Packard Forum Index » Post-War (1946-54)

Ross, Thank you for the confirmation on the maroon and the material you used in the recoloring. Years ago I helped a friend redo his Clipper. Took the instruments apart & we found that bright color under the protected areas so did the same process using transparent glass stain. We were both pleased with the result but when he drove his car to a well known southern California shop for a monthly mini-meet, was severely chastised by the Packard "experts" in attendance for having a wrong dash. Packards are not flashy like that, don't you know. No amount of convincing and of course, this was before instant pictures made pre and post photos easily available. I hope those same people see your post.

On a semi-related note, I did the same process to color a faded 56 dash using transparent amber glass stain. It still looks a rich gold 15 years later--although not exposed to sunlight very often so it too might fade. Glass stain is not as available as it once was but the orange and yellow from Duplicolor might not do the trick for that. The glass stain is still available online from a few places and some can be mixed to shade.

Ross,

Here is another wrinkle, the cluster of my 53 Derham. I also have a NOS horn button that has the green accent around the outer circumference of the horn button that I found in the extra parts collection that came with the car.

O-D had sent me some shots of the Formal in TN has the same cluster as this. Won't post those without O-D's permission.

Dave, your work is gorgeous. Beautiful job.

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O-D had sent me some shots of the Formal in TN has the same cluster as this. Won't post those without O-D's permission.

Thanks for the courtesy of asking, it doesn't happen often enough nor do we give photo credits when possible as we should; I'm sometimes negligent as well in that regard. I didn't take those photos myself and honestly can't remember where I got them, but since they're relevant to authenticity, as far as I'm concerned, use them as you wish.

Thank you O_D.

Here is the instrument cluster photograph O_D supplied me with last year from the 53 Formal in TN.It's in nicer shape than mine at this point but it is the same paint and color scheme.

Trouble with this site is it makes me want to just start tearing into things and make them better. I keep telling myself "stick to the plan, damn it".

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Ross,

Am I right in my understanding, all you had to do was spray the gauge face with the Duplicolor product and that's it? Or did you have to brush it on? I guess what I'm really getting at is did you have to repaint the arrows/markings on the face or does this lacquer just treat the anodized aluminum? Seems like that would be too easy.

Yes, that would be too easy. the only gages that present a problem are the gas and temp gages. All other lettering on the instruments is actually on clear plastic dials. On the two small gages I spray their faces with two coats of the duplicolor and let them dry. Then I use little snippets of rub-on transfer letters from the hobby store to replace the little arrows.


Also, it is difficult to sneak the faces of the small gages out from under their needles. Very delicate.

Ok. That leads me to another question. How do you remove the needles from the Fuel, Temp, Speedo and clock? I have a spare cluster and I was tempted to just pull them off, but I know there must be a better way, and they are definitely delicate. I was thinking perhaps, going back to the hobby store idea, of painting the needles with luminescent paint, if i could find it.

The clock hands will come off although there are some gotchas. Check out 51Packards blog starting about herehttps://packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?post_id=66446#forumpost66446 for some things to watch out for.

As to the rest of them, would not even attempt it. Speedo has a delicate spring on the stem just behind the needle and needle breaks off easily enough as it is in operation if it starts jerking and slams into the stops. Here is a photo of a 56 gauge but the 51's are similar. The needle is separate but essentially part of the mechanism on those. Don't know if you would ever get it aligned with the rest of it to work properly again.

As you said, luminous paint is available at many hobby shops or online in small bottles although today's "safe" kid friendly formulations may not be similar to the color or brightness used then.

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