. He also got his back in less than 2 months. They use decals on gauges instead of screen printing, but I can't see the difference. I had mine done elsewhere (Auto Instruments) and they had them 15 or 16 months. Mine look great, but this guys looked just as good and were half the cost. Also vacuum ornamental did all my plastic chrome and they are super quick.
 
It kills me and how far these places are backlogged....Keep in mind when they say 6 months it really means 10 when it gets back in your hands....

The biggest hold up is the plastic chrome..........the second is the obvious rest......

If not an OE show car, just do it yourself......Not many will even notice....
I was thinking the same thing, probably wouldn't get it back until next fall.
Definitely not a show car, just a fun driver. Getting tired of looking at the yellow plastic underneath the chrome though.
When you say do it yourself, a guy would still have to send it off for the chroming?
 
Call Performance Graphics in Tallahassee FL. They did my vent handles and heater controls which look awesome. I met a guy who had his gauges done there and they look as good as mine for half the cost. He also got his back in less than 2 months. They use decals on gauges instead of screen printing, but I can't see the difference. I had mine done elsewhere (Auto Instruments) and they had them 15 or 16 months. Mine look great, but this guys looked just as good and were half the cost. Also vacuum ornamental did all my plastic chrome and they are super quick.

Yup I used the decals on the gauges and you can't tell.
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I was thinking the same thing, probably wouldn't get it back until next fall.
Definitely not a show car, just a fun driver. Getting tired of looking at the yellow plastic underneath the chrome though.
When you say do it yourself, a guy would still have to send it off for the chroming?

We did the daughters Duster with "chrome" spray paint which does not look like chrome. The Duster has so little chrome (just around the edges) you can't really tell. I used DMT laser cut decals for the wood grain it it looks fine.... but today I would just send it to Frank at Vacumn Orna-metal.

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I was thinking the same thing, probably wouldn't get it back until next fall.
Definitely not a show car, just a fun driver. Getting tired of looking at the yellow plastic underneath the chrome though.
When you say do it yourself, a guy would still have to send it off for the chroming?
Nope.....I just used chrome paint........Not the same as PC of course but just how many even notice....As you notice the yellow, everyone notices that....

I even had people asked where I got it restored at.......
 
We did the daughters Duster with "chrome" spray paint which does not look like chrome. The Duster has so little chrome (just around the edges) you can't really tell. I used DMT laser cut decals for the wood grain it it looks fine.... but today I would just send it to Frank at Vacumn Orna-metal.

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That turned out plenty good for me for this car. So did you repaint the black inside the gauge holes? That looks to be a real pain to get taped off nice. I will get a hold of Frank, but if he is really backlogged maybe your daughter would like a little project....
 
Don’t they repop those Duster bezels?
 
That turned out plenty good for me for this car. So did you repaint the black inside the gauge holes? That looks to be a real pain to get taped off nice. I will get a hold of Frank, but if he is really backlogged maybe your daughter would like a little project....

Yes we did. Sprayed it from the back if I recall correctly. Yes there was a LOT of tedious masking. If you do it get some of the purple 3M vinyl masking tape to tape the edges then use the masking tape to just keep overspray off. The 3M tape gives a nice crisp line. I found the hardest was the perimeter black where there are 2 parallel "chrome" strips. If you look close you can see some bad spots.
 
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