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Dashboard covering


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Hi Edwin,

I am sure you will have thought of it but worth thinking before of any additional wiring that you may need and have it incorporated into the loom. i.e Reverse lights, cooling fan, spotlights etc.

So much better looking than added afterthought stuff.

Autosparks make a good job and the fabric cover looks as original.

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Hi !

 

In fact i'm currently in email contact with Autosparks about adjustments :-).

 

Have asked to add reverse light, extra brakefeed wire between the central brake light and the both rear lights (will add extra brakelight bulb to both sides) and extra wire from wiper switch to motor (thank to AlanT i have a modified original wiper to 2-speed now).

 

I will create a seperate loom for cooling fan and spotlights, because i'd like to decide later where to add relays, etc. I will use braided loom like this one:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-HOT-ROD-CLOTH-COVERED-WIRE-LOOM-5-8-DIA-12-FT-ROLL-USA-17555-12-/151294304426?pt=Vintage_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item2339d7e0aa&vxp=mtr

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  • 2 months later...

I'm about half way through the dashboard project and a friend came over to help me get started. He has a TR2 and he brought his dashboard for reference. It has metal clips along the bottom edge securing the vinyl to the dash. I had no such clips, the factory vinyl on my TR3a would need a grinder to get it off. I questioned the clips but he assured me they are illustrated in a Victoria British catalog and sure enough here they are:

 

http://www.victoriabritish.com/icatalog/tc/full.aspx?Page=15

 

Part number 14-959 Clip - Vinyl to Dash.

 

Just curious what the scoop is re these clips.

 

Stan

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Hi Edwin,

FWIW, my early car has these rounded clips which seemed to be concentrated at the bottom rail where maximum tension was round the dash centre.

 

rgds

Rod

 

I think those clips must have been standard on the earlier cars and then dropped for the later cars, perhaps due to a change in material and/or advances in the adhesives. The modern contact adhesives and thicker vinyl/leather probably renders them obsolete. One less thing to rust.

 

Stan

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Here's my finished dashboard, midnight blue vinyl. Not perfect but thanks to the guidance received here good enough. The vinyl had quite a bit of stretch especially when warm so it molded itself to the contours quite well after the usual snipping to let it fold. My vinyl did not have the tailored piece around the steering column arch so I followed a suggestion from Rod (Rodbr) to create a beaded section using some plastic weed whacker line and then glued that around the arch to finish it off.

 

I did this over a four day period. We started just by gluing the vinyl to the entire flat surface of the dashboard, me at one end smoothing it out and my buddy holding it taught at the other end keeping the two surfaces apart while I worked my way up the length of the dashboard. We used some heat and waterproof contact adhesive and applied several coats to the vinyl as it absorbed the first coat very quickly. Next day I started on the outer edges and took two days to work my way around gluing and stretching. I did the two big openings on the fourth and last day and it is surprising how much of the apparent excess fabric in the hole gets used up when forming it to the contours of the opening. I thought I had left enough to fully cover the large opening but as you can see in the pictures I still trimmed it too much.

 

The thicker vinyl does create some problems especially around the door. The extra thickness leaves very little wiggle room especially as the buffer brackets are not countersunk and the screw heads stick out. I already nicked the vinyl on the back of the door when it hit the screw head so that screw is temporarily removed.

 

DSC_0184_zpsca976ffb.jpg

 

 

Here's a sample of the arch trim

 

IMAG0011_zps569dccdf.jpg

 

More pictures here:

 

http://s38.photobucket.com/user/foster461/slideshow/TR3A%20restoration%20project/11%20Nov%202014%20-%20Finished%20Dashboard

 

 

Thanks again for the great info and advice. Now on to the capping.

 

Stan

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Great result! That weed whacker thingy is worth mentioning. For those of us without a proper sewing machine, this can be the ultimate answer! And glad you've opted for white paint on the back. It makes things a lot easier (more clearly!)

 

As always, keep those pics coming!

 

Menno

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The early cars had the sewn 'horseshoe section under the steering column support but this was changed on later cars to just cover the outer pressing and leaving the brace in red oxide primer. The Ambla used on TRF kits through the nineties was thicker then the old rexine but flexible and stretchy. It wasn't too difficult to wrap around the gauge cutouts and allow the gauges to pass through and was stretchy enough to wrap around the cubby box cutout, particularly on the difficult lower corners. really had to pull and hold though. I washed a lot of ridiculous **** on the tube while pressing mine by hand; worried that clamps sen with leather or some other padding might leave indentations.

 

3M Spray upholstery adhesive was fine for the flat areas but i actually used the stronger yellow glue on any wraps.

 

Dunno what's being supplied now in fabrics.

 

JW

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Great result! That weed whacker thingy is worth mentioning. For those of us without a proper sewing machine, this can be the ultimate answer! And glad you've opted for white paint on the back. It makes things a lot easier (more clearly!)

 

As always, keep those pics coming!

 

Menno

You don't actually need a sewing machine to add the small rectangular section around the column. It only took me about half an hour to sew it by hand. I marked the line where I wanted it to go, then glued it in place before sewing it. Afterwards, I turned it back the right way and washed the glue off with white spirit.

 

I subsequently found that my interior panel kit included a dashboard cover - so I have a spare which I will keep just in case.

 

Rgds Ian

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You don't actually need a sewing machine to add the small rectangular section around the column. It only took me about half an hour to sew it by hand. I marked the line where I wanted it to go, then glued it in place before sewing it. Afterwards, I turned it back the right way and washed the glue off with white spirit.

 

I subsequently found that my interior panel kit included a dashboard cover - so I have a spare which I will keep just in case.

 

Rgds Ian

 

I agree Ian. There was enough vinyl in the kit to make the insert and it was possible to sew the vinyl by hand with a bit of effort. Never having done this before I had some anxiety about the project to start with and opted not to add the complexity of lining up the trimmed arch first. Having done it once though and seen how the vinyl and the glue work I would have no hesitation in pre-trimming the archway next time.

 

Overall the bit of beading added afterwards doesnt look too bad and definitely better than looking at the ragged edges of folded vinyl in the archway.

 

Stan

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