Powder coated my pitted dash bezel/surround

[TexasTexas95]

Wow! Super nice. Wish I had done that on me 05 VLX. 

[DUKENO1]

5 hours ago, Stevo said:

i like the textured look for first timers only because it will hide any imperfections in the powder , high gloss looks great but if you get a dust spot it can look like a pimple.

Kind of what I figured too but I actually really like the wrinkle finish.  I have only done the wrinkle stuff as that is all I bought so far.  I would like to try a glossy

color but I can see where that would be a wee bit more challenging.

[ilovetrains]

On 3/23/2016 at 8:52 PM, DUKENO1 said:

Thanks!

 

On 3/22/2016 at 11:15 AM, minnmarker said:

That looks great!  I had my pitted oval emblems bead blasted and powder coated with silver.  They look much better than before but now I wish I had done them in black...

Ironically this piece on mine does not look nearly as bad as all the Malibu/Wakesetter emblems throughout the boat and tower.  The tower rack arms also are flaking.  A couple times people have sat in the cabin and gotten

a  flake of chrome off the emblem embedded in their back.

So - I am curious, on the emblems etc., why would you prefer black? Looks?  I would think they would get even hotter than they do chrome.

On the dash, just how big a PITA is it to remove it?

[minnmarker]

The black would look good against the tan upholstery. I would keep silver or chrome for the dash, glovebox, tower, etc.

It all looks better than the flaking pitted condition they were in.

My dash emblem was held by 2 screws. Glove box emblem was held by double sided tape. Just pry it off.

[Deannichols8]

I have spent most of the day trying To find a replacement bezel. Is see others have the same issue. I am fine with painting it, but I don't know how to take it off. 

The only screws I see are the two at the bottom . Is it that simple? I saw someone else said the gauges are attached to it which is no big deal if I can get to the back with out going under the dash. 

I have a 2008 VLX 

Thanks, Dean 

Edited December 4, 2016 by Deannichols8

[Ndawg12]

15 hours ago, Deannichols8 said:

I have spent most of the day trying To find a replacement bezel. Is see others have the same issue. I am fine with painting it, but I don't know how to take it off. 

The only screws I see are the two at the bottom . Is it that simple? I saw someone else said the gauges are attached to it which is no big deal if I can get to the back with out going under the dash. 

I have a 2008 VLX 

Thanks, Dean 

There should be a third screw right in the middle at the top.  The gauges are easy to remove just be sure to tag the harnesses because I think temp, fuel, and oil pressure where all the same style plug.  

[Deannichols8]

Thanks for the tip!

[NCVride]

@DUKENO1 how did you remove the chrome from the bezel?  Did you sand blast it or what?

[Ndawg12]

14 hours ago, NCVride said:

@DUKENO1 how did you remove the chrome from the bezel?  Did you sand blast it or what?

From my experience, you don't, I doubt Duke did either but not 100% sure.  Any blasting media strong enough to remove the chrome will eat the pot metal away, hard to sandblast a harder layer off of a softer material.  The bezels, before they started using stainless, are a cheap, dirty pot metal, hence the eventual bubbles and pitting.  I just scraped off all the loose chrome and had about 9 different pieces re-chromed for about $200, hopefully get me by another 8 years.    

[NCVride]

5 hours ago, Ndawg12 said:

From my experience, you don't, I doubt Duke did either but not 100% sure.  Any blasting media strong enough to remove the chrome will eat the pot metal away, hard to sandblast a harder layer off of a softer material.  The bezels, before they started using stainless, are a cheap, dirty pot metal, hence the eventual bubbles and pitting.  I just scraped off all the loose chrome and had about 9 different pieces re-chromed for about $200, hopefully get me by another 8 years.    

 Just curious. I had my racks powder coated two years ago and did not have them sandblasted, I did scrape the loose chrome off, before powder coating.  Since having them powder coated the chrome is starting to bubble under the powder coat causing it to flake.  

[DUKENO1]

On 12/12/2016 at 5:55 PM, NCVride said:

@DUKENO1 how did you remove the chrome from the bezel?  Did you sand blast it or what?

Hey, sorry just saw your question.  All I did was rough it up pretty good with sandpaper.  If I recall I used a sanding disc on my cordless drill to rough it up pretty good.

I would have preferred to sandblast it but don't have access to one and was to impatient to take it somewhere to have it done.  As you know there are those grooves it the bezel 

which were hard to get to.  I did the best I could and then cleaned it really well and sprayed it.  So far so good.  If it peels or bubbles up I will redo it the right way.  Made it through the

summer though and still looks good.

 

Tim

[DUKENO1]

On 12/13/2016 at 8:42 AM, Ndawg12 said:

From my experience, you don't, I doubt Duke did either but not 100% sure.  Any blasting media strong enough to remove the chrome will eat the pot metal away, hard to sandblast a harder layer off of a softer material.  The bezels, before they started using stainless, are a cheap, dirty pot metal, hence the eventual bubbles and pitting.  I just scraped off all the loose chrome and had about 9 different pieces re-chromed for about $200, hopefully get me by another 8 years.    

Didn't realize this but not surprising considering how crappy mine was starting to look.  That sounds like a pretty good price for all those pieces.

[Imracin68j]

Everything needs to be sandblasted.  That's how the powder coat grabs the metal.