Paint code for heater/ac faceplate

[Pearl TBird]

At the suggestion of Alan Tast, I am posing a question about the paint color/code for the faceplate of the heater/ac, radio and vent/wiper controls and clock for 1964-66 TBird. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[Alan H. Tast]

As I have stated previously, I am not sure that there is a 'paint code' for this. I suspect this part may have been vacuum-plated with a dull aluminum or similar finish. Given the brushed appearance of the background, attempting to paint over it may end up filling the striations in the face. You're probably going to have to custom-mix something and add a flattener for a dull or matte sheen if you're going to pursue painting. Input from others is encouraged.

If the finish is degraded so bad that it needs refinishing, I would also suggest getting a used heater-A/C control head which is in better condition and use the faceplate from it if your chrome casting is in better shape.

Please post a photo to show what kind of condition the existing faceplate is, both front and back. These may yield clues or suggestions from others that have gone down this road before.

[jtschug]

There used to be a very popular forum on Yahoogroups for "Flairbirds". Gary Tayman who restores old car radios used to post on there very often. He had a particular shade of spray paint he would use on the radio dial, which is the same color as the climate controls. He would spray on this paint, and then after a short time use a large pencil eraser to remove the paint from the raised letters.

Unfortunately the Flairbirds Yahoogroup is long gone, so I don't know how to find that post. Gary Tayman is still around, I've seen him posting on Facebook.

[dgalietti]

As a caution.. I purchased one of these "remanufactured" heater controls and I was less than impressed.
especially by the painted faceplate. The color was not horrible, but the brushed finish is gone and it was painted poorly. I will try to take a picture when I get a chance.

The controls themselves were fairly corroded and the chrome completely painted over with silver paint. the plastic stops were old and deteriorated.

I used most of the parts from my original unit with the new lens. And I did use the poorly painted faceplate. I may do something about it later.

I would recommend the new lens though, and I think he does sell them separately.

So as Alan said. Your best bet may be to clean up your old faceplate as much as possible. throw a new lens on it and I bet it looks better than you think.

I won't give you advise on colors, because I'm mostly colorblind and Eastwood silver cad paint looks about the same as this to me... and I'm pretty sure it's probably not even close.