Instrument Panel Paint

A short time ago a fellow posted a request for information for painting the
metal panel on a Piper Tomahawk. I work at Pierce Manufacturing in
Appleton, Wisconsin, currently the USA's largest custom firetruck
manufacturer. Most of our trucks are made of aluminum. The paint we use
inside the cabs is Sherwin Williams' KemAqua 600T acrylic enamel. It can be
sprayed I suppose, but in the department I work in we paint smaller pieces
of metal by dipping foam rubber chunks (fine pore, like you'd find stuffing
a cushion) in the paint and dabbing it on the metal. It makes a very nice
textured satin finish. We use it in black, gray and red. When the stuff
dries, it is very, very durable. There is of course no hazardous odors or
fumes from it. I believe it would be ideal for an instrument panel. I
don't know if the stuff is available in retail shops. We get it in 5-gallon
pails.
You might want to go down to your local firehouse and ask if they have
Pierce apparatius, and if they have a Pierce Custom truck (not a commercial
chassis) ask to look in the cab and see if the finish would suit you. I'm
betting you could get Sherwin Williams to sell you some!
While you are looking at the truck, take a look in the storage
compartments on the body. We paint those with a product called
Multi-spec, also acrylic, but it has to be sprayed. The stuff dries rock
hard with a flat finish. It looks a lot like granite, overall gray with
tiny specks of black and white. I'm not sure who make this stuff, but
I'll find out if anyone is interested.
Hope this info is useful to someone.
Scott Wilson
Someday airplane owner