I went the street rod nats in kzoo to get some ideas for my project. I saw a guy with a super deluxe like mine. It got me wondering how do you guys drive safely with all that chrome trim on the inside?
don't drive away from a sunset or sunrise with out shades on, and don't put your bare arm on the window ledge. Other than that it's not real noticeable. The sun rise/sun set thing because the light coming in the back window is about the only way that dash chrome will glare in your face
Looks great in a show car, I guess. I had the windshield out of my '64 Plymouth years ago and a friend who was helping me decided that this would be the perfect time to rub out the dull paint on the top of the dash and give it a good coat of wax. He did a good job on it too. Reset the w/shield and thought it looked great. Until the first time I drove it on a sunny day. It seemed to take forever for the paint to go dead on it again.
My 32 coupe used to have a chrome plated cowl vent. It made me second guess my decision to have it chromed because it did create some vision problems at times. I thought about a chrome cowl vent for my 34 pickup but that memory helped me decide to just paint it. Make sure your sunglasses are always handy. ☺
The dash in my old roadster was painted white,that looked good but at times the suns reflection off the dash could be blinding,especially with no top. HRP
Did the complete dash in a '46 Chev panel. Only time it really hurt was at sunrise going home with a hangover.
My 32 coupe has chrome moldings and Im going to chrome the dash. I know it will be annoying with a lot of glare. My plan is to carry some rolls of wide painters tape with me. That way I can stick pieces on the glare points if Im going on a long ride. Then peel the tape off when I get there. The painters tape shouldnt leave any residue if only in use for a few hours.
I painted the dash on my Plymouth gloss and the glare drove me nuts. I resprayed the top with flat clear. Doesn't look as cool but st least no more glare.
X2 on watching out for the window frames when hanging your arm out! Mine has a custom dash so that's never been a problem.
Woodgrained dashboard with chromed lower dash rail and chrome surround on the glove box and instrument cluster in the 46 Olds project. I have some NOS chrome accessory elbow guards that go on the window garnishes. They'll look good and reflect the sun but will also hold the heat if car has been parked up for a while. I'll cross my bridges when I get there. In the 35 Chebby I hate it when/if I wash it as the sun reflects directly off the hood and chrome cowl vent, a real PITA. Even when dirty it's still a PITA due to the reflection that I can't escape from.
I solved that problem when I was at that stage with my '37 coupe. Actually, the chrome guy solved it for me. When I asked about him chroming all the surrounds, etc., he told me how dangerous buffing the surrounds could be and him charging accordingly. From what he told me the buffs tend to grab an edge and then will throw it violently. The problem was that sometimes the polisher's fingers/hands were torn up in the process.
The speak grill is the most common offender so I hang my hat off the windshield wiper knob- top center of the dash, you can see it in the photo, problem solved. I really don't notice the glare anymore than a car with a chrome horn ring or even a new car with a passenger. <- passengers phone screen or watch faces tend to almost glare right at me. I don't have my windshield garnish chromed, that seems like it would be your biggest offender but even then I doubt it would be enough to regret having done it
Can't recall which car, but the worst offender I had was a windshield wiper arm, beautiful chrome, that simply blinded me almost any time I was driving. There were so many reflective surfaces on it in such a small place! I took it off and sprayed it with silver paint.
I have a chrome 40 dash from an old hot rodded 40 sitting in a shelf currently. Might end up in one of my cars eventually Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
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