VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1933-1936 33 master dash center piece

on the 1933 Chevrolet master dash it has a thin brass plate with lines photo-etched into it ???

The stock gauges are set into this brass panel.

It has black low lines and also a section with red low lines.

Question , how do you refinish it ?

mike

Hi Mike,

I had mine chromed, probably not right, but did it anyway.

It came out nice, but never applied any paint.

Roger

I would be very surprised if anyone could refinish that piece.

If your familiar with the 33 master dash center panel its pretty cool.. Thin photo-etched brass that has lines etched into it about 3/16" apart. Then painted semi gloss black. At the bottom center area it is painted a nice red.

Using deductive reasoning, its painted black first. Then a few days later masked off and the special area painted red.

Leaving this all to properly harden over 7 days or more. Then taking a block sanding rubber block and using 800---1000 grit water paper , very carefully run it flat on the surface to expose the brass photo-etched lines below. Cover the whole thing with flat, satin or gloss clear.

Kinda disappointed that all the vcca chat readers of the 33-36 section and amount of owners of 33 masters couldn't figure this problem out and propose a solution, like I just did.

Or like the time I proposed to the open car tech expert's, how does the windshield glass fit into the roadster frame area 2" narrower.
Answer, "I took it too the glass shop and when I came back it was installed ". He had no idea of how it was done. So much for big time expert .

mike lynch

Hey Mike, hope all is well, sometimes the 33 owners are not glued to the computer reading chat and cant reply as fast as some may like

As a multiple 33 Master owner for over 35 years I can say that your method is certainly a good one with one exception......the raised lines are a Chrome/nickle finish and not brass. The piece has to be chromed and polished first then painted something like what you described but not sanded down to brass. There was an individual on ebay who had made about 10 repros that looked really nice but the lines were a little narrower. But not many would notice that. I have not seen them in a while and they may have sold them all.

As for our Techs.....my experience with those for the '30's cars and particularly the 33/34 Open Cars is that they are awesome people and give endlessly. Anybody who has not reached out directly to their specific tech is missing out on a great resource.

Jeff

Hi Mike!

If you remember right.....I told you how to do the windshield glass on a 32 to 35 roadster many times. You need to pry that frame open very carefully to get the glass in it. End of story!

As to your theory on how the 33 center dash piece was done, it's all wet! In production, they used first lead based paint which will stick to chrome/nickel (as Jeff pointed out). Next Chevrolet used a paint mask which covered up all the area which was not to be painted. Next, they used a second paint mask to cover all areas which were not to be painted red.

This same process it used to do all the hubcaps which are reproduced today.

When doing the 32 and up grill's you have the same problem, they are painted in between the teeth and not on the tops. In this area most painters spray the whole grill and then wipe the tops off. I have done this at least 4 or 5 different times and it works great. But again Chevrolet used painting masks to do this in production.

Also use what ever trick works best for you!

Also you should really consider writing a story up for the G&D about restoring your 35 roadster. I think the members would really like to read it.

YES THAT STORY IF EVER WRITTEN & SUBMITTED TO THE VCCA WOULD BE A GREAT ONE ABOUT " MAKING A STREET ROD OUT OF A 35 CHEVROLET STANDARD ROADSTER " , SHOULD GO OVER LIKE A LEAD BALLOON AND HAVE THEM JUMPING UP AND DOWN , ABOUT STINKIN STREET RODS.

mike

JEFF...
I have the dash insert in front of me, its definitely brass very thin maybe 1/32 thick. The lines that stand upwards are chromed or maybe nickel or maybe brass only really really hard to tell even under the light and a magnifying glass. HARD to tell if its brass or nickel.

Looking at the contrasting red area, there is black spaced between the red that is so thin to be able to paint this, not sure how you could get a masking tape that thin. You have one for your car. Guess I will find out what you figured out when you get around to yours.

Guess the panel has to be done using masks as bruce says .

mike

This quote really disappoints me as a VCCA member. I don't want to hijack this thread on '33 dashboards, so I'm going to address it in a new post in the General Discussion section. Any replies to this can be made there...

Chrome plated or nickel?
This is an interior part and probably was left nickel, unless paint adhesion would be better with Chrome.
The company who built these for Chevy probably used a masking or silk screen process.

Mike's idea for us restoring these is a great approach.
Chris

Chris.........I was hoping when I posted this thread that I would get a response from somebody who has done it or had it done by somebody. Thank you for your input. !!

You can feel the 1/8th inch spacing raised edge, that I assume is done with a photo etching process. The raised up area is very thin at maybe 1/64th inch .

Some of the raised edges are showing as brass in sunlight and some is showing a chrome /nickel look where its worn off.

Throw in semi gloss black on 95% of the panel between the raised edges and down in the center there is also 3 lines of red running sideways measuring : 5 3/4 ", 4 1/4", 2 1/2" . Its quite a pleasant and stylish looking panel. Too bad Chevrolet only used it the one year on 33 masters.

Altho I only have the one, they do come up on ebay and I really don't want to start experimenting and possibly making a mess with this one with no mistakes. That's why I was hoping somebody has done this. To avoid mistakes.

Another thought , get one milled from brass or aluminum , but with deeper channels allowing it to be done with either hobby sable hair brushes or spray painted with a air brush. Then 2000 grit water paper and hard backer to expose the raised edges.

Anybody want to offer their thoughts on this. ???????????

Wish I could figure out the photo posting to show what it is .

mike350@rogers.com


mike
1935 Chevrolet standard series 3 w coupe
1935 Chevrolet standard series Phaeton one of 217
1935 Chevrolet standard series Roadster under re-construction

There are a lot of businesses that make stickers using vinyl-type products. These stick but are easily removable.

You'd need to find the right guy that actually has some creativity, but they could create an exact digital image to scale. They could then create "negatives" of each area or color. These negatives could then be stuck in place over a freshly painted base and each color very lightly sprayed to build up to a solid color.

Remove the negative, let each layer dry and then use the next negative overlay and spray the next color.

Similar process to what Mike originally suggested but basically the computer printed stickers become pre-printed masking tape so the final result would look very clean.

I'm currently doing this to create Pontiac hubcap logos on a plain cap that fits Chevy wheels...

Dash Plaque

Hopefully the above photo link worked. It is a photo of a RESTORED ORIGINAL 1933 Chevy Master Dash Plaque. Couple of points:

1. Its base is BRASS
2. It is Chrome Plated (I think Nickle would be OEM)
3. The raised Chrome edges you see are only marginally higher than the troughs that the color is applied to
4. If the metal refinishing process is too aggressive you WILL lose the troughs/channels in which the paint goes.
5. After some practice and PATIENCE one can simply spray or brush the black over the finished metal piece and wait an "appropriate" amount of time and EVER so gently wipe the raised edges with a NO NAP cloth on a block that is moistened with paint thinner to remove the paint from the raised edges.
6. Once that is done, do the same for the red sections.
7. IF the edges are too low to do this.....as is the case after most refinishing I'd think....then you must mask and paint in between the lines.

Alternatively, you can also purchase various width pinstriping tapes in Black and Red and apply them.....again....WITH patience......


Hope this helped at least somewhat......

Jeff

Dash Plaque 2

Dash Plaque 3

Dash Plaque 4

Wow, that is busy detail!

Jeff's method of painting will likely work well for this.

I've done similar using this method but I've let the paint dry and then using a cloth VERY SLIGHTLY dampened with solvent on top of a block to remove the paint on the detail sticking up. So little solvent that it requires some rubbing to remove the paint.

I'm amazed someone could restore one of these, more patience than I've got.

JON, thanks to the feedback I am getting from members here CANADIANTIM and JAWS 33 its going a long way toward making a project hopefully easier.

Its really just a one year problem 1933 , as Chevrolet did not do this in subsequent years dash panels. No idea on cad--olds--pont--buick--lasalle ?????

Anybody else have some input thoughts as to a solution to the problem posed ????????

mike

MIKE
I think i would try your way,,,,,,,
cut a new one with more detail, and finish the paint work by hand

PERRY,
well lets not rush into this and throw the other guys thoughts out. They are all coming up with good stuff worth considering as a possible solution.

Like they said not everybody shows up on here all the time.

I see the flashing envelope telling me somebody has sent me a PM. Hope its not the site boss wanting to smack my knuckles again .

mike