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MG TD TF 1500 - Dash Paint Source

I'm looking for an alternative to spending $12.95 at Moss(now on sale for $9.75) for the metallic bronze spray paint for the instument cluster. Mine only has a few nicks, which I'd rather paint by brush than by spray. Yes, I could spray the aerosol paint into the lid, then brush it on, but this usually does not yield consistent results.

Has anyone looked at alternatives in the US, such as Rustoleum or even Testors (model) paint?

Ira
Ira Spector

I have used either Dupli-color or Plasticote paint to paint the entire panel (also steering wheel centerpiece/bases). The color may not be exactly perfect, but is close. The Moss paint is supposedly a perfect match, so if that is what you want, best to get that. Any big parts store should have a bunch of different touch-up/spray colors- pick whatever you want! To touch up, you may still need to mix and match. Most auto touch-up paints (spray or in the bottle) are lacquer, and may bubble your existing paint. Testors would work if you could match the color.
George Butz

Ira:

George probably has the best idea so far. Bear in mind that the "original" color that MOSS offers, even if it truly is correct, most likely will not match the existing color on the cluster. Why? Two big reasons. 1) The formulas used to mix paint today are much tighter than they were 45+ years ago. I would bet you that the paint shades varied from car to car when originally produced at the factory. So....which original paint did MOSS try to replicate? Car number 125 or car number 8,556? There is no guarantee that any paint mixed today will match paint blended and applied that long ago. 2) There is also the very real effect of fading. After 45+ years (assuming the paint on the cluster is the original paint) what you see is not what it actually looked like fresh off the showroom floor. Unless you can get a paint chip for matching purposes (now you'd have more than just a few nicks to cover) you are better off to remove the instrument components and octagonal bezzles, sand, fill, and respray the panel.

Might take longer to do...but if your like me, trying to cover unprepared nicks and scratches with paint alone will still leave the nick marks visable and it's going to bug you everytime you look at the panel.

After that, the choice of paint is up to you. I used RUST-OLEUM Metallics - Antique Brass Metallic paint. Sure turned out pretty. I think it is a little darker than the original but sure looks nice in the sunlight. I too also painted the steering wheel hub to match the panel. The metallic elements in the paint are pretty fine, so you get the metallic effect without actually seeing large offending metal flakes in the paint. I used the Rust-oleum product (no, the car is not rusty) to help prevent the formation of rust in the future. I think I paid $3.99 a can at Home Depot.

Sorry.....kinda got carried away with my "advice". You asked what time it was, and I just told you how to build the watch !!

Hope this helped

Jim
TF7022 / XPEG852
Jim Rice

This thread was discussed between 16/07/2001 and 17/07/2001

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