1971 Road Runner Rallye Dash Wood Grain Restoration Process ??

DeMopuar · Mar 21, 2019

I am looking at restoring the wood grain on both the rallye dash as well as the area in front of the passenger on that wood grain. My question is - has anyone done it before and what is the process for the OEM look? I believe the outline of each dash as well as the outer line of the wood grain of the gauges and dash in front of the passenger should be chromed and not silver pen paint. So if I'm right on this, the whole piece needs to be chromed and then painted wood grain.

I was just out at the Mecum auction in Phoenix, and the 1971 Road Runner prototype owned by Steven Juliano was there, and it indeed had chrome accents on the rallye dash wood grain. I know it's more money to do it this way - so please don't tell me how expensive this will be as I already know that - that's not the point of this thread. My question is this, if you've done this, what is the process to get as close to OEM as possible? Who does the best chrome process that is durable, what kind of paint process works the best and is durable and the colors are as close to correct as possible?

My wood grain needs to be redone - so I have no other choice than to go this route. Any information would be appreciated to get this restored as close to OEM as possible.

400sforever · Mar 21, 2019

I had my 72 rallye dash chromed and re-woodgrained by a guy that calls himself gcar. .i think he is in washington

flypaper · Mar 21, 2019

there was a guy who did this 10 or more ? years ago and as I remember the process wasn't easy.
I believe he sent it out to GCAR for the chrome edge
and I do know he painted it black first then brown on top of it to replicate the look.(do not remember the materials)
as over the years the black fades away , and brown takes over.
I have a few nice bezels (inside since the 80's) that you can still see the black in them
and I have other bezels that have sun bleached to all brown.

Mike Mancini of Instrument Specialties restore them
maybe email him a few questions and see if you can pick his brain????
or even easier just send them out to him

DeMopuar · Mar 21, 2019

Thanks for the leads!! I will investigate each one.

droptop · Mar 22, 2019

I had mine done this winter by the company link listed below. Great customer service, 5 week turn around, and the finished product is fantastic. 4 bills for both pcs. And well worth it. I can take some pics and post them this weekend if that would help.

http://www.vacuumorna-metal.com/

T2R9 · Mar 22, 2019

droptop said:
I had mine done this winter by the company link listed below. Great customer service, 5 week turn around, and the finished product is fantastic. 4 bills for both pcs. And well worth it. I can take some pics and post them this weekend if that would help.
http://www.vacuumorna-metal.com/

Did they restore the wood grain or just do the chrome edges?

droptop · Mar 22, 2019

Everything.

RJS · Mar 22, 2019

Glen @ GCAR is the best of the best. It will take about 3-4 months so plan ahead. Check the website for pricing or call him you won't be sorry. I have all my dash pieces done by him for years.
Ron

bee71 · Mar 22, 2019

I did mine following dangina a member here. Worked well.

DeMopuar · Mar 22, 2019

RJS said:
Glen @ GCAR is the best of the best. It will take about 3-4 months so plan ahead. Check the website for pricing or call him you won't be sorry. I have all my dash pieces done by him for years.
Ron

View attachment 737573 View attachment 737575

Wow - that is exactly what I'm looking for. Your dash looks GREAT!!!!!!!

Thanks for all of the good leads guys!

tak419 · Mar 23, 2019

That dash of RJS's looks nice. One thing I don't care for tho and this is just my opinion so don't hate on me, I think the black thru the dash looks too thin and uniform. On a few of my clusters it almost looks like there's brush strokes in the brown, altho there's brown over spray on the backside. Molotow chrome paint sprayed thru an airbrush looks exactly like chrome when applied on plastic.

RJS · Mar 23, 2019

tak419 said:
That dash of RJS's looks nice. One thing I don't care for tho and this is just my opinion so don't hate on me, I think the black thru the dash looks too thin and uniform. All the original dashes I have the brown is applied over the black and by the looks of all them it was applied with a brush. I can see brush stokes on all of my clusters and dash inserts. Butterscotch71 has an NOS cluster, maybe he will post a picture. Also Molotow chrome paint sprayed thru an airbrush looks exactly like chrome when applied on plastic.

I know what your saying, when I first held it in my hands I scrutinized it too. But have to say once in the car I really forgot all about it. I have another set he did for me a few months back that I'll have to see if I have pictures of and post.
Ron

tak419 · Mar 23, 2019

It's definitely a great looking cluster. I'm sure in the car the black isn't as noticeable.

1971 FC7 · Mar 29, 2019

Another plug for vaccumorna-metal. They have done two sets for me so far, great customer service and very competitive price.

1971 Road Runner Rallye Dash Wood Grain Restoration Process ??

DeMopuar

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400sforever

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flypaper

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DeMopuar

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droptop

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T2R9

FBBO Gold Member

droptop

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RJS

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bee71

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DeMopuar

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tak419

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RJS

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tak419

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1971 FC7

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