1958 interior paint

[Bob W.]

I had bought some interior paint from Al Knoch some time ago and finally had the gauge cluster, etc painted but it appears to be a semi gloss finish. This doesn't seem right as every one I have seen is very shiny. Any suggestions?

[Stan G.]

Re: 1958 interior paint

Bob , I think you bought interior vinyl paint meant for the seats , headliner or door panels . The dash cluster should be gloss paint to match the inside trunk area and interior body . I think Al Knoch only deals with soft materials ( seat covers , tops and door panels )

[Bob W.]

Re: 1958 interior paint

The cluster and all the fiberglass in the interior have no been painted with this. My bad, any suggestions what to do now? Strip it all down and repaint or clear coat it which I know is wrong and what paint do i use since you can't get lacquer anymore.

[Stan G.]

Re: 1958 interior paint

Bob , I hate to say it but you need to strip it and start all over . The colors are not even the same , close but different . What color is your interior ?

[Bob W.]

Re: 1958 interior paint

The car is silver blue. I was afraid you were going to say that. Any ideas where to find the paint to start over again.

[Loren L.]

Re: 1958 interior paint

It would help to know where you are....did he use lacquer, enamel or ??? on the cluster and the heater/radio area?

[John H.]

Re: 1958 interior paint

Bob -

Those components shouldn't be "very shiny"; they were painted lying on the floor of the car, and weren't buffed.

[Bob W.]

Re: 1958 interior paint

I'm in Henderson, NV. I just pulled the can and it says acrylic lacquer on it. I had purchased this some 7-8 years ago. Maybe it just needs to be wet sanded and buffed. A friend painted it back then but the car was put on the back burner until now.

[Loren L.]

Re: 1958 interior paint

7-8 years.....are you SURE that it was shaken and mixed - take it to your local paint store and have it "mixed" and have your painter load his touchup gun and paint another piece of fiberglass (not on the car), let it dry and see if it's the same color......

[Bob W.]

Re: 1958 interior paint

The color is not the problem, it's the finish. The clusters I have seen are extremely shiny but mine seems to be a semi gloss. that's why I'm thinking it just needs to be wet sanded and buffed because i don't remember after all this time if it ever was.

[Loren L.]

Re: 1958 interior paint

If the metallic was laying on the bottom of the can...........

[John S.]

Re: 1958 interior paint

Bob - If the paint used is acrylic lacquer - it can be buffed. However, Silver Blue is a metalic and as such you have to be very careful sanding it. The paint layers (color/metalic) if you sand through the color into the metal the paint will cloud or halo. I never sand a metalic. I put a clearcoat over it - to sand - and stop sanding when I hit the color (sanding clear gives off a white paste - the color will change to the color). You might try simply buffing it - if that doesn't give you the luster you want, you can always go the wet sanding route.

[Bob W.]

Re: 1958 interior paint

There is no metallic in the paint and is not clear coated. This paint is the old lacquer that has been banned now.

[John S.]

Re: 1958 interior paint

Bob - My 58 interior is Silver Blue. It is a metalic. It is not a heavy (sparkley) metalic, none the less, it IS a metalic - the silver seperates in a stored can. If sanded, IT WILL HALO. Be very careful.

[John H.]

Re: 1958 interior paint

The clusters I have seen are extremely shiny but mine seems to be a semi gloss.

Bob -

The "extremely shiny" ones may be pleasant to look at, but that's not the way they were when they were built; they weren't sanded or buffed. They were primed by the supplier, and were sprayed while lying on the floor of the car, then removed and taken to the off-line subassembly before being final-installed.