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Looking at the illumination of my Maroon Packard, wondering if I can't make My Black Packard easier to see. Here are some pictures.

Also looking at painting the script, it had some color of brown on all the inside, but now it's all cleaned out. Any ideas what is a good brown to use?

I'm showing pictures from my Maroon which it looks like someone put their own touch on it, next is my Green Packard Super and not a very good picture of my Black before it was cleaned.
Wes

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On my emblem I used a Rustoleum product -- Leather Brown in a gloss finish. I can't say if it is an exact factory shade but it is close. I took it from the steering column bracket and under dash exposed column & the OD bracket. It works well with my refinished dash.

On the hood and vent handles, those were definitely a different and lighter color. Once cleaned I chose another Rustoleum product -- Satin finish London Gray -- which is kind of a cross between gray and dark tan. That seems to work and is relatively close to what was remaining on the pieces that I believe was from the factory.

Thanks Howard, it looks like that Leather Brown is the catch all for the brown.
Wes

Just tried MULTI-STRIP and it looks like it works pretty good. Put it on and five hours later scraper it off and washed it down.
Wes

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Progress. Just be sure none of the stripper wound up and is still in any of the folded over seams. That stuff can pick the worst places to ooze from if it ever turns liquid again.

Are you going to woodgrain or just paint. If you woodgrain with the GrainIt kit I suggest a light gray primer. I used red because that appeared to be what the factory used. It was so dark and the base paint was so thin I had to lay on and waste several heavy coats of the base color to get the light yellow orange finish needed for the background in the GrainIt process.

Thanks for the heads up Howard, am I'm looking at the woodgrain.
Thanks again.
Wes

Well yesterday 66 degrees so I stripped the dash. Today in the 20's and snowed in. Ice on the roads, I'm staying put.
Wes

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Howard, I was reviewing your project again on the dash, and it looks like to me you just used the Leather Brown paint in a spray can and then did the print over the top of that. Or did I miss something. Also what two print patterns did you use?
Thanks for your help.
Wes

Wes, it is a multi stage process. The dash was sandblasted and dents fixed or filled then coated with primer. It is imperative the dash be smooth since the roller can find a dent and either leave no ink as it skips over or else fills it with ink. Either makes a blemish in the finish pattern. The roller also needs to be perfectly smooth as any defects there will also show. On the primer, as I said in another post I made the mistake of using red oxide primer whereas gray would have been a better choice with the very thin base color paint. In my case the base was a sort of yellow orange color.

Next step is to ink the plates and use the rollers to pick up the pattern. The pattern rolls over the base coat in the darker color which on mine was a very dark brown. It is a thick oil based ink so takes several days to dry. There is a technique which I have not fully mastered. Did manage to get presentable results after several attempts but others do it so much better. Look at Joe Santana's dash and the fellow from Montana that used to post here before selling his cars.. The nice thing about the ink is as long as it is fresh it can be wiped off as many times as needed leaving the base color perfectly OK for the next attempt. After many wipes the base coat starts to look dingy but a quick light clean with the ink solvent removes the ink traces and leaves the base untouched.

Once the pattern is on you let the ink dry. As it dries the ink tends to look faded and pattern becomes less distinct which GrainIt says is normal. It must be because the next steps brings it back but not as pronounced and contrasty as when first applied.

They have a toning compound which is the graining ink very much thinned -- almost like water. After the pattern ink is COMPLETELY dry the toning compound is very lightly applied to blend the two contrasting colors a bit. After that dries then the clear coat and polishing. You could elect to leave the toning compound step off which is what I did because of the fading mentioned.

As mentioned somewhere else, I couldn't decide how glossy the dash was supposed to be. Some refinished dashes I see in photos are very shiny but I didn't really like a mirror or lacquered look so elected to go with more of a satin finish. That choice is yours and I do not know which is correct.

Here is what GrainIt came up with when I sent photos of my undamaged parts for their recommendations. They did have some videos on their website showing the process so you might see if still there and check them out.

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Thanks Howard, I've reread some of yours posts and I see where the Leather Brown is used for the steering column, bracket and other small items.

I also notice on my Maroon Packard, on the drivers side lower dash where it wasn't painted and you can still see the red primer.
Wes

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