Dash Restoration

[htchevyii]

I used clear marine varnish

[mdrburchette]

Wow Trey, that really turned out good!
Jim, I have some extra mahogany veneer from another job. If your original dash pieces aren't buckled or warped, I might be able to put it on for you.

[pope]

I am sure the flash is playing tricks with the grain, the shifter area is probably more indicitive. Nice job Denise and Trey!

[Tappy]

Well, unfortunately I know quite a bit more about woodworking than engine mechanics. I discourage anyone from using solid wood for their dash parts, primarily due to the fact that unless you're using a very stable wood such as koa or mahogany, you are almost guaranteed to face warping, especially if you don't have a garage with some control over the climate, or plant on parking the car in direct sunlight and/or high humidity, or are using woods such as pine or maple. There's a reason why the high quality handmade furniture manufacturers useshigh quality birch plywood, mostly due to it's environmental stability.

Unless you are making many copies of the same pieces using plastic template from the old pieces using plexiglass and a dremel tool or cnc programming, simply applying a high quality wood veneer will be cheaper, easier, faster, and well within the capabilities of even the most inexperienced woodworker.

Simply buy any one of a huge assortment of figured, nonfigured, exotic or domestic wood veneers available, you can even get them of a soft enough grain and thin enough that they can be cut with a pair of scissors or exacto knife while attached using cam clamps with cork matting to prevent scratching or even double sided tape (be careful when removing) to the original pieces to be veneered, be sure to still get a venner thick enough to allow for prep sanding. If the veneer isn't perfectly flat, or if you are doing curved pieces such as the part where the verticle dash meets the center console in an 83-85 pininfarina, use a veneer softener either in the form of one that is commercially available, or a homemade mix of 4 parts water, 2 parts glycerin, 1 part alcohol, and 2 parts plastic resin glue. Then simply glue and clamp, and you can perfect the edges so the match perfectly after the glue has dried. Then, before applying the finish, sand to 220 grit for a lacquer or eurethane finish, or 400 grit (or 220 if using a random orbital palm sander) if you are using an oil finish. Don't underestimate how nice a rub on finish can look. Tung oil takes some time, up to a week to do enough coats, but looks really nice. Rub on finishes are also more easily maintained. I've even seen people use red shoe polish as a wood finish, with wonderful results. After the finish is applied, then wax and buff.

I plan on doing a spalted maple veneer, with a faint natural red/brown stain to darken (I feel unstained maple is too light for my tan dash) underneath a tung oil finish. I really don't plan on it being very difficult, and is perhaps the easiest way to make your spider stand out.

foun dsome great veneer to work with :


here :
http://www.veneersupplies.com/

[miragesmack]

This is just 20 coats of clear poly on the lacewood veneer. I just have the glove box to finish, oh and I have to finish the car also.

Pope, do you have any pics of this installed? That looks sharp!

[pope]

Thanks, I almost wet my pants just holding them. Though these panels are almost done, the Spider isnt. Late 09 hopefully.

[pressonregardless]

I will be purchasing mine from a gentleman in Fresno Ca. He advertises on ebay not to plug them but he will allow you to go to Home Depot or Lowes and tell him what color stain you want and then ship. I believe his price is about $40 - 50. His email is gromit006@yahoo.com - hopefully this finds supplier and customer happy.

[RevDave]

Wow - you guys have done a great job on some of these dashboards!

I want to do something similar to my 81, but the one area of the dash that I find - shall we say - "less than attractive" is the center panel, between the instrument panel and the glove compartment... The plastic trim piece looks a bit "cheesy" to me, and mine includes big lights for the parking brake, seatbelt reminder and exhaust temp...

Has anybody considered just running the "instrument" panel all the way across to the glove box - and using the same switches and maybe somewhat smaller, more discrete idiot lights (and maybe even "accidentally" losing the exhaust temp light in the process)?

Any pitfalls that perhaps I haven't considered with such a modification?

Oh, and one other thing... It would be great if I could get the finish of the steering wheel to match that of the dash - and possibly make a matching shift knob as well. What's the best way to get a matched finish like that?

Is all of this heresy? Will I ruin my life by doing this, and curse my children to the 7th generation for even thinking of doing such a thing to my beloved spider?

Thanks - Dave

[mdrburchette]

Other people have done it and are happy with the results. I kinda prefer the break up of the panel that the stock look provides...but that's just my opinion.

[kmac33]

When I redid my dash, I eliminated the center portion for just that reason. I also removed the clock from the layout since they fail so often. I used a plastic called finalic as the base material - it is extremely stable to temperture changes and moisture (plus is as easy to cut and shape as wood) so I should not have any issues with warping - ever. I used a mahogeny veener that I stained black, then coated with poly. The veneer was extremely easy to work with.
The only piece I am not completely happy with is the glove box. I plan to redo the veener on it in the next week or two.
If you click on the link below, you can see a pic of my ongoing restoration including the "new" dash. For some reason, after multiple tries and rereading the instructions for posting pics, I can't ever get the actual picture to post!
Kevin
[img]Dash%20refinished[/img]

[fiasco]

That looks great, Kevin. While I personally agree with Denise about preferring the break in the center of the dash, I can also admire a nice looking dash that has obviously been restored with great care.

-- se