Triumph dashboards - who supplies these days?

[cliff.b]

Just now, cliff.b said:

Veneer & adhesive film arrived today so decided to rest it on done spare plywood.

The adhesive is on one side of a release paper. Placed adhesive side down on the plywood, use a warm iron over the paper a few times, allow to cool and remove paper. A thin film of adhesive is left on the plywood.

 

Now lay veneer on top and use iron on hottest setting with paper in-between to stop veneer scorching. Immediately afterwards, smooth repeatedly with a cold heavy object to make sure veneer doesn't lift before adhesive sets.

[cliff.b]

Just now, cliff.b said:

Now lay veneer on top and use iron on hottest setting with paper in-between to stop veneer scorching. Immediately afterwards, smooth repeatedly with a cold heavy object to make sure veneer doesn't lift before adhesive sets.

Allow to cool completely and veneer is now attached.

 

Now trim as required.

[Badwolf]

Umm. Interesting method, but I would be worried about the adhesive 'releasing' in direct sunlight or even hot weather in a car with a roof. I used evostik contact adhesive when I veneered mine on the advice of the cabinate maker who supplied my veneer. Of course adhesives have improved signicantly over the years as I know.

[cliff.b]

24 minutes ago, Badwolf said:

Umm. Interesting method, but I would be worried about the adhesive 'releasing' in direct sunlight or even hot weather in a car with a roof. I used evostik contact adhesive when I veneered mine on the advice of the cabinate maker who supplied my veneer. Of course adhesives have improved signicantly over the years as I know.

Yes, I thought about that but it says it needs about 150C to melt it. And even if it did melt locally it should set again when it cooled down.

One of the advantages of application is that you can reheat and move it repeatedly if not fitted properly.

However, this is just part of testing it so guess I will find out.

[cliff.b]

Just tried a spot of varnish on my test piece to see how it might look

[Badwolf]

On past experience I would try a ' rubbing wax' polish as when warm it will soak into the veneer nicely or Danish Oil. Everyone has their own 'works for me' ideas. I share mine for your evaluation.

[cliff.b]

14 minutes ago, Badwolf said:

On past experience I would try a ' rubbing wax' polish as when warm it will soak into the veneer nicely or Danish Oil. Everyone has their own 'works for me' ideas. I share mine for your evaluation.

Ok, thanks. I think I will make up a few test samples and try different things. Plenty of spare veneer to play with

[Badwolf]

Just as an aside, many years ago, in my camping days, I left a candle in the glove box of one car. I found it eventually, just a melted but now solid again, puddle of wax with a convenient string. I'm sure that someone will be along with chapter and verse about the internal temperatures of cars left in sunshine.

Edit - Found this on a Yank site.....

Here...  https://www.insider.com/how-hot-does-a-car-get-in-the-sun

[cliff.b]

13 minutes ago, Badwolf said:

Just as an aside, many years ago, in my camping days, I left a candle in the glove box of one car. I found it eventually, just a melted but now solid again, puddle of wax with a convenient string. I'm sure that someone will be along with chapter and verse about the internal temperatures of cars left in sunshine.

Edit - Found this on a Yank site.....

Here...  https://www.insider.com/how-hot-does-a-car-get-in-the-sun

We had the same thing in our summer house when it was hot last year lol

[Peter Truman]

We store our suitcases in the roof of our house plus other things, a section of roof beams timbered out for storage, the wife stored those big scenty candles in one case which became a river of wax, wrecked case!

Obviously our roofs here in Aus get extremes of temperature and there are very few days that it is possible for us DIY'ers to work in the roof for long, as its either too hot or too cold! it's not even seasonal it could be cooold at 10AM and boiling by 10:30! Fortunately neither our heating or air conditioning is in the roof, only structure routine inspections are necessary. Reminds me I must get our Termite guy in for the annual inspection! 

One of our daily driven British cars Triumph or Jag had some distorted dashboard plastic trim eons ago, the X type jags demister trim always popped up on hot days! can't beat nuts and bolts!

[cliff.b]

On 08/01/2022 at 15:03, Badwolf said:

On past experience I would try a ' rubbing wax' polish as when warm it will soak into the veneer nicely or Danish Oil. Everyone has their own 'works for me' ideas. I share mine for your evaluation.

Hi, can you please clarify what you mean by "rubbing wax". Is that specifically for wood?

I have applied the first piece of veneer and not sure I want it varnished now.

 

[Badwolf]

Cliff.b - This is what I have used on many of my wooden projects. I did use Danish oil on the dashboard on the recommendation of the cabinet maker who supplied me with the veneer

[Chris A]

+1 for Briwax

[cliff.b]

37 minutes ago, Badwolf said:

Cliff.b - This is what I have used on many of my wooden projects. I did use Danish oil on the dashboard on the recommendation of the cabinet maker who supplied me with the veneer

Ok, thanks 👍

[Colin Lindsay]

40 minutes ago, Badwolf said:

Cliff.b - This is what I have used on many of my wooden projects. I did use Danish oil on the dashboard on the recommendation of the cabinet maker who supplied me with the veneer

So: just wax over the veneer, don't varnish?

[Badwolf]

No varnish or the wax doesn't sink into the grain. I used this on some bare oak shelving.  Just rub and polish...rub and polish.  A warm environment appears to help the wax soak in.  Polish off well in the end so the wax doesn't end up on stuff where you don't want it. The more that you do, the deeper the colour. I like it, not for everyone but I have had good results.

[cliff.b]

Just looking at other options, has anyone used Ruskin's Plastic Coating and if so, is it a good option and how did you apply it?

[NonMember]

Plastic coating, applied in MANY thin layers, then sugar-soaped to dull the surface, gives a very good imitation of the original dash finish.

[cliff.b]

59 minutes ago, NonMember said:

Plastic coating, applied in MANY thin layers, then sugar-soaped to dull the surface, gives a very good imitation of the original dash finish.

OK. What's the best way of applying it?

[Peter Truman]

With my Sprint which had the dash restored my a PO using marine epoxy lacquer, it looks good but in retrospect there have been issues for new players eg the glove box lid the PO had not only painted the front and rear copiously but also the edges so the lid struck shut when closed, problem compounded by the build up of lacquer on both the lid and main dash aperture. The solution was to remove the glove box lid and quite heavily sand around the outside to obtain the necessary clearance then repaint the raw edge with a thin coat of Airfix brown Humbol paint.

The bigger problem was the instrument panel the edges were copiously covered with marine epoxy lacquer but also the dash had been recovered, so the instrument panel fit into the dash fit was far to tight, to the point I was scared of damaging the panel when trying to remove. This required the removal of ALL instruments and the instrument panel removal and the edges heavily sanded then lightly sealed with Humbol so the panel fitted into the smaller dash area.

The PO learnt on the Sprint he has subsequently restored a Stag, Mini Cooper, TR4, Mk2 Jag, E Type, Mini 850 & early 50's 175cc Moto Guzzi bike. 

[NonMember]

13 minutes ago, cliff.b said:

OK. What's the best way of applying it?

I generally use a good quality brush. It's a 2-part so you have to mix, apply and clean up in a reasonable time, but it's not that quick drying so there's no problem doing so. Leave some time between coats (I forget how long but it's on the instructions in the pack). As I said, lots of coats to get the full depth of finish. You'll probably need to flat it before the last couple of coats, which means leaving longer to set before that.

[Josef]

Seconded that Humbrol gloss brown is a pretty good match for the original edging paint. I’ve also had success with plasticote, same method as NonMember describes. 

[cliff.b]

15 minutes ago, NonMember said:

I generally use a good quality brush. It's a 2-part so you have to mix, apply and clean up in a reasonable time, but it's not that quick drying so there's no problem doing so. Leave some time between coats (I forget how long but it's on the instructions in the pack). As I said, lots of coats to get the full depth of finish. You'll probably need to flat it before the last couple of coats, which means leaving longer to set before that.

Ok, thanks

[cliff.b]

5 minutes ago, Josef said:

Seconded that Humbrol gloss brown is a pretty good match for the original edging paint. I’ve also had success with plasticote, same method as NonMember describes. 

👍

[cliff.b]

2 hours ago, Peter Truman said:

With my Sprint which had the dash restored my a PO using marine epoxy lacquer, it looks good but in retrospect there have been issues for new players eg the glove box lid the PO had not only painted the front and rear copiously but also the edges so the lid struck shut when closed, problem compounded by the build up of lacquer on both the lid and main dash aperture. The solution was to remove the glove box lid and quite heavily sand around the outside to obtain the necessary clearance then repaint the raw edge with a thin coat of Airfix brown Humbol paint.

The bigger problem was the instrument panel the edges were copiously covered with marine epoxy lacquer but also the dash had been recovered, so the instrument panel fit into the dash fit was far to tight, to the point I was scared of damaging the panel when trying to remove. This required the removal of ALL instruments and the instrument panel removal and the edges heavily sanded then lightly sealed with Humbol so the panel fitted into the smaller dash area.

The PO learnt on the Sprint he has subsequently restored a Stag, Mini Cooper, TR4, Mk2 Jag, E Type, Mini 850 & early 50's 175cc Moto Guzzi bike. 

Yes, I can see the potential for problems. I'm hoping that they should be easier to avoid on a Spit dash as nothing opens