Decal application on dash of 1450

[rkwilliams]

While I have my tractor torn down just about all the way, I'm taking the opportunity to put on new decals where I've already painted and will save more accessible ones for later when I have time to paint those section. Tonight I pulled off the fiberglass dash since it's such a pain, and I'd like to replace the panel with the decal I got in the set I bought for my tractor. Mine still has the original aluminum overlay, and I was wondering if anyone else has done this and if you applied the decal on the aluminum or if you just dispensed with the aluminum one and stuck the decal onto the fiberglass. Guess my concern is that the aluminum one is textured, and I'm not sure how the decal will stick.

 

[glippert]

Kent - I did one on a 1450 for my grandson 10 or 11 years ago, and it still looks great. I put the decal on the aluminum (after thoroughly cleaning and drying it). The texture shows through the decal, making it look like the original. And, it's still stuck tight - no peeling back at corners or edges, and it hasn't faded. Hope that helps.

 

[IHinIN]

Here’s how I refinished the dash tin on my 129.

Hit it with some extra fine steel wool to clean up the bare outlines.

Masked off the outlines and painted the black.

Removed the masking and sprayed it with clear coat.

Cut the lettering sections from the decal and placed them on the dash.

 

[rkwilliams]

Kent - I did one on a 1450 for my grandson 10 or 11 years ago, and it still looks great. I put the decal on the aluminum (after thoroughly cleaning and drying it). The texture shows through the decal, making it look like the original. And, it's still stuck tight - no peeling back at corners or edges, and it hasn't faded. Hope that helps.

Thanks for that info. Do you happen to recall whether you applied the decal dry, or did you float it on with some soapy water? It's kind of a big decal with some complicated turns to put on dry. But with the texture I'm wondering if the water can be squeegeed out sufficiently. Such a complexity for such a small thing!

 

[glippert]

Thanks for that info. Do you happen to recall whether you applied the decal dry, or did you float it on with some soapy water? It's kind of a big decal with some complicated turns to put on dry. But with the texture I'm wondering if the water can be squeegeed out sufficiently. Such a complexity for such a small thing!

If my memory serves me correctly, I applied it dry. But I had someone help, so there were four hands getting it aligned and slowly applying it, to avoid air bubbles.