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MG MG Y Type - New Dash or Old?

My original intention was to discard the original dash, as it had chunks of veneer missing at each end, was badly delaminated and generally tatty. Or perhaps to cobble it together as a keepsake, fill missing chunks with plastic wood, stain and varnish; put in old spare gauges, and mount it in a coffee table for fun.

There's just one problem: when years of grime, varnish and old stain had been removed, a glorious 1949 bookmatched veneer was revealed - albeit in delaminated state and with chunks missing. So I carried on with the original plan - carefully glued the old veneer to a new base,filled the missing veneer sections, gave the whole a cursory stain and blew some lacquer over the top. I hope to attach a couple of photos of this first attempted bodge-up.

Result:my wife now prefers the thought of the original dash being properly restored (with veneer inserts to replace the lost sections), instead of a complete new dash. AAAAARRRRRGH!
There is cracking to fill with epoxy resin, and the difficulty of making up discreet veneer fillers for each end. But apart from that, there is some hope that a patinaed but serviceable dashboard might emerge. For all its battle scars, it will still be the original dashboard, complete with maker's crayon marks on the back. And that kinda sums up what this car restoration hobby is all about ... for me, at least.
Just thought it might be of interest. Yours, John.

J P Hall

Showing the butterfly-effect mid section. Wear through veneer obvious at glovebox hinge.

J P Hall

... and the gauges insert; more evidence of cracking, missing chunks of veneer, and a lot of work to do!

J P Hall

Very nice John. I am almost tempted to completely re-veneer my dashboard now having seen this ... if only time allowed!

Paul
Paul Barrow

I like the idea of keeping the old. Looks good!

Larry
Larry Brown

I kept the old, too.

Willem van der Veer

It looked like this

Willem van der Veer

Ha! - was hoping you would see this, Willem. Thanks for the reminder of your experience. Two questions -
(1) How did you minimise the appearance of the horizontal cracks? Epoxy filler perhaps?
(2) Did you blow the completed dash over with 2-pack sealer and then flat back and wax/polish to produce a non-plastic finish?
Yours, John.
J P Hall

Hi John,

First I glued the loose veneer back to the dashboard, clamping it between two straight slabs of plywood.
On the second try (...) I used cling foil as a layer between the clamped item and the plywood to prevent gluing the two together.

After the gluing was done I stripped the wood with a chemical paint stripper. I rinsed the wood with water and later with white spirit.

The then exposed veneer was ironed with a warm (not hot) iron to flatten any warping wood and to reactivate old glue. I used the dishwashing towel as a protective layer.

The veneer was sanded flat with increasingly fine wet&dry paper; (180-300-600 grade) with white spirit as lubricant.

I then brush painted the wood several times with a water based egg-shell gloss clear urethane floor paint (it's called Glitsa over here).
Between layers (and drying!) I flattened each layer with water lubricated 800 grade wet&dry until all the cracks were filled with paint, but the wood grain still just visible. After the last flattening with 1500 grade I polished it with a polishing wheel.

I was very pleased with the authentic look I achieved and the fact that my wife forgave me the use of all the domestic appliances...
Willem van der Veer

This thread was discussed between 04/04/2017 and 20/04/2017

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