Easy refreshening of the standard switch bezel

by **christer** » 17 Dec 2006 10:44

I got a very good advice from a friend. I thought I would pass it on:

You can buy a silver pen in most of the book shops. The pen is a bit costly (about $5) but worth every penny if you ask me. It has to be a permanent marker. Well, what do you use it for? The chrome-look-alike rings round she switch nobs are perfect objects to use it on. It can be the difference between a gloomy look and shiny look.

As an example, I have use the pen on my OLD switch bezel (with a very annoying extra hole).The switch bezel was in quite good condition from the start (except for the extra hole) so the difference is maybe not that big when you compare the "before" and the "after" pic´s. The difference was more noticeable on my "new" bezel but I have no "before" pic´s on that bezel, so I thought I would show it this way.

by **christer** » 17 Dec 2006 11:08

Some time ago I was lucky enough to find exactly the correct bezel for my car (I think it is unique for 1970 Challengers. Correct me if I am wrong) This is what it looks like after a treatment with the silver pen.

A word of advice 1: The knobs on my switch bezel really needed to be cleaned. As an example, I have alway wondered about the arrows on the wiper- and dimmerknobs; I have seen them painted in different colours while my switch knobs were grayish. Before I knew better, I had two ideas; either that the coloured arrows belonged to 71-74 cars or that they had been painted by someone who wanted them coloured. How wrong I was! :roll:

The arrows on my knobs were coloured too :!:

The thing was that I was not able to see the colours due to all dust and dirt that had collected through the years

A word of advice 2: If you choose to disassemble the dimmer- and the wiperknobs then I suggest that you watch out so that the very small metal plates inside the knobs don´t get lost. They work as springs keeping the knobs in place during hard acceleration :s003:

.

Another thing is that I think it is adviceable to hold one finger on the backside of the switch when you push the wiper-and dimmerknobs back into place just as a precaution. Probably unnecessary, but better safe than sorry.... :s008:

by **spitfire9137** » 17 Dec 2006 13:43

Great tip, looks good too.

by **christer** » 17 Dec 2006 14:58

spitfire9137 wrote:Great tip, looks good too.

Thanks!

by **Jon** » 17 Dec 2006 17:16

Great idea Christer.

Do you know what color the lettering on the heater control panel is? Mine are worn to the black background.

A tip for removing the bezel on a ralleye dash, I use masking tape on the surfaces adjacent to the joint of the bezels. The reason is the back side of the panel with the controls have a sheetmetal frame. It can scratch the wood grain on the gauge panel during removal and assembly. Been there.... :cry:

by **christer** » 17 Dec 2006 21:24

Jon wrote:Great idea Christer. Do you know what color the lettering on the heater control panel is? Mine are worn to the black background.

No, I don´t but it can easily be checked. To be continued....

Jon wrote:A tip for removing the bezel on a ralleye dash, I use masking tape on the surfaces adjacent to the joint of the bezels. The reason is the back side of the panel with the controls have a sheetmetal frame. It can scratch the wood grain on the gauge panel during removal and assembly. Been there....

The masking tape sounds likea great idea! Those bezels don´t exactly fall off....

by **christer** » 03 Jan 2007 20:28

Jon wrote:Great idea Christer. Do you know what color the lettering on the heater control panel is? Mine are worn to the black background.

No, I don´t know exactly. Anyway, now I have painted them in the same way as above. I am quite pleased with the result myself.

by **spitfire9137** » 04 Jan 2007 3:08

Im pretty sure they are supposed to be white like you have yours christer.

by **christer** » 04 Jan 2007 6:34

spitfire9137 wrote:Im pretty sure they are supposed to be white like you have yours christer.

You mean like in the "before" pic? Yes, it looks like the frame was originally painted in silver and that the text was in white.

On the "after" pic, both the frame and the text have been painted with a silver pen (on the pic it is hard to tell if it is white or silver, I guess). One funny thing is that the paint on the text was so worn that I barely noticed that it was painted at all. It was first when I saw the pic I realized that there really was a thin layer of paint on the text.

by **spitfire9137** » 06 Jan 2007 14:29

Hmm i didn't notice the difference before. I think the frame is supposed to silver and the words white. Im going to go look at my car, but I am unsure if it is original or not.

by **christer** » 06 Jan 2007 18:25

spitfire9137 wrote:I think the frame is supposed to silver and the words white.

I think so too. (Two misled Mopar fans? :biggrin:

)

by **spitfire9137** » 08 Jan 2007 19:33

I went out and checked my car, the frame is silver and the letters are white. It is a 73, and I am unsure if it is original or not, I leaning towards it is.

...and pic´s of my new bezel.