Dash Refurbishment

[mep12345]

Over the last two weekends I have been refurbishing the dash panels. Whilst I have done this using a fablon style sticky back plastic and it is not as good as a proper lamination the cost effectiveness is very good. This cost me £5.49 and 4 hours work (plus 3 hours to get the dash out).

I had intended to do it this way and create a carbon fibre effect but when I saw the burred walnut effect finish I changed my mind and thought I'd try it. For the money I had nothing to lose and I think the look is fairly good, although I have yet to put it back in the car.

This is what the finished product looks like







The full story is here:

http://www.gbsportscar.com/Dashboard%20Renovation....

and the sticky plastic stuff came from here

http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/vinyldepot-retail

Something else I discovered while doing this is that the TR7 switches in the small dash panel were also fitted to the Range Rover Classic (or at least very very similar ones in look and size were). I've ordered two from fleabay ( http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&am... )so if they do fit then I'll post on the altenative parts list. But if you look at Rimmer Brothers the RR switch comes in at about half the TR7 price!!!!

Mark

Edited by mep12345 on Sunday 7th December 14:19

Edited by mep12345 on Sunday 7th December 14:21

Edited by mep12345 on Sunday 12th April 20:29

[tinks v8S]

that looks good .well done

[hvdweerden]

Hello Mark,

Great info, I was looking for such a foil to do the door strips.

Did you use the BURLED WOOD variant ?

Br, Han

[mep12345]

hvdweerden said:

Hello Mark,

Great info, I was looking for such a foil to do the door strips.

Did you use the BURLED WOOD variant ?

Br, Han

That's the one and the roll (450mm x 2m) I bought would do 2 cars if you are careful!!!!

[Road2Ruin]

mep12345 said:

Over the last two weekends I have been refurbishing the dash panels. Whilst I have done this using a fablon style sticky back plastic and it is not as good as a proper lamination the cost effectiveness is very good. This cost me £5.49 and 4 hours work (plus 3 hours to get the dash out).

I had intended to do it this way and create a carbon fibre effect but when I saw the burred walnut effect finish I changed my mind and thought I'd try it. For the money I had nothing to lose and I think the look is fairly good, although I have yet to put it back in the car.

This is what the finished product looks like







The full story is here:

http://www.gbsportscar.com/Dashboard%20Renovation....

and the sticky plastic stuff came from here

http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/vinyldepot-retail

Something else I discovered while doing this is that the TR7 switches in the small dash panel were also fitted to the Range Rover Classic (or at least very very similar ones in look and size were). I've ordered two from fleabay ( http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&am... )so if they do fit then I'll post on the altenative parts list. But if you look at Rimmer Brothers the RR switch comes in at about half the TR7 price!!!!

Mark

Edited by mep12345 on Sunday 7th December 14:19

Edited by mep12345 on Sunday 7th December 14:21

Well Done looks like a good job. This is something I plan to do before spring. I would be interested to hear any problems you had getting the Main Dash out.

Thanks
Peter

[mep12345]

Peter,

It is really only time and cuts to your hands. The description on my website tells you what is difficult (i.e. the nut to the drivers side of heater controls - you'll need a short stubby spanner - I had one about 3" long which ratchets).

I did not remove the steering wheel as stated, but just the cowls.

When you ease the dash forward do it from the passenger side and top and be very careful until you have released the heater controls (undo one nut and loosen the second - there is one each side of the sliders that hold the controls onto the dash panel - then slip the control panel off the dash) then with care (and enough cable - mine did have enough) you can pull the main dash instruments forward and release them one by one - when you see the arrangement it is obvious how.

In essence a fiddly time consuming job but not difficult.

Mark

[seb400]

Hi mep12345
Looks nice - do you propose to get a nice lacquered finish to this?

Back in the summer I refurbished my dash. I work in the design/print industry. I got hold of a large high-res walnut burl image, photoshopped (colour can be adjusted to suit interior of car/steering wheel/gear knob!) to fit the full width of a V8S dash and printed it onto a self adhesive cloth based paper. This should provide a stable surface which won't crack, like wood, when expanding in the heat. A friend of mine (who has used wood in the past) fitted and lacquered the dash for me before refitting.

before


door strips


dash




Only problem is that the glue we used wasn't up to the job and a couple of areas are beginning to peel back, so needs further experimentaion. But again a much cheaper method - and it looks just like real wood.

Steve

Edited by seb400 on Saturday 13th December 14:52

[Gerald-TVR]

Hi Steve

I have an S2 with the curved 'walnut' dash which is painted fibreglass



I'm having a hell of a job finding some to do it well, do you think your system might work and any ideas as to where I could go, i do have a spare dash to work on but from the size and shape almost impossible to post.

Any udeas very welcome, BTW what sort of laquer did you use?

Edited by Gerald-TVR on Thursday 11th December 21:05

[mep12345]

Norman,

To be honest I think you'll find the vinyl stuff I used would work for you. But I'd at least give it a go for the £5.50 it costs what have you got to lose and it'll look better than the peeling dash in the picture whatever happens

I have no intention of laquering the finish - to be honest it doesn't need it and I think there would abe a risk of ruining the finish if I did so.

Mark

Edited by mep12345 on Thursday 11th December 21:50

[tinks v8S]

try chapman &cliff they do allsorts of vaneer
pleased with my dash
tell quote paul tatton

www.chapmen and cliff

2 top guys

[Sweet Thunder]

Gerald-TVR said:

Hi Steve

I have an S2 with the curved 'walnut' dash which is painted fibreglass



I'm having a hell of a job finding some to do it well, do you think your system might work and any ideas as to where I could go, i do have a spare dash to work on but from the size and shape almost impossible to post.

Any udeas very welcome, BTW what sort of laquer did you use?

Edited by Gerald-TVR on Thursday 11th December 21:05

Hi Norman,

When I did my dash last year, I decided not to use foil, as it seemed impossible to make the foil follow the deep curves around the switches and the gauges. Eventually I found a painter so I had it painted.
However, lately I've been working with a company that makes plastic parts using a technique called vaccuumforming: a flat sheet of plastic is put on top of a mold, they create a vaccuum between the sheet and the mold, and at the same time the plastic is heated so that it stretches and gets pulled into the shape of the mould. The same technique could possibly be used with the sticky foil: stick it over the top of the dash, and then attach the hose of a vaccuumcleaner to the rear of a switch hole or gauge hole using gaffer tape. this creates the vaccuum between the dash and the foil. Then heat the foil gently from the edge inwards to stretch it and gently rub it onto the dash to stick it on.
The burr effect will look less realistic around the apertures, but at £5.50 it is certainly worth a try!

PS: I finally found the paint types you had asked me for:
- Motip plastic primer
- Motip Dupli-color primer
- Motip colorMatic as a base color
- The painter told me he used oil pain for the wood effect
- Plasticote polyurethane varnish (gloss) to finish it off.

Hope this helps you.

[tvrgit]

mep12345 said:

This is what the finished product looks like







The full story is here:

http://www.gbsportscar.com/Dashboard%20Renovation....

Linkys don't work!

[Wiz]

tinks v8S said:

try chapman &cliff they do allsorts of vaneer
pleased with my dash
tell quote paul tatton

www.chapmen and cliff

2 top guys

Saw some of there work on a wedge dash today, looked very impressive.

[mep12345]

Have had server problems with website - currently being worked on and clickys should be working again soon.

ETA: They're back - it was the new server that recognises lower and upper case as different (quoted sections need editing by other posters though)

Edited by mep12345 on Sunday 12th April 20:31