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Triumph TR6 - dash refinishing

Hi Gents: As the owner of an otherwise beautiful 1972 Tr6(see Charlie's photos), I've been looking for years for a good dash. Finally found one but now I need to refinish it. I'm wondering about the best way to strip and what finish to use. Is Marine Varnish the best for UV resistance and were most originals a light maple? Semi or gloss finish. Any help greatly appreciated.
J. L. Stein

Hi,
The original dashboards were done with a flat matt finish..I redid mine in a gloss marine varnish... gave it 7 coats with wet sanding in between coats and it looks great but in the future I'm thinking of going original.
Charlie
Charlie Ballard

Thanks Charlie. I'm leaning towards the gloss finish myself just because the ones I've seen look really great. What kind of stripper did you use. I think I may try the natural orange stuff just because it seems a bit more environmentally friendly.
J. L. Stein

I used a standard furniture stripper which did a nice job, and because the original finish had cracks and there was some weathering of the teak wood, I used some left over Behr No. 63 Wood Cleaner Brightener Conditioner to prep the wood and bring out the grain. I went with a satin finish (multiple thin coats) which gave it a little shine without being distracting, yet has a flat (orignal?) look to it.

Light sanding & tack cloth between coats. Use a good brush.
Mati

I just finished my 74 dash last year. Removed top layer of veneer and glued on new teak finished with 5 coats Marine grade exterior gloss for UV protection scotch brite in between. I did the same thing with the Jag dash. It looks great and should withstand everything. On a previous car (TR3)I added teak to a dash and also used teak veneer but used a teak oil instead. Although it looked great and a little more satin in finish After some time it began to lift up just a bit and the oil needed to be done about once per year. I would strongly reccomend the marine grade exterior and soften the gloss with steel wool or scotch brite. The sun does hard things to the finish.

Ken
Ken Bittle

I forgot the type of stripper used when I redid mine 7-8 years ago. Be sure and use mineral spirits or equivalent and not water when removing the old coating, otherwise some of the grain could pop up.

I used a satin finish, but for the life of me couldn't get a coat to dry without dust boogers on it. So the result was 5-6 coats with wet sanding (600 to 800 grit) between them.

I finally gave up on trying for an "as applied" finish because of the dust specks, and the last coat was also wet sanded to get a smooth surface. That was followed with a couple coats of a good paste furniture wax, which made ALL the difference. I am extremely pleased with the result - much better than I'd hoped for.

Brent
Brent B

Since my veneer was cracked I installed a new one so I skipped the use of strippers ..( except the ones I saw when my pals dragged me downtown one night )
Charlie
Charlie Ballard

Try one of the cheap foam sponge brushes for applying varnish. A lot less streaking!
ED
ED Edward Dorsch

Thanks guys; Here goes.
J. L. Stein

For hand rub finish on wood, one may use a fine cotton jersy material balled up with cotton inside, then apply a thin varnish along with the wood grain. Fine sand after every two or three coats, keep room dust free.
About the dash, mine is a flat finish blond color wood. I think it is ASH. I thought mine is original. When you guy mentioned about teak, is it a dark color wood? Teak has a color close to chestnut after varnished. Any guru out there can confirm what the original look like?
Paddy
Paddy Kan

The original may be Ash - I'm not sure. It get's a great golden patina after 30 years, though. Teak is much darker, as are the new Walnut dashes. I got and sent back a Walnut dash because the look was too "harsh". The patina on the existing dash was something to go after....so the refinish.

BB
Brent B

Been thinking of redoing my dash. I can get veneers of exotic woodsby me and have always thought hmmmm. Ken,how did you do the glove box front and keep it in pattern to the rest?
Don K.
DON KELLY

Don I stripped the old veneer off the front and taped the glove box door in place (from the back) with little spacers to keep it centered. The new veneer was wide enough to cover the complete dash and I glued it on to the complete dash including the glove box cover. Once it was dry I then cut the openings for all the gauges and also around the glove box and the grain flows perfectly. When I was doing this I was also investigating a sound system and discovered that "Infinity" made a set of speakers that had small tweaters and 6 inch woofers. I had bought the set with the idea of installing the tweaters up on the top of the dash as little mounts were supplied. When I was finishing the dash I noticed the two outside vent holes looked about the same size as the speakers. When I checked it was the exact size so I now have two infinity speakers in the vent holes and removed the y pipe and just use one vent on each side pointed backwards. The sound is great as you can angle the speakers to you and here all the tunes no matter what. If anyone is interested I can post a pic.

Ken
Ken Bittle

Don, if you use new veneer, don't give in to the temptation to use contact cement to apply it. I did that the first time I applied new veneer (cherry) to mine 12 years ago. It bubbled up around the screws where there would be a bit of bending pressure on the veneer. My most recent re-veneer (burl walnut) was applied with exterior grade carpenter's glue and lots and lots of clamps. 3 years and no problems. I also suspect that the new water activated glues would work as well if not better.

By the way, I love the look of the dark walnut with the signal red paint and black interior. The cherry was nice but it lacked character. The yellow of the original looked out of place to my eye.

Tony
A. J. Koschinsky

Ken,

I would like to see a picture. Also, can you send the specifics on the Infinity speakers you installed. What receiver are you using? Thanks.

Mark
Mark Hauck

I will post a pic next week of the dash and I am using a Pioneer deck of some kind, I will post that as well
Ken
Ken Bittle

Great idea on the speakers, Ken. The vents are nearly worthless, at least on my '71. Breeze is better directed underneath.

Like a lot of others on this BBS, I bypassed the dimmer, and didn't like it sitting there doing nothing. So I cut off the front of it, attached it to a pushbutton, and wired it to my garage door opener I mounted under the hood. Looks completely original (just don't turn it), and has a useful purpose for the first time in its life.

Mark
Mark Hauser

This thread was discussed between 01/09/2004 and 03/09/2004

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