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Wood Dash

fred1725

Donation Time
I have a wood dash that I need to refurb.
I have found really nice burled walnut veneer that I haven't yet bought.
Does anyone know if there are pre cut veneers available?
I am redoing Ser V 395015009.
Also, do the glass covers come off the speedo, tach etc so I can clean the inside of the glass? I don't want to get rough with them and find out later
that I destroyed them.
My garage is so cold that I have to find "inside jobs" for now..
Thanks
Fred
 

alpine_64

Donation Time
If by pre-cut you mean to the profile of the dash.. nope.. full dashes are available though.

As for the glass coming out, yes it comes out of all the gauges. The chrome rings on the front retain them, you can twist them so the tabs on the ring align with gaps on the case and they then lift off. Then the glass can be removed. Its also a good time to replace the sealing rings inside to stop condensation and prevent rattling.

As a side note its worth leeting the gauges air.. maybe even heat them a little to get rid of any moisture in them.
 

jmthehermit

Donation Time
Fred, follow the link and you'll see how they come apart. If the bezels are a little blemished, a sure fire way to polish them is to use a clean white athletic sock and some glass cleaner. Wet a portion of the sock and start rubbing the bezel. It's time consuming but it is a sit down job. I did my stock pile of extra bezels this way and they all polished up great! Jeff
 

George Coleman

Gold Level Sponsor
The chrome rings clean up very well with a little 4o steel wool, in fact this will clean any chrome part very well!:cool:
 

puff4

Platinum Level Sponsor
4o (aka "0000") steel wool will work, yes, but I really advise folks never to use steel wool if they can avoid it. Use brass wool instead. It will work just as well, but not only will it be less likely to scratch any metals you're working on, the woolly bits that fall off (and there are plenty), and any that become embedded in your work, will not rust... and in a car that gets wet from time to time, this can be a real problem, particularly as the detritus accumulates in corners and nooks where it will ultimately fester and breed rust in the body itself. I have, in fact, pretty much banned use of steel wool in my shop, and it's NEVER allowed on my boats (for obvious reasons).

One more tip... if you add a little bit of rubbing compound (the kind you use for polishing paint) to your brass wool it will work really well to polish any sort of chrome or metal. When done, clean up with mild soap and water, dry thoroughly, and then apply some carnuba-based wax (Mother's works nicely). You'll be good to go for a long time.
 

alpine_64

Donation Time
For polishing chrome i found that the autoglym liquid metal polish gave the deepest shine. It doesnt work that well on chrome thats not in good shape, but if its decent it leave s a great lustre and it doesnt smell horrible.

I have also tried "purple" after a polisher recomended it to me, seems good, but i like the autoglym better.

if the chrome is rusty or in poor shape autosol will bring it back.. but be careful as its a cutting compound.. so dont use on plated finshes to often.. use it to bring it up and then use one of the polishes to keep it nice.

for what its worth most chrome polishers have some abbrasive compound (like a jewlers rouge) i think purple is the only one that doesnt (i think even autoglym has small amounts of pumice)

i have also seen aluminium foil and cola work well on poor quality chrome.. it removes the rust and leaves a fine layer of the ally on the metal which gives it shine, but you need to polish after as it will not last that way. This should only be done on poor quality chrome
 

Tom H

Platinum Level Sponsor
Another reason for not using steel wool: the mechanisms for all the gauges, including Tach, Speedo, Temp, Fuel, and Amps all include magnets for their operation. Any fine particles of steel that get inside the gauge will be immediately attracted to the magnet and will likely cause "sticky" gauges or worse.

Tom
 

bobbo

Gold Level Sponsor
Burled walnut veneer i've found out is very tricky to work with. Re did the consol of an old Jag. with a very thin layer of Burled veneer and found that is was quite prone to cracking ( probably due to the grain of the burl ). Talk to a shop that does a lot of veneering, as the veneer may need to be wetted and climatized properly prior to installing. Or it may not even be a problem since you are laying it over a wood base and not metal as mine was.
Bob
 

puff4

Platinum Level Sponsor
Another reason for not using steel wool: the mechanisms for all the gauges, including Tach, Speedo, Temp, Fuel, and Amps all include magnets for their operation. Any fine particles of steel that get inside the gauge will be immediately attracted to the magnet and will likely cause "sticky" gauges or worse.

Tom

Indeed.

IMHO, the best use for steel wool is as a water-proof fire starter for camping trips. Works a treat.
 

mattinoz

Donation Time
Burled walnut veneer i've found out is very tricky to work with. Re did the consol of an old Jag. with a very thin layer of Burled veneer and found that is was quite prone to cracking ( probably due to the grain of the burl ). Talk to a shop that does a lot of veneering, as the veneer may need to be wetted and climatized properly prior to installing. Or it may not even be a problem since you are laying it over a wood base and not metal as mine was.
Bob

I recently refurbed my walnut dash which came up really well. I got a local furniture restorer, who is also a classic car owner, to do the work. He was worried the veneer wouldn't adhere well to the plastic dash so firstly fixed the veneer to a very thin (1mm) ply substrate which stabilised the veneer. This was then glued to the dash under pressure for several days. He then cut all the openings. This pics tell the tale. Whilst it's not as dark as some I've seen, I expect it will darken over time with exposure to UV. The finish is not a high gloss which is personal choice.
 

alpine_64

Donation Time
I recently refurbed my walnut dash which came up really well. I got a local furniture restorer, who is also a classic car owner, to do the work. He was worried the veneer wouldn't adhere well to the plastic dash so firstly fixed the veneer to a very thin (1mm) ply substrate which stabilised the veneer. This was then glued to the dash under pressure for several days. He then cut all the openings. This pics tell the tale. Whilst it's not as dark as some I've seen, I expect it will darken over time with exposure to UV. The finish is not a high gloss which is personal choice.

Matt,

the timbers tend to lighten with exposure to UV.. but that said.. lighter dashes are MUCH better with the roof up. i replaced a light coloured one with a dark walnut veneer.. with the hood up its opressive with black carpet.. the light dash really makes it much nicer.
 

miket

Donation Time
Fred,

I used the burl veneer on my dash and it looks very good. The burl grain is perfect, but the gloss is not the same as finished wood. It wasn't hard to do. I had bought a second plastic dash as a template and a small router and some forcener bits. It took about an hour.

No one knows it's veener and I've had many compliments.

I had bought a 4x8' sheet and have a lot left over. PM me if you would like a piece.

Mike
 

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Chuck Ingram

Donation Time
Fred,

I used the burl veneer on my dash and it looks very good. The burl grain is perfect, but the gloss is not the same as finished wood. It wasn't hard to do. I had bought a second plastic dash as a template and a small router and some forcener bits. It took about an hour.

No one knows it's veener and I've had many compliments.

I had bought a 4x8' sheet and have a lot left over. PM me if you would like a piece.

Mike

Mike

Is this formica/arborite materail you have and not wood?
 

65beam

Donation Time
dash

for what it's worth, harrington used a formica type material to cover the original dash on the lemans.
 

miket

Donation Time
Chuck,

Yes, I used Formica. You should be able to get a small sample at HomeDepot. Usually there's a sample wall in the kitchen area. It's actually called Chestnut Burl #1136-80. (by chance my sample is still on my desk).

I had a Tiger when I was young, and this matches exactly that dash. The "look" is perfect.

Mike
 
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