[poncho-mike]

I have a couple of what I think are early T/A dash bezels that I want to clean up. I think these are 1970 and 1971 since that is what they were labeled.

The bezel I think is a 1970 has black rings, and there is a yellowish tint in various places. I believe this is out of a late production 1970. What can I use to clean the yellow off? And was this some type of coating that has disentegrated over the years?

I think the second bezel is a 1971. Somebody had a small plaque stuck on the right side with double sided adhesive tape. There is also some blotchy patches that appear to be some type of adhesive.

The first pictures are of the 1970 bezels.

What is the best way to remove the yellow and adhesive from these dash bezels?

[poncho-mike]

Here are the pictures of the 1971 bezel.

Also, I think these are 1970 & 1971 because the lights and wiper are split. Can somebody confirm.

[Ramairnacho]

Originally Posted by poncho-mike

Here are the pictures of the 1971 bezel.

Also, I think these are 1970 & 1971 because the lights and wiper are split. Can somebody confirm.

Those are cool. I read some where that they center the bird too . These are mine.

[unruhjonny]

Although it is a detour from the original discussion, I want to reply for 'Nacho;

Originally Posted by Ramairnacho

... These are mine.

/\That is a 1972 non-T/A dash insert.
That is from a car with optional gauges and A/C;
That's especially nice (condition aside) because it includes the matching woodgrain heater control cover, and the rear defog plate!



/\That is a 1970 non-T/A dash insert.
That is also from a car with optional gauges and A/C;
Is that a digital clock surround attached to the lower right corner?
It looks like light is shining through where the lens would be, and the rear defog & cigarette lighter part shown appear to not have the woodgrain plate where the defog switch would be.



/\This one is a little harder to tell;
It looks like going from top to bottom that shows:
1971 (no-optional gauges with A/C, and no rear defog or power door loacks)
1970 (no-optional gauges with A/C, and this would be from a car with either or both a rear defog or power door locks)
1973/74 (with optional gauges and A/C, and this would be from a car with either or both a rear defog or power door locks)

Fading can affect the colour or appearance of these but as a rule of thumb, 1972 is the darkest and has more distinct grain pattern;
The 1970 at a glance has the brighter colouring than 1971.
I have found that for the first three years, 1971 dash inserts are the most common to come across.

Although it was mentioned you can use furniture polish, I don't know what that would do;
These have a heavy clear coat on them, but as best as I can tell these are a vinyl overlay of sorts;
I believe that furniture polish is intended for wood surfaces - but maybe I'm wrong.

My Formula's original dash insert has the clear peeling, and it started around the wiper switch and spread out from there...

If anyone knows how these were made (meaning the vinyl overlay or something else) I am all ears.

As to the comment about bird location;




Shouldn't both of those T/A dash inserts be from 1970 model year cars?
I though that discussion here had the bird moving from roughly above the cigarette lighter, to the upper right corner during the 1970 model year?
(both of those inserts have the bird above the lighter)

[Ramairnacho]

Originally Posted by unruhjonny

Although it is a detour from the original discussion, I want to reply for 'Nacho;





/\That is a 1972 non-T/A dash insert.
That is from a car with optional gauges and A/C;
That's especially nice (condition aside) because it includes the matching woodgrain heater control cover, and the rear defog plate!



/\That is a 1970 non-T/A dash insert.
That is also from a car with optional gauges and A/C;
Is that a digital clock surround attached to the lower right corner?
It looks like light is shining through where the lens would be, and the rear defog & cigarette lighter part shown appear to not have the woodgrain plate where the defog switch would be.



/\This one is a little harder to tell;
It looks like going from top to bottom that shows:
1971 (no-optional gauges with A/C, and no rear defog or power door loacks)
1970 (no-optional gauges with A/C, and this would be from a car with either or both a rear defog or power door locks)
1973/74 (with optional gauges and A/C, and this would be from a car with either or both a rear defog or power door locks)

Fading can affect the colour or appearance of these but as a rule of thumb, 1972 is the darkest and has more distinct grain pattern;
The 1970 at a glance has the brighter colouring than 1971.
I have found that for the first three years, 1971 dash inserts are the most common to come across.

Although it was mentioned you can use furniture polish, I don't know what that would do;
These have a heavy clear coat on them, but as best as I can tell these are a vinyl overlay of sorts;
I believe that furniture polish is intended for wood surfaces - but maybe I'm wrong.

My Formula's original dash insert has the clear peeling, and it started around the wiper switch and spread out from there...

If anyone knows how these were made (meaning the vinyl overlay or something else) I am all ears.

As to the comment about bird location;




Shouldn't both of those T/A dash inserts be from 1970 model year cars?
I though that discussion here had the bird moving from roughly above the cigarette lighter, to the upper right corner during the 1970 model year?
(both of those inserts have the bird above the lighter)

I am.not 100% sure but what I read the peeling is a clear coat. I think paint thinner was used to remove the clear in an easier post on this thread and a new foam allied lacquer coat was applied over the whole bezel. I would look for an old damaged one and practice on that first since you don't want to ruin your good one or have Randy restore years I'm not sure the price. Thank you for ID in my bezels my car 70 but I'm adding rally gauges

[giles]

The yellowing is in a clear coating. Not sure of the original material but I used lacquer thinner to clean mine up and then re-coated with clear lacquer. That was 20 years ago and has held up well.

[keith k]

Originally Posted by giles

The yellowing is in a clear coating. Not sure of the original material but I used lacquer thinner to clean mine up and then re-coated with clear lacquer. That was 20 years ago and has held up well.

Ditto. Lacquer thinner with a very soft cloth so as not to scratch the soft aluminum. Then re-coat.

That '70 TA non-AC bezel is a hen's tooth these days.

[Ramairnacho]

Originally Posted by keith k

Ditto. Lacquer thinner with a very soft cloth so as not to scratch the soft aluminum. Then re-coat.

That '70 TA non-AC bezel is a hen's tooth these days.

So how you remove the whole lacquer coat?you said paint thinner?

[78w72]

Originally Posted by Ramairnacho

So how you remove the whole lacquer coat?you said paint thinner?

lacquer thinner, not paint thinner. or maybe a paint stripper you let sit then wipe off. but be careful the aluminum & engine turned finish can scratch very easy. ive never fully stripped one but have tried to clean up some yellowing areas & its very easy to scratch them. for the adhesive residue you can use a goof off or goo gone type product made for removing those types of goo.

there are a couple guys that do top notch restorations on these if its worth the price for your car, look up randy combs if you want to go that route.

[Baron Von Zeppelin]

Originally Posted by Ramairnacho

So how you remove the whole lacquer coat?you said paint thinner?

On your woodgrain bezels you don't want to remove anything.
Orange Oil furniture polish works nice on them.
Or they can be clear coated with satin or gloss.

[poncho-mike]

The bezel I have marked as a 1970 came off of a late car. I'm going from memory, but I think the cowl tag had an 07B date on it.

What color should the rings around the gauges be? Black or chrome?

[giles]

Originally Posted by poncho-mike

The bezel I have marked as a 1970 came off of a late car. I'm going from memory, but I think the cowl tag had an 07B date on it.

What color should the rings around the gauges be? Black or chrome?

I’ll be the first to offer up that I don’t think there are definite rules on this. I think early 70s were chrome, but I’ve seen enough later 70s with black that I think black can be correct too. I think some early 71s were chrome, but everything after the strike (01A and later) was black.
For many years I thought 70 was chrome, 71 and later black, but as I’ve seen more cars and talked to owners I’ve come to the above beliefs.
I am interested in what others think on this.

[JSuchma]

FWIW.......I have owned my 71 TA since 1998, it has a build date of 9/70 and has the chrome rings. Bought it from a friend who only owned 71's and 72's so he had no reason to change them.

[JonQ]

Originally Posted by JSuchma

FWIW.......I have owned my 71 TA since 1998, it has a build date of 9/70 and has the chrome rings. Bought it from a friend who only owned 71's and 72's so he had no reason to change them.

Hey whereabouts in Houston? I have a 70 TA. Do you have pictures of your 71?

jon

[Tellyshavilli]

Originally Posted by giles

I’ll be the first to offer up that I don’t think there are definite rules on this. I think early 70s were chrome, but I’ve seen enough later 70s with black that I think black can be correct too. I think some early 71s were chrome, but everything after the strike (01A and later) was black.
For many years I thought 70 was chrome, 71 and later black, but as I’ve seen more cars and talked to owners I’ve come to the above beliefs.
I am interested in what others think on this.

I’ve pretty much found the same results as far as black versus chrome ,70 and 71 in the early and late production cars

[keith k]

Originally Posted by Tellyshavilli

I’ve pretty much found the same results as far as black versus chrome ,70 and 71 in the early and late production cars

Yep. I've paid a lot of attention to this over the years, including keeping track of the finish on original bezels in my "70 TA spreadsheet".

Total crapshoot on whether they got the black rings or the chrome rings - no obvious rhyme or reason.

More black than chrome at the start of the model year, and more chrome than black toward the end (with the chrome running into the early '71 cars, as noted). No real difference between Van Nuys and Norwood in this regard, either.

Just eyeballing all my data entries, I'd say it was about 50/50 on chrome vs black for '70.

[eaglesan13]

I agree with Keith, some 70's got chrome and some got black, no obvious reason as to why.

On the 71's, my old low-mileage Trans Am was built mid-February 1971 in the Norwood plant and it had chrome bezels on it.

[poncho-mike]

At least one dash bezel will be for sale once I get them cleaned up.

As for the rings, how did the Van Nuys plant differ from the Norwood plant? I'm assuming GM used suppliers to make these parts, so it's possible the Norwood plant used a different supplier. It's also possible there were different suppliers to the same plant. A lot of time an engineering change is written to "Use up existing". So if a supplier was supposed to change from the chrome rings to black rings, if the manufacturing engineer agreed, the supplier could use up the chrome rings rather than scrap them.

[Baron Von Zeppelin]

Mike, if you have a damaged later model TA bezel laying around ... do a little practice on it first .
Or find one somewhere.
Once the "old clear" layer is penetrated things can go downhill fast on the engine turn swirls.
It is very delicate to any rubbing pressure on its open surface.

Especially where you have the glue residue - extra caution.
Will probably go through the clear in the surrounding area before the actual residue is fully removed.

The swirl is delicate and unforgiving to any oops or woops I got carried away / forgot.

[70TA-RAIII]

Great info! Both of my 70's have chrome rings so I thought all 70's should have chrome rings.

John