Dash Knob Refurbish-How To (4 Viewers)

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I wonder if Brass-O would be good to wipe off the excess paint?

I just used one of the white "magic erasers" on my cabinets today without scuffing the finish and I'm certain that would work really well on the knobs. I'm going to give that a try next time.
 
The only thing I would add, is instead of using a terry cloth to initially clean, I use an old toothbrush with simple green, then rinse with water. If the old toothbrush is too soft, then I cut the bristles down to stiffen the bristles. Nice job.
 
here are mine using a lacquer stick

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Dunno how I missed this. I can add:

I use plain old white acrylic paint on my knobs. Slather it on like the OP does, but the nice thing is that its water-based so you can just lick a paper towel or your finger (best) and wipe off the excess while its still wet. Saves you the waiting an re-polishing step. I've done more than 100 knobs like that, works great.
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Problem I've had with the slather method is that some knobs have a textured finish to them. SLathering pain just fills in the texture and makes for a very hard clean. Best method I have found is using the ultra fine paint pens and cutting the tip down to just a hair. This way I can fill in the letters without the paint going everywhere and can control the depth of the paint.

Also some knobs are very faded and pitted. I buff all those at low speed with a plastic polish to get the surface back as close to the original color. Then I clean the knob and paint the letters.


Like this one. The knob was pretty faded but after buffing the black came back pretty well.

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Those knobs that are unbuffable I paint them prior to putting on the letters.
 
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Problem I've had with the slather method is that some knobs have a textured finish to them. SLathering pain just fills in the texture and makes for a very hard clean. Best method I have found is using the ultra fine paint pens and cutting the tip down to just a hair. This way I can fill in the letters without the paint going everywhere and can control the depth of the paint.

Thats a good point, however I find that its not an issue - I slather paint on the textured knobs and a quite-wet paper towel takes it out of the nooks and crannies no problem.... provided the paint is water-based.

I'm not arguing that a paint pen isn't a good way to do it. But slathering is definitely faster.
 
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Dunno how I missed this. I can add:

I use plain old white acrylic paint on my knobs. Slather it on like the OP does, but the nice thing is that its water-based so you can just lick a paper towel or your finger (best) and wipe off the excess while its still wet. Saves you the waiting an re-polishing step. I've done more than 100 knobs like that, works great.

What are the two knobs on the left?
 
I got some knobs off via the screw lock on them and then unscrew, but what about my choke and a few others that do not have the screw lock? Is there a certain way to remove them without taking the whole switch out or what? THanks
 
Wes-

Is that a Toyota heater control switch under your dash? What about the switch beneath your steering column (just out of view)? Is that a JDM hazard switch?(Sorry to drag up the old post just re-linking a bunch of bad URL's).

Hey Dom,
Sorry I didn't see this sooner. I don't believe it's toyota heater controls. The heater is aftermarket that is the usual dealer install. The switch just out of view is an OEM fog light switch i got from Mot. I didn't want to drill any holes so I put it on one of the existing bolts that holds up steering wheel. -W
 
I got some knobs off via the screw lock on them and then unscrew, but what about my choke and a few others that do not have the screw lock? Is there a certain way to remove them without taking the whole switch out or what? THanks

Choke, Heater and Fresh air knobs.

In order to remove them you have to remove the whole assembly. There is a nut on the back behind the dash that holds them in.
 
I did the same process with these in place. The "V" (fresh air) knob on my '70 is more grey than the heater and emergency knobs so I haven't finished it yet. Haven't decided yet if I should paint it black or leave as is and just paint the "V".

Overall its a relatively easy process and the results are outstanding. Thanks for posting the process!!

Kevin
 
I was just thinking about this as my next project. The buffing idea is great.
 
There are so many things to say about buffing you knobs, But I'll just leave it at this... Nice Work Men. Gotta try it out.
 
I've used the slather method then wet buffed lightly with a dremel......only takes seconds to remove surface paint; beautiful results. Tried with paint tacky as well as dry. Either works fine, but tacky is quicker, but builds up on dremel buffing accessory.
 

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