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MG MG Y Type - Dashboard

Hi, thanks for taking the time to read and respond.
This autumn I plan to restore the dashboard of "Joy" (Y6686). I have a spare dashboard which also requires restoration so I plan to do this in preparation for a swop later in the year. I read in "Let there be Y's" that from the factory the main panel was simply stained and varnished and the glove box cover and instrument panel were veneered with walnut. I have seen a few other Y's that have been restored, nut and bolt, and the main panel, G/Box cover and Instr. Panel have all been veneered.
Has this become the trend upon restoration or did the factory commence veneering all?
The complete veneer cover certainly looks very smart but obviously a more complex job than the alternative. Your comments or experience would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Bob
RA Barham-Hall

Hi Bob,

I completed a nut and bolt rebuild on my YA (Y6641) and as I understand it the glove box and instrument panel is veneered in Walnut burr and the dash main panel is veneered in straight grain walnut veneer. I have attached a photo of mine which has been veneered as above by http://www.chapmanandcliff.co.uk/ who made an excellent job if you give them a ring they are very helpful.
Hope that helps Cheers Chris

C A Pick

heres a second picture bob

cheers chris

C A Pick

Hello Bob. My Y6668 had an original dashboard which had all 3 components veneered with burr walnut. I have no doubt that it was a factory original. The main board was laid up in such a way that the veneer was divided in the middle,one side being a mirror image of the other. Personally I think that fully veneered board has a richer look. Your choice I guess.
Regards Wayne
W Routley

This is the dash on Y6214, which I'm pretty certain is original too. Not in mint condition, but looks good with the inserts and dash all part of the same veneer.
Cheers
John

J B Turner

I'm pretty sure the main panel is mahogany veneer and the two small panels are walnut veneer in a mirrored design.
The later MG magnette has the same finish.

Attached are some pictures of my restored/revarnished dashboard.

Willem van der Veer

and another one

Willem van der Veer

and another one to show the veneer on the main panel.

Willem van der Veer

This is how it looked when I started.

Willem van der Veer

Thanks all for input and pics. Very helpful and interesting variety of finishes. It seems I shall have to be comfortable with whatever I decide but the completely walnut veneered finish looks very impressive.
Enjoy your classics,
Bob
RA Barham-Hall

For what it's worth, the dashboard on UKK111, which is definitely original, is the same as William's.
M Hanson

Not mahogany Willem, definitely walnut back panel and burr walnut veneers in the smaller panels.
Peter
P W Vielvoye

Peter,
I'm no expert on wood, but I read somewhere that the Magnette was mahogany and burr walnut and assumed that the Y would be the same.

Looking at the picture I found on the internet, I tend to believe that you are right in saying that it is (straight grained) walnut veneer on the back panel.

I'm 99,9% sure that the veneer on my dashboard is original. Selecting new veneer will always be difficult because you would like to have more or less the same shade of brown. I think that is why many restored dashboards are covered in 100% burr walnut.

Bob,
Whatever you choose, please go for a mirrored look (like Rolls Royce and Jaguar are doing for decades now).

Willem van der Veer

Bob,

In your original posting you write:

"I read in "Let there be Y's" that from the factory the main panel was simply stained and varnished .....".

I have always thought that this was a rare fault in an otherwise excellent book.

(Aaargh, what am I doing now? Publicly doubting what is written in The Book....)
Willem van der Veer

I agree with Willem about the arrangement of veneers and finishes - it is walnut, but only the glove box lid and the dash panel (and the inlays on the door trims) are in burr veneer. I'll put up a pic of my dash, restored in the 'nineties by City Polishers of Spalding, who did an Oscar-winning job working on what was virtually firewood when I gave it to them:
they are at http://www.nicholas-martin.co.uk

(I have no connection with them other than as a highly-satisfied customer)

One thing to remember: shellac didn't give the high-gloss finish you tend to get with modern varnishes. Remember to ask your experts to tone it down a bit or you end up with it all looking a bit too shiny!
Tim Griggs

I used an acrylic water based clear paint that is used for wooden floors.
To prevent a too shiny look I used the eggshell/satin finish that, when polished, has just the right shine for a 'patinaed' car like mine.
Willem van der Veer

And remember if you are in the USA it is called Burl Veneer, while in the rest of the English speaking world it is Burr Veneer.

It is sourced from Burls (knots/abnormal growths/stumps) on trees. They are called burls everywhere in the world, but the veneers have two different word to describe them - strange.

Today's useless bit on information on Y-Type Dashboards bought to you by Wikipedia !.

Cheers
Tony
The Classic Workshop
A L SLATTERY

Dave Lawrence has recently been moving house so has not been able to add a comment to this thread directly. He emailed me the following statement for addition to this thread though:

In LTBYs I merely said that the Dashboard Panel was "polished". As far as I remember I never was able to confirm whether it was veneered, as the glove locker and instrument panel were, so I made no mention of it. I seem to remember I thought it wasn't veneered, but possibly they were.

Paul
Paul Barrow

Just to add to one of several archived discussions about salvaging old dashboards: my tatty old delaminated dashboard has responded quite well to renovation. We lifted what was left of the entire veneered layer of ply (about 2mm thickness), and glued it to a new plywood base. Due to the proverbial water ingress, at each end there was nothing more than rotten ply base, so we made veneer fillers as best we could. The repaired sections at each end are obvious under camera light, but blend in quite well when I hold the dash inside the car body.
The photo shows clearly that at least in Y3348, the original dashboard definitely had bookmatched veneer extending out beyond the inserts, across the entire frame.
I love that this is the original dash, looked at and touched by previous owners over 70 years, and merely freshened up by the current custodian.
Hope this is of interest to others on the journey!
Yours, John.


J P Hall

... and here are some earlier photos for comparison.

J P Hall

... water damage at ends.

J P Hall

... more damage, and early stripping of top bar. We ended up re-veneering the top bar.

J P Hall

... preparing to let in sections to repair water damage.

J P Hall

Nice job there John! Thank you for the photos.

Paul
Paul Barrow

Hi John,
Thanks for your comments and pics. I am impressed and shortly to tackle my dash. (Autumn Project now).
The back board has suffered some water damage in the past and has started to crumble as a result. So with new back board ready, when I have old dash removed and stripped, I shall tackle my first ever veneering task. I have a number of consecutive sheets of veneer which should enable me to book-match it. I shall eventually post pics for appreciation/comment (Hopefully) or else as a note of caution to other brave souls thinking of tackling the same job. lol

Bob.
RA Barham-Hall

YA3269
untouched original

William Revit

This thread was discussed between 12/06/2014 and 31/07/2018

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