Customs metalflake dashboard good idea ??

Flake on my dash in my olds reflects back in windshield bad in the right light. But you know the rules. #1 look cool

 

sound like ya made up your mind anyhow..so do it!with MORE PICTURES!!!

 

somebody needs to invent flat flake. try saying that three times fast

 

The dash in my '63 Impala is Candy Green and it throws a glare pretty bad at times, but nothing that you cant deal with, or at worst case get out the shades.

 

i did the dash in my 54 chevy in metalflake red, never had any problems at all, sold the car to my cousin almost 2 yrs ago he has never had a problem. it turned out very cool looking i say do it. if i was at home i could send you some pics of it but iam not, maybe later

 

Sounds pretty cool for a show car or a trailer queen. For something driven
very much on sunny days, maybe not so much. I had the windshield out of my '64 Savoy years ago while doing some body work. It had a non-padded dash painted a kind of medium brown metallic with a fairly dull, almost semi-gloss finish. A friend who was helping me on the project decided that having the glass out was the perfect opportunity to compound and polish out the top of the dash. At the time I couldn't think of any reason not to.

Well it actually buffed out and waxed up pretty nice. The car went back
together and got painted and looked pretty good. Everything seemed fine
until the first time I drove it on a bright sunny day. Then it seemed like
buffing out the top of the dash was the dumbest idea ever. I couldn't wait to strip the wax off it and let it dull back out to its previous low-glare
finish!

A lot of this is going to depend on the angle of the top of tha dash and the angle of the windshield above it, as well as the relative position of the
sun. You might want to try a little experiment first before you commit to
painting anything. It'll no doubt look a little strange to most people, but get a roll of aluminum foil and lay out some sheets, shiney side up, across the dash where you plan on painting it. Lay it out as smoothly as you can and tape it down in a few places.

Then spend a few days driving it around with the sun high in the sky as well as earlier and later in the day. This should give you a pretty good idea of just how badly it might glare up either directly in your eyes or reflect off the inside of the windshield. And it might be best to avoid driving around in areas where there's likely to be kids on bikes or much pedestrian traffic.

If you don't have any problems with glare or reflections affecting your
vision, then metalfake to your hearts content. That "towel on the dash" idea doesn't seem too bad either.

 

This works;



The world needs more flake.
Best of luck.
Paul

 

There's your solution

I talked to a guy last spring at a swap meet who was driving a '55 Merc with a chrome dash. I asked him how bad it was driving into the sun. "Killer", he said, ........... but he carried a dash cover for those rare ocassions. Just stuffed it under the seat until he needed it.

Go for it!!!

 

i never been in a car with a flaked dash. but i say go for it. then go to walmart buy a pair of $5 sun glasses and leave them in there all thing time. just in case.

 

It won't be any more glare than any dash with shiney gloss. If you find that it's too much, you could block out the offensive part and paint a dull/flat panel there, then stripe it so it looks intentional

 

Once again, ever heard of shades?

 

WOW! Im loving that 59-60 dash in your AD!

 

Ok, Thank you all for your response. Now I decided to go for it, the dash is blanked and in the primer allready.

The only thing I'm not sure of is what to do with the lower side of the dash (see picture between the red lines), the steering column and the inside of the steering wheel.

I'm thinking of creme/white, but nothing at the car (except the white walls) is white, so I'm not sure it makes sence.

What do you think/any ideas ??

 

I think that would be cool as hell and I have always thought that metalflake should be use like that for detail stuff or in a panel between chrome strips rather than over large areas. There are plenty of cars driven around with chrome dashes or a hell of a lot of stainless or chrome on the dash and windshield trim. Worse case you can make a cloth cover up with some magnets inside it that can be laid on the dash when the sun is too bright.

 

Id go for it.Just place a towel over dash while driving,Or maybe something else,Just not anything white........

 

cool idea. id like to see your finished product

 

We painted the dash and the top of the door(where you put your arm) Gloss black with silver flake, I was very interesting in some light conditions.

 

the entire dash in my 60 pontiac is flaked, top and bottom. the flat top section is silver flake with tangerine laced panels, and chrome tape down the center. (Thanks to The Harpoon) I CAN'T drive my car in the sun without polarized sunglasses. The glare is insane without them and It shows all the panels and tape in it. Actually had to drive with my head out the window once because I lost my sunglasses. Oh, night time is a bitch too when I hit streetlights.

 

the 55 in my avatar is mine I painter entire car candy red metal flake a few years back to take to a world of wheels after showing and doing well I hated the cars color as a driver so went back to black. but left all interior trim and dash red metalflake no problems w/glare and looks great biggest problem is blind spot from scoop hiding blower and carbs

 

anyone had luck with a rattle can flake? I'm doing the dash on my 62 to match the roof, and I'm looking for a gloss white w/a little flake in it for some of the accent pieces... worst comes to worse, I can take it to the painter and have them spray the same stuff on there.. just a lot more $$$

 

Here is a small update about the dash.
Today it was sprayed metalflakes and candy.
Not finished completely, but starting to look like it.

The inside (??) of the steering wheel, steering column and shifter will be painted gray. Still not sure if I make the lower dash line gray or leaf it the way it is now.

 

Two tone would look good, but I like it solid red, too.
'53-54 dashes drop off pretty quickly so I don't think you'll have the same glare problems some people are having with later model cars. If it bothers you too much once you start driving you could always paint that raised top area a dark color, but unless it is a satin or flat it'll still glare.
Am I the only one on here who knows that these cars all came with the dashes and steering wheels painted low-gloss from the factory? They weren't high gloss to begin with. That's why they look so slick when we repaint them with super-gloss paint, AND why we all get glare on a sunny day.

 

I had a 54 ford that the dash was flaked. Never had any issues with blinding me. My favorite thing about it was driving at night with the street lights going past.

I say flake it!

 

looking good

 

paint the top black and the bottom to match the roof.

 

Just paint the windshield flat black and you get the best of both worlds...

 

It WILL blind you while driving......but only when driving into the sun....haha....
Throw a towel over it if it bothers ya.....
I deal with it....

 

I decided to do the lower part of the dash gray to match the headliner.
Last saturday the roof was painted too.

Just some small other things to do and then everything will be polished.

 

Looks goooooood