I painted most of my metal dash pieces red. I had a bunch of cans of plastikote engine paint leftover so I did my dash with them. It looks great but scratches easily. Should I clearcoat?

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1966 Dart GT
4 spd. OD conversion
8 3/4 - 3.55 SG (Sold)

62 Lancer GT
B Body 8 3/4

If you used enamel, it will take a long time to cure until it's hard. When the weather is cold, expect it to take several months. Clear coating won't help as far as softness is concerned.

Thanks Im gonna have to respray some of it anyways I scratched it putting the gauge cluster in. What paint do they usually use on dashes and interior parts?

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1966 Dart GT
4 spd. OD conversion
8 3/4 - 3.55 SG (Sold)

62 Lancer GT
B Body 8 3/4

They use the same products you find on the exterior, but I prefer acrylic enamel because it's easy to apply and if you take care until it's cured, it's durable.

I'd put clearcoat on there just because it'll not only make it a little shinier but will give it a bit more protection. If someone sticks some scratchy on there the clearcoat should get scratched rather than the paint. Not much protection, but if you're taking the time you might as well do it as well as possible, I learned that the hard way. To save time painting my dash I just painted black over the top of it.... all I can say is that one year later it's still 80% black . This summer I got to fix that....

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My car may be slow to sixty, but at least it's been reliably slow to sixty for more than thirty years.

I called plasti-kote. First they said (read the can) engine paint needs to reach 500 degrees to cure. The paint is an alkyd oil enamel. They dont make acrylic enamel. Their other alkyd enamel will spray over and cures at room temp. So should I strip everything and go with an acrylic or respray with their enamel? Opinions welcomed.

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1966 Dart GT
4 spd. OD conversion
8 3/4 - 3.55 SG (Sold)

62 Lancer GT
B Body 8 3/4

Just let it bake inside the car on a hot day and you should be fine. The only paint I've seen that needs curing is the high temp (withstands over 1000degF) ceramic based stuff. If you really want to accelerate the drying you can try a heatgun/blowdryer on a mild setting.

This is high temp 500 degree engine paint. I had a heater in the car for 24 hours after painting 80 degrees +. And its been 3 months since then.

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1966 Dart GT
4 spd. OD conversion
8 3/4 - 3.55 SG (Sold)

62 Lancer GT
B Body 8 3/4

Well you are going to need to scuff it up if you want to paint anything over it, clear or another color coat, and it sounds like it is too soft to withstand some scuffing so you don't have any choice but to start from scratch again.

Thats what I think too. Nobody ever said it would be easy

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1966 Dart GT
4 spd. OD conversion
8 3/4 - 3.55 SG (Sold)

62 Lancer GT
B Body 8 3/4

I actually find that once you know what you're doing painting is harder than body work. I replaced one of my quarter panels and now it's bubbling, but that was one of the first projects with my car I took on, the next rust area I replaced still looks perfect in the same time as the panel has been around. Yet, even after playing quite a bit with paint I still can't get it right...

I look forward to replacing that panel once I get into an auto-body course, I'll get to use a shop for free oh yeah... and that tuition

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My car may be slow to sixty, but at least it's been reliably slow to sixty for more than thirty years.

Are you painting them on the car or are you taking them off and painting them outside?

Instead of using spray cans, you might find a better solution is getting a half-pint of regular auto paint and applying it with a PreVal spray kit. It will cost a bit more, but does a better job than the usual spray cans.

You can go to the paint manufacturer's website and read their product information bulletin, so you choose the right paint and use the proper application procedure. Both PPG and DuPont have websites and I imagine others do to.