MG-Cars.net

Welcome to our resource for MG Car Information.

Recommendations

Parts

MG parts spares and accessories are available for MG T Series (TA, MG TB, MG TC, MG TD, MG TF), Magnette, MGA, Twin cam, MGB, MGBGT, MGC, MGC GT, MG Midget, Sprite and other MG models from British car spares company LBCarCo.

MG TD TF 1500 - Wood Dash

I'm finishing the prep for a walnut burl wood dash I am making, and thought I'd get some opinions. Yes, I know wood is an aftermarket item for the TD, but I love wood on my cars.

I have just finish trimming the applied veneer, and done a light sanding of the overall piece as well as have some wood putty drying in the few voids. I planned to use Tung oil, but I'm not sure that's the best route to take vs. urathane. I have lots of experience with urathane, but have not used tung oil for decades.

Anyone out there with experience in this area, please feel free to comment or advise.

Thanks

Larry
L Karpman

I use tung oil (100%) on my steering wheels... I really love it, however, it won't 'fill' anything, and the veneers I have worked with in the past have always needed a fair amount of filling. I also find that it has a 'soft' finish/feel, which I really like on the wheels, but don't think I would like it on a dash!
I would go urathane (many, many, many coats) or a two part plastic...the stuff they sell for bar tables, etc.(although, it has a bit of a modern, non vintage look).


http://www.gblandco.com
gblawson - TD#27667

Thanks Gordon. Yes, that's what I've been thinking. As for the urathane, I used to make natuaral redwood tables and finish with a zillion coats of clear urathane, then I had a special method with the last coat to make it a satin finish that could not be distinuished from the natural wood. Made just about a bulletproof finish. That's what I've been leaning towards with the dash.

Larry
L Karpman

Go with the Tung Oil . It has a more natrual look and feel and it can be touched up with ease.
I have found that the urathane gives a harsh plastic look and can blister if there is any oils in the wood or if it gets wet. Also it can be a mess to fix a scratch if you should get one.
Good luck on getting the trim around the glove box on.
Alan

larry, just my opinion, but i would lean more towards the urethane myself. spar varnishes weather well and give UV protection. good luck. regards, tom
tm peterson

tm and Allen, thanks for the input.

Allen, care to elaborate on the glove box trim (other than it's a PITA :-) ??

Larry
L Karpman

I did my wood dash and use a good high grade gun stock oil. Many coats but it was well worth the effort.
Tom

Does anyone have a electronic drawing of the TD Dash? I have been thinking about making one but was to you a table router I have at work to cut it out.
V.W. Piña

The dash on my 1952 TD is wood. It would need work to be nice and the glovebox door is either an entirely different wood or grain. I need to redo the interior and will go to biscuit. It now has red seats and black door and other trim. I kind of like the look of the vinyl covered dash rather than the wood look. What do you have--vinyl or wood? Why one or the other?
All of your comments are appreciated.
Gary
GG Krafft

Gary. The TD came with a vinyl covered dash from the factory. Wood is aftermarket. Some keep the vinyl because they either like it, or want to keep the car original, or both. I had wood on my TC many years ago, and all my roadsters and Jaguars since. I prefer the wood look. Ah, rich burlwood, supple leather and aroma, and chrome shine. Life is good :-))
P.S. Only things missing are a fine cigar and some excellent wine :-)

Larry
L Karpman

When the vinyl started coming off, a lot of owners refinished the wood dash underneath...the glove box door would not have been made from the same piece as no one cared about a match. Refinsihing plywood however, doesn't give the greatest result. You can laminate a higher quality of wood veneer over top, or recover with vinyl (the same quality (?) as Rexine isn't available anymore so will look different then stock).
As much as I love wood, my dash is in such original condition, I just can't peel it off...! (And I have 8 full strips of Rosewood veneer sitting under a bench!)
If you do veneer, do matchbook it!
gblawson - TD#27667

Here's a quick shot of the unfuinished veneered dash before any of the filler was sanded, and before any finish applied.

http://home.comcast.net/~lkarpman/dash1.JPG

It is bookmatched, but the holes for the speedo and tach eat up a lot of the grain pattern on the left side. Used a blank from Craig Seabrook, and walnut burl veneer from ebay.

Do yourself a favor if you do this, and use paper backed veneer. Much easier to work with and less chance of failure. If you think adhering it tight tricky, the fun part is the trimming of all the round edges on the wafer thin veneer :-) Not aperfect job on my part, but I believe I will like the end results. At least I hope :-)

Larry
L Karpman

Beautiful piece of veneer that!!! Looks great!

I did one for a TR4 for my nephew a few years ago... was talked into using 'latex' contact cement... didn't like it at all. I believe this was paper backed...been awhile?

http://gblandco.com/gb/tr4dash/tr4dash.html
gblawson - TD#27667

Did you test fit the dash... remember some postings mentioning that that fit can be anything but 'precise' on a new dash?
gblawson - TD#27667

L. Karpman

Maybe I was doing somthing wrong but trying to get the trim around the glove box to fit and not bind up seemd like a pain in the butt. I made my own dash out of a wood called Babina ,dont hold me to the spelling . It is a dark redish wood with a wonderful grain. Any way it was a cut and fit deal with the door trim . With the drilling of the tiny holes for the tiny screws for the hindges . When I cut the openning I winged it on how much clearance . I figured I could always shave off some but it's hard to add wood. Like I said it took a while to get it to fit right.
Alan

Did you make it out of solid wood? Always thought I would laminate the solid wood on a plu backing to prevent cracking/splitting.
gblawson

I did my dash in solid walnut. The backing piece keeps the wood from cracking once you bolt it on using the six screws and bolts that were there normally.
TOm

Was worried about the space between the speedo and tach...thought the 'ply' would prevent any cursing later!
gblawson - TD#27667

The glove box openings are the most tricky part of these dashes. I have had my hands personally on 8 or 10 original factory dashes, and they all were a bit different in the size and location of theglove box openeing and door. Also the overall outside shape of the dases varied slightly from one to the next. I do believe this is a result of them knowing the dash was going to be covered in vinyl...this would give them a little wiggle room if the size was off just a bit one way or the other. On the dashes I make, I cut the doors to what I estimated to be the average size and shape, taking into account average size/shape chrome trim (this too varied slightly car-to-car). Sometimes it all goes together perfectly, sometimes it has to be "encouraged to fit" as some would say. And like someone said above, you can always sand more wood off, but you can't add it back once it's gone! Best of luck with your dashboards!

Nathan
www.darbydashboards.com
Nathan Darby

If you want to get a perfectly smooth finish on open grain wood you MUST use a grain filler before you apply the seal coat. Putting raw finish on raw wood will work but it will take forever and many, many coats and too many coats will lead to crazing when the dash is in the sun. I use brushing oil base filler from Mohawk. It comes in many colors including natural that works well on light woods. Constantine also makes a filler but not in as many colors. Apply generously with a brush and wait until it starts to haze, maybe 30 minutes depending on the temperature. Wipe off with a course rag like burlap ACROSS THE GRAIN. If you wipe with the grain you will just drag most of the filler out of the pores of the grain. Let it dry overnight and apply another coat. Let dry two days and it’s ready to block sand with 220 grit and seal coat. You can make your own seal coat by thinning the finish out of the can ten to one with the proper thinner. I use three seal coats sanding between each coat with 220 grit. When you are happy with the smoothness of the finish you can apply one finish coat. If you want to kill the gloss of the finish coat rub out with 0000 steel wool and any good paste wax such as bowling alley wax. This will give you a very nice hand rubbed look smooth as a baby bottom.

Tung oil, although easy, is not a good finish for this application. Urethane is OK but for the ultimate finish I would use a good spar varnish available at any marine store. Petit or Val Spar are both very good. Use a three inch brush and do not apply too heavily. I like to make a wipe can out of a four inch wide can and a five inch nail. Driver the nail crosswise through the can near the top. Each time you fill your brush, wipe the excess off on the nail. This will also get rid of most of those pesky bubbles. Apply in straight strokes and coat all the way across the panel, in the case of a dash from top to bottom, before moving on to the next section. This will make your cut ins much smoother. Good luck, JL

FWIW. In another life I was a coatings chemist and taught finishing.

James Lea

Good info James. Wish I had had it a few weeks ago :-) In any case I opted for urathane, sanded with 220 grit between coats. I brushed the base coats, but am using spray for the final coats. The biggest issue I face now, as usual, is dust.

Larry
L Karpman

In all my varied dashboard work I have come to this one certain conclusion:

Dust is the Devil!


http://www.darbydashboards.com
Nathan Darby

The best cure for dust is a tack rag. If you don't have one you can buy one at most hardware stores. It's a piece of cheesecloth soaked in beeswax and thinner. Use it to wipe all the dust off of the finish before you put on the next coat. They really work. Keep it in a ziplock bag when you are not using it to keep it from drying out. Cheers, JL

James Lea

The tack rag is great for a dust free surface to finish over, and I have and use them before each coat. But the the dust in the air that settles onto the surface while it is drying, is the problem I need to overcome. Think I'm going to build me a little tent :-)
L Karpman

Larry,
in my country, a partytent is a favorite thing for the garden but also very usefull for painting activities. Sold for about 20 - 30 dollar/euro. Popular size is 3 x 3 meters square and about 2,5 m high. Can be arised outside as well as in a garage/shed. Helps me to keep the dust ( and those flying creatures ) away from my paintspaying and to keep the paint inside. Greetings, Huib
Huib Bruijstens

This thread was discussed between 21/10/2006 and 05/11/2006

MG TD TF 1500 index

This thread is from the archive. The Live MG TD TF 1500 BBS is active now.