Dashboards

[Bruce Mills]

1974.5 MGB Roadster with VDO Cockpit Royal gauges.

After 37 years it is time to replace the vinyl dash. I was thinking this might be time to customize it as bit by replacing the rectangular oil pressure gauge with a VDO round one and adding a volt meter (maybe to the console)

I am not trying to re-invent the wheel and for the most part I am happy with the instrument location but like I said, now is a good time to change it.

I am guessing for a major layout change I could weld some metal over the existing holes and re-drill new ones. How do I get that recess which is around the gauges? The just cut the new dash vinyl to suit?

If anyone with a customized dash could post a picture (to give me some ideas) it would be appreciated.



Thanks

Bruce

[flitner]

I reinvented the wheel on mine it wont be too hard to do what you describe
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The only decent picture in hy hard drive of the finished product.
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[pspeaks]

Admittedly this has taken a few hours of time but that might also, at least to some degree, be the result of racing season and a flat screen TV in the garage; that is however, just a guess!  My vinyl was as bad a shape as it could get so I carefully ripped it all off doing as little damage as possible to the foam.  I reformed the instrument cluster area and laid a couple of layers of fiberglass over the entire dash, filled and block sanded it and as you can see it's in primer waiting for boo-boo repair and final paint and trim.  It's not perfect, but it's mine and it's paid for, and my GT will love it!

Paul
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[Jim Stabe]

I had to make a new one that was wider but you could easily make a narrower version. I made the instrument cluster removable as a unit with plugs - easier to work on.
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[Bruce Mills]

Thanks guys. I like the arrangement of the 6 gauges and I like the idea of a removal panel for easy access. I will see what I can come up with

How thick is the metal panel Jim and was it cut with a plasma cutter?

[Jim Stabe]

The removable panel is .090" aluminum. I covered the piece with masking tape to prevent scratching and laid out the holes with a compass then cut them out with a saber saw and finished them up with a file. Cutting the holes took less than an hour. They aren't perfect but they are close and the gauge bezels cover up any gaps.

Jim

[pspeaks]

I like Jim's set up too.  I have an aluminum panel cut to fit my gauge recess as well and still toy with the idea of using it to make the gauge panel removable, might even laminate it with some exotic wood veneer and match it on the glove box door; the center hole is obviously for the heat/AC vent.  My dilemma is I prefer the screw heads didn't show, but if I veneer it I can weld aluminum screws in and sand them flush before I laminate it.  Well, I'll come up with something eventually.


Paul

[BlownMGB-V8]

How about spring clips Paul? That way you could pull the insert without having to get in behind it, which is really sort of the point of a removable panel anyway.

JB

[pspeaks]

I hadn't thought of that Jim, that's a neat idea, if I don't date myself by saying neat.  I could probably use door panel clips; we used them on the T-Buckets doors and must have a ton of them around the shop somewhere.  I'll let you know how it works.  Thanks,

Paul

[DC Townsend]

Bruce,

Here's another thought on the dash. I liked the look of the early dashes so I stripped mine down ('79 MGB) to the metal, made some repairs after removing s few of the pieces that were just there to support the foam, then primed and painted it with wrinkle finish. The whole project took me a weekend (not including the glove box door, which I had to make).

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Regards,

David

[theonlyiceman53]

Hi, I always liked the look of the early dash but didn't have one to work with.  Took the cover off of a pillow top dash, sanded, covered with thin padding and glued on and heat shrunk some black vinyl.  Nothing special but simple and easy to do.  

Bill
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[BlownMGB-V8]

I stripped a pillow dash, welded up the square cutout, cut it for early tach and speedo, extra gages and equalizer, and added a glove box from an early dash. I then glued on a brow cut from the original foam and covered the whole thing in black leather I bought from Tandy. I thought it came out pretty good but I think the fit at the ends could be improved. I don't have a photo of it on this laptop but I'll try to upload one later from the other one.

JB

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[mgbv81970]

I was inspired by David Townsend's dash conversion and decided to try my own.  My car is a 1970 but it had the 72-76 style molded dash with the big plastic glove box door.  I stripped it clean, cut off all the unnecessary brackets around the glove box opening, and welded patches in along the bottom edge and vent opening.  I bent some 1/4' square stock and welded it into the glove box opening for strength and a place for the door to stop.  The door is hand bent 3/16 mild, but not shown in this photo as it's still being worked on.  All is painted body color.  I also heated and bent a 1/8" by 3/4 metal strip, soldered in screws, covered with padding and vinyl, and made my own dash "eyebrow".  The guages are Autometer Nexus. (The holes for the two center gauges are empty in this photo.)  The center console is yet to be constructed but will be similar to the original, only covered with matching vinyl and ready to house a "double DIN" stereo.  Hope to have it on the road next summer.
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[rficalora]

Nice job Scott!

[DC Townsend]

"I was inspired by David Townsend's dash conversion and decided to try my own."

Wow! That's quite a compliment. I agree with Rob, very nicely done. Pretty surprising what's (and what is not) underneath all of that padding. I really like it painted the body color. Really makes it flow with the car.

DT

[Bruce Mills]

As I study the pictures and re-think the dash several things come to mind.

I noticed a raised area where the instruments are. That would have to be removed to locate 6 gauges. That could easily be done with a little cutting, welding and drilling. Or by making up a removable instrument panel

I was originally thinking I could just buy a new dash cover from Moss and the holes would not be cut out and then cut them to suite. I see the dash cover is @400.00) That is a lot of money.

Do you think a car upholster would be able to recover the dash or is it heat pressed on? I am thinking a car upholster would be able to make up a new cushion edge?

I could paint it but that would involve having to get some metal made up to match the glove box.


Comments?

[DC Townsend]

"Do you think a car upholster would be able to recover the dash or is it heat pressed on? I am thinking a car upholster would be able to make up a new cushion edge? "

That depends on how close you want to be to the original. Any auto trim guy who is reasonably competent should (operable word) be able to reproduce a fairly faithful rendition of what you have. Same goes for the cushion edge. Not sure what prices are like for these services where you are but I wouldn't be a bit surprised if the cost of recovering your old dash and the cost of new pad weren't very nearly the same. As far as the dash being "heat pressed", I don't know what the adhesion method is but I can tell you it's a bear to get the cover and foam off the metal underneath.

"I could paint it but that would involve having to get some metal made up to match the glove box. "

Not as difficult to do as you might think. I'm no tin smith, but was able to fabricate a decent door from a piece of mild sheet steel, some, and patience.

[BlownMGB-V8]

There are alternatives. Stretchy materials are particularly good, and plain old Contact Cement works great. Any material can be used for the build-up. Foam, wood, balsa, just pick based on the firmness you want. A thin foam cushion layer may be a nice touch. Glove leather if you can find it, makes a particularly nice finish but vinyl and many others can be used, so your choices are basically unlimited. All you need is a little bit of a sense of adventure. After all, if it doesn't work out the cost of a redo is not that much.

JB

[v8_ranch]

marking for dash ide\\as

[Kard150]

With the right kind of metal and a hydraulic press you can do a lot.
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 Thin Mild steel or soft aluminum will form with simple dies made from a shape and enough space around it to give it whatever depth you want.
Ken

If you're Eagle Eyed enough you notice that one is cracked, that was because I used tempered Aluminum. I made a second out of O tempered and it came out great