Instrument Panel Color?

[C170U2]

I am in the process of working on the panel and I am getting ready for paint. As I found the plane, the panel was covered in some sort of fake wood material put on top of a ton of bondo. I have cleaned up the main panel and just started on the lower ones. The back of the glove box door still has what I believe was the original color pain. Can anyone confirm that this is the correct color? I found a rattle can match for it. I was thinking about painting them the same as the exterior green trim color but have decided to put it back to original.

Thanks for any inputs!

[Bruce Fenstermacher]

Always good to remind people what model and year you have when asking this type of specific question. I had to look to another thread to see you have a green 50 A model.

OK looking at the IPC in the front A models with green exteriors came with Silver French Grey interior and Cessna Blue Green interior trim.

Lets talk about that glove box. I've done considerable research documenting stock decals and interior paint. I have never seen the inside of a glove box painted more than overspray. This leads me to believe that someone painted this door since the factory. Next that color as best we can tell by computer is what I would consider Dark India which should not have been in your plane. BTW I have two original samples of Dark India and they don't match each other and your sample appears to be in between. BTW it is very common for the hinges to break and why yours would have been swapped out.

The fact is the Associations documentation of what exactly was considered a interior trim piece and what was just the interior, is severally lacking. We know the glove box and outer trim and the opposite side are interior trim. The area behind the plexi is also interior trim and that is why yours is a blueish color but most often the color behind the plexi doesn't match the other interior trim color blue green. To be honest in my experience it is unusually to find a original blue green interior which is why I haven't documented it. I did find and document a original untouched 48 which is suppose to be the same interior colors as the A model. You can see pictures of that in our online documentation. The blue green looks more like a blue grey.

You can also see in the 48 documentation that the Silver French Gray is really more of a tan. And you an also see it is used on all the other pieces like the door frame, seat frames, side sills with the ashtrays and up the side pillars. You can see from this thread I thought i matched Silver French Grey but now believe this color is actually Gull Gray which is used on exterior steel pieces. http://www.cessna170.org/forums/viewtop ... rior+paint. I now think Silver French Grey might be Krylon Semi-Gloss Khaki or perhaps Caramel Latte Gray or Champagne Nouveau but i haven't a good sample I can drag into the local ACE Hardwar and match it up.

So sans new info your 50 A model should look like the 48 I documented here: http://www.cessna170.org/forums/viewtop ... 358#p83569

[Bruce Fenstermacher]

HOLD THE PHONE. I'm so excited. I just looked at your top picture and see that you have original decals over that grey paint on your instrument panel. This is a sure clue to me that that grey is original Silver French Grey. Please please take a sample of it and match it to a Krylon color and even better get a auto body paint supplier to scan the color for a code.

[C170U2]

Ok....trying to digest all that. Thanks for the info and sorry I didn't clarify that it is in fact a 1950 A model.

So to clarify...it is your belief that the trim panels should be painted Cessna Blue Green. The brown on the glove box really sent me in the wrong direction. Thanks for clarifying.....appreciate all the work you have done to figure this out.

[n2582d]

Nice original panel. Do you still have the cover for the compass? If so, hang on to that, they're hard to find. Might want to round up the stall warning buzzer/light--it's a required piece of equipment. Was your carb temp gauge installed as original (optional) equipment or was it added at a later date? For the paint match I'd use one of the control tube sockets (the triangle-shaped do-hickey that holds the ball in). It's been covered by the side instrument cover it's entire life so would be least faded (i.e. most true to the original color). Giving a sample of the match to Bruce or George would really help guys doing restorations down the road. Which reminds me--I still need to do that with my Serge Blue panel.

[Bruce Fenstermacher]

Might want to round up the stall warning buzzer/light--it's a required piece of equipment.

No it is not a required piece of equipment on a 48 and A model. Only a B model. Stop scaring him Gary.

[Bruce Fenstermacher]

Ok....trying to digest all that. Thanks for the info and sorry I didn't clarify that it is in fact a 1950 A model.

So to clarify...it is your belief that the trim panels should be painted Cessna Blue Green. The brown on the glove box really sent me in the wrong direction. Thanks for clarifying.....appreciate all the work you have done to figure this out.

Yes you have that correct. A Green 170A did not have Dark India (the brownish color on your glove box door) trim. It had Cessna Blue Green. This is according to the IPC.

[n2582d]

Might want to round up the stall warning buzzer/light--it's a required piece of equipment.

No it is not a required piece of equipment on a 48 and A model. Only a B model. Stop scaring him Gary.

Dang, It's hard being the expert around here! My bad. I was thinking it was only the straight 170 that didn't need it but your right Bruce, it's only the B model which has such a mild stall that it needs a buzzer and red light to inform the pilot of impending calamity.

[C170U2]

Funny you should mention the horn. It was relocated to behind the panel when they installed the ADF. Now that I am removing my AM radio I am able to put the horn back in its correct location. If I could somehow turn the stall horn into some sort of AOA device while keeping the original look that would be cool.

The control tube socket is actually the grey color not the "blue green" mentioned earlier. So far I have found nothing in the plane with the blue green to match. Probably just going to have to get something in the ballpark.

Thanks for all the advice!!

[Bruce Fenstermacher]

The control tube socket is actually the grey color not the "blue green" mentioned earlier.

Mike, we need a color match for that grey color. That is why Gary suggested it could be removed and carried to the hardware get matched against the Krylon colors or scanned at a auto paint store.

[C170U2]

Ok, I'll see what I can find and report back here.

[C170U2]

Here are some pictures of the Silver French Grey interior and Cessna Blue Green mentioned earlier. I am trying to get a match for both. We'll see what the paint shop can come up with.