Refurbished dash finally installed.

[mleadbeater]

As promised in an earlier post, here’s a brief summary of my efforts to refurbish my ‘6’s tatty dash. Not a full write-up as plenty of info online, just some experiences and suggestions.

My preference for the ‘6 dash is for the semi-matt finish of nicely grained veneer , rather than a high-gloss burr veneered one.
Also, the cost of these high gloss dashes is a big negative , and the pleasure and satisfaction of my diy efforts is the main reason for buying classics which need restoration.

I reveneered an old original dash, using American Walnut, at a minimal cost of around £18 for a length sufficient to do two, bought on ebay.
This is paper-backed, and nice and flat without the worry of rippling or splits, and needing only simple clamping between two flat surfaces, using PVA glue, applied to the dash only, spread by roller, (ex photo printing rubber glossing roller) ,see photos below. 
The old varnish, original I guess, easily flaked off back to the original veneer, and required minimal filling and flatting, using body filler.

Finishing the internal edges of the instrument holes caused me concern as I wished to avoid chipped veneer, so I used a small emery drum sander in a hand battery drill to remove the excess veneer , after roughly removing the centres with a sharp craft knife, face down. Finish the veneer with 600 grit abrasive paper on a flat rubbing block, being careful at the edges.

Using a resin and oil based finish, Danish oil, I achieved a very acceptable and hopefully durable appearance which I am very happy with, only needing about 5 coats with overnight drying and minimal rubbing down , and a final buff with beeswax.
The oil based finish is considerably less hassle compared to trying to get a perfect full gloss finish, probably taking around 1/4 of the time.

I took the opportunity to modify the switch positions, moving the virtually unused instrument dimmer to lower down the facia, and adding a small push button switch for the screen wash pump, adjacent to the wiper switch. I also added , centrally between the tach and speedo, a red led light for low oil pressure, set via an adjustable oil pressure sensor to around 40psi, and a green led light for the direction indicators as the instrument mounted original is hidden by the steering wheel. A good tip is to make a veneered test piece on some scrap ply, so that you can test-drill holes for these extras to check the size and non tearout of the drill used. I used spade wood drills, well sharpened.

Finally, after much deliberation on alternative switches or instruments in place of the dimmer, I fitted a low cost clock, which has its own internal battery and is simply held on to the dash by double sided tape. Easy to remove if I decide to fit some other device, maybe a vacuum gauge.
n.b. I have blanked off the rheostat hole before veneering.

My advice is, if you have some woodworking skills, to have a go, save a small fortune and have the satisfaction of doing it yourself.

Hope this is of interest, some photos below.
Mike

Edited November 26, 2023 by mleadbeater
typo

[Peter V W]

Great job Mike, looks very professional.

[Mk2 Chopper]

Lovely looking veneer, and looks very professional, thanks for sharing.

Gareth

[RogerH]

Well done Mike.

 

Run

[Bfg]

I concur.. very nicely done.

I'll need to tackle the wooden dash of my 'other' sometime soon, and although I hope to retain its original veneer and to just re-lacquer it - it's encouraging to see yours.  Thanks.

Pete

Edited November 27, 2023 by Bfg

[Steve-B]

Very nice job Mike -- I particularly like your glove box door grain matching into the overall grain flows!

[PodOne]

Lovely job Mike. Door capping next?

Andy

[PGB BME]

Mike

could you put a link to the eBay  veneer or pm me please

Phil

[mleadbeater]

Thanks, all, for your positive comments.

Phil, link to veneer supplier, 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/perfect_body_center

I still have half the piece left over, sufficient to do another, if this of interest let me know, I doubt I’ll use it myself.

Andy, no intention to do the door cappings , apart from maybe recovering in  leather or vinyl , the standard ones are admittedly a bit crappy. Have you made new ones yourself?

Pete, your Daimler dash looks a little more ambitious, I would consider looking at using a vacuum bag for this type of job, it would get over clamping issues, and should flatten the usual rippling if using burr veneers. .n.b. love these old Daimlers, still on my wish list, although a little big to fit in my ever-filling garage. 

Steve B: re matching the glovebox veneer; by not applying glue to the veneer, and  carefully cutting out the remaining box front after gluing the main section , see last photo, I could then glue the box front at leisure . Matching was then a no- brainer. The ply box front was a remade one , which required cutting out the lock “ keyhole “, fortunately I was able to use my milling machine, a must for any car restorer, along with a lathe.

Cheers,

Mike

[PodOne]

9 hours ago, mleadbeater said:

Andy, no intention to do the door cappings , apart from maybe recovering in  leather or vinyl , the standard ones are admittedly a bit crappy. Have you made new ones yourself?

No but when I get some time I'm tempted to have a go at it while restoring my original dash which I made a mess of but kept,

[PGB BME]

Mike

I've sent you a pm

 

Phil

[Mark69]

Nothing so rewarding as doing it yourself, Great job, re veneered mine with a light American oak. First attempt with Bur walnut didn’t quite work.

[JohnC]

16 hours ago, mleadbeater said:

I would consider looking at using a vacuum bag for this type of job, it would get over clamping issues, and should flatten the usual rippling if using burr veneers

...or possibly using hide glue / hide hammer? That's probably how the veneer was applied originally. Mind you, it very much depends on how the curved/raised bits are veneered. The hide method is easy on flat surfaces and requires no clamping or bagging.
JC

[mleadbeater]

Below is a photo of the remaining half of the 2.5 m I bought from above link, for interest.

Mike

[PGB BME]

Mike

I've sent you a pm

 

Phil