Dasboard reupholstering

[Menno van Rij]

In March I took the seats and panels out of TR. Last week, after removing all parts, I took out the dashboard (the large metal one that is). Currently the dashboard is covered with the original upholstering. In my car it's black vinyl. It lost it's colour, and it looks old, but it's still well-attached / glued to the board itself.

 

What are your ideas and advice? Removing the old layer (and how to do it), reupholstering the dashboard and glueing a new layer ON TOP of the old one.

I will post a picture of it on the forum tomorrow, when the battery of my camera is recharged.

 

Personally, I like to remove the old layer, but I'm not shure about a safe method.

 

BTW, I've added 3 new pics on Photobucket.

 

Menno

[Kiwifrog]

In March I took the seats and panels out of TR. Last week, after removing all parts, I took out the dashboard (the large metal one that is). Currently the dashboard is covered with the original upholstering. In my car it's black vinyl. It lost it's colour, and it looks old, but it's still well-attached / glued to the board itself.

 

What are your ideas and advice? Removing the old layer (and how to do it), reupholstering the dashboard and glueing a new layer ON TOP of the old one.

I will post a picture of it on the forum tomorrow, when the battery of my camera is recharged.

 

Personally, I like to remove the old layer, but I'm not shure about a safe method.

 

BTW, I've added 3 new pics on Photobucket.

 

Menno

 

 

 

 

 

Menno,

 

If the vynil is still in good condition but just discoloured you could always just re-colour it with one of the many vynil recolouration kits available. I have re covered a dash on a 3 oncce before and it can be quite trickey.

 

If you do decide to re-cover the dash you will have to remove the old Vynil and make sure the dash is spotless before applying the new covering as any spots,lumps or other imperfections will show through the new vynil

 

Cheers

 

Alan

Edited June 23, 2007 by Kiwifrog

[Don Elliott]

Menno - I took the original vinyl completely off and glued on the new material. It's not easy to do and you might get wrinkles in it as you are doing it.

 

As to your door pocket question, I was looking at the new pockets you fabricated. You need to cut back the top where you have the curve so that the pull cable to open the door fits down into that new slot so the cable will be in the opening for the door pocket. When you are ready to install the finished door panel interior, line up the pull cable with that slot from below the cable then push the door panel up and into place. This way the pull cable will drop down horizontally into the door pocket.

[jean]

Menno, if it's not badly scratched and full of holes from previous switches I would keep it, as Alan says. On my 3 the covering is a very hard vinyl and it looks like it's heat shrunk on the panel. Never saw a material like it on the market, what you mostly get is soft vinyl.

[BrianC]

I replaced the non-standard dash which was in my TR3A when I bought it in 1977 with an original which I covered in modern black vinyl (should have been red but I like black dashboards and red would have been impossible to match at the time). It was a tricky, but rewarding job and the vinyl is still well attached and unwrinkled. When the time came to refit it this time around, I was torn between stripping it off and retrimming with the correct red vinyl (which I now have) or keeping it black. Although it was a bit faded, I decided against undoing all that hard work and polished it up with black boot polish which is not perfect but looks OK (I didn't want a concours car). I'm sure it will come up better with a few more applications of either boot polish or back-to-black restorer. I will probably cover a spare dashboard with the red vinyl at leisure for future use or to pass on with the car when the time comes (not too soon I hope).

[stuart]

Try using Black wax. A Simoniz product I think. Works a treat and can even be done with a fully assembled dash as any excess on the gauges or switches just polishes off. Will make a tired dash look like new.

Stuart.

[TR 2100]

Currently the dashboard is covered with the original upholstering. In my car it's black vinyl.

It lost it's colour, and it looks old, but it's still well-attached / glued to the board itself.

 

What are your ideas and advice? Removing the old layer (and how to do it), reupholstering

the dashboard and glueing a new layer ON TOP of the old one.

Hi Menno,

 

It's always a nice touch to retain original parts when you can. You will then be able to retain

the original grain - always a nice touch. Previous postings give you plenty of practical ideas.

 

But this also depends on what you intend to do about the rest of your re-trimming. Original

grain looks good, but not so good if the rest of your trim doesn't match.

 

You can get a good match for original black grain using tonneau/hood material, but it's not

so easy to work with, because it's designed to not stretch. You can get over this for most of

the parts you need to re-trim (heat and patience, mainly), but the elbow cappings present a

real problem.

 

If you hunt around, you should be able to find some stetchable black material that is very

close to the original trim.

 

AlanR

[Menno van Rij]

Thanks all for your input. At first, I was planning a route just as some of you described: renovating the vinyl. Then I started wondering why there was a discolouring. After careful examination of the vinyl, I realised that it had to do with delaminating: the vinyl had come off. Some parts were still in place, glued firmly to the metal, but at some places, the upper layer was not longer attached to the metal board.

 

So, I started to use an electric hairdryer. Soon to be followed by a paint removal heat gun (is that the word in English?), low temp, that is. I didn’t want to bend the metal due to the heat. It took me the best part of my Sunday afternoon, but it all came off perfectly. The metal plate is partly covered by surface rust. Other parts are shiny, like new. First, I will remove the rust and then I will paint the surface. Before that, I will contact a local upholsterer and ask him if there are any restrictions; paint-wise that is: perhaps some paints do not match with the glue to be used for a new vinyl coat. And off coourse, I'm interested in your experience and advise about painting the metal surface of the dashboard.

 

At this point, it’s perhaps good to tell you that I do not intend to go for the original colour scheme of my car. Originally, the car was painted powder blue, with black interior (vinyl) and a white soft top and side screens.

 

I will replace the messy interior (now blue…) for dark brown leather; dashboard, upholstery, soft top and side screens will also be dark brown. Don’t know about the carpet colour. Perhaps a lighter shade of brown.

 

When discussing the colour scheme with my wife last winter, she first opted for the original scheme. Then we saw a Belgian build TR with powder blue and dark brown. It was the original lay out for that car, when it was produced. It looked good and it was a bespoke colour combination for that era. Therefore, I will go for the combination.

 

Regards,

 

Menno