The start of something big. Frame off restoration

[DNK]

Wasn't there at one point, many years ago, a thing about charging batteries in the house?

 

[TR4]

I am remembering batteries giving off toxic fumes when being charged and some even exploding? Couldn't happen with today's technology, right?

 

[angelfj1]

If the charging current is too high, hydrogen gas can be liberated at the negative terminal. Remember the Hindenburg?

 

[justin_mercier]

For the most part, at least to my understanding, modern low amperage trickle chargers really don't have much risk of it. If they did, no one would plug their digitally controlled trickle chargers into their cars for the winter for fear of blowing up their cars. I was only topping it off before unplugging it anyways. If I re-top it off for a day on the trickle charger every 4 weeks or so, it should keep well until I'm ready to use it again.

Today after work I went down to the wood shop to prep for some re-finishing of the faded and peeling dash. I figured, if i'm going to refinish the dash... i better do it in style. I'm not a big stickler for originality, and I love good burl wood (using a lot of it for knife handles and pens that I make)

First I'm going to have to remove the top layer of the old dash

I found myself some very nice raw yew burl veneer with a high level of chatoyance that will look gorgeous. I also made sure there was enough of the veneer that I can do it twice if I screw up the first time =)

 

[angelfj1]

Justin: I'm interested in how you intend to apply the veneer. Will this require a vacuum press? Also do you intend to use two book matched pieces? Thanks

 

[angelfj1]

"For the most part, at least to my understanding, modern low amperage trickle chargers really don't have much risk of it."

Sure, you wont liberate any hydrogen with a trickle charger! We're just kidding.

 

[justin_mercier]

I'll probably forge myself a veneer hammer out of an old ballpein, and use that to level press the veneer into place forcing out any extra glue, then, since the dash is flat, i'll sit it on something with a piece of plywood on top and some bricks ontop of that for even pressure while the glue cures. I'm going to experiment a little bit first to make sure I get it done right.

It's actually going to take slightly over 2 pieces to cover the whole dash, so I will have two 'bookmatching' points where I flip the subsequent sheet of veneer over. The remaining section of the 3rd sheet will be for the back of the glove box door. I'll use a mirror to line up the splices for the best look, and in the points where it will be the least obvious if they don't match up perfectly. I'll try to get the part of the veneer with the most figure over the glove box area since that's the largest un-broken area. If one of the splits where I need to match up two pieces of veneer is midway through the tach or speedometer, for example, there's only about an inch and a half of actual seam.

 

[angelfj1]

I'll probably forge myself a veneer hammer out of an old ballpein, and use that to level press the veneer into place forcing out any extra glue, then, since the dash is flat, i'll sit it on something with a piece of plywood on top and some bricks ontop of that for even pressure while the glue cures. I'm going to experiment a little bit first to make sure I get it done right.

It's actually going to take slightly over 2 pieces to cover the whole dash, so I will have two 'bookmatching' points where I flip the subsequent sheet of veneer over. The remaining section of the 3rd sheet will be for the back of the glove box door. I'll use a mirror to line up the splices for the best look, and in the points where it will be the least obvious if they don't match up perfectly. I'll try to get the part of the veneer with the most figure over the glove box area since that's the largest un-broken area. If one of the splits where I need to match up two pieces of veneer is midway through the tach or speedometer, for example, there's only about an inch and a half of actual seam.

Some of the folks here have been successful using kitchen style vacuum sealers.

 

[Brosky]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:]Wasn't there at one point, many years ago, a thing about charging batteries in the house?[/QUOTE]

Very, very dangerous indeed, unless well ventilated and no sparks or flames around the area.

 

[justin_mercier]

This last week I have not had much time to get work done , but I got some done. I had to strip the old veneer from the dashboard. In order to do this I found myself a cheap thin chisel ground blade. I started to try with a razor, but it would catch in the wood at any slightly wrong angle. I took the knife and dulled it a little bit, sharp enough to wedge still but not so sharp to easily catch the grain of the plywood backing.

It took several hours, but it was far cleaner and less work than sanding it off, and it came out very clean and neat.

This weekend I stopped by Woodcraft in Providence and was asking questions about finishing and applying veneer. When I was there one of the managers mentioned that they were having a vacuum bag veneering demo on the 28th of this month. I asked what they were demoing and they said they didn't have anything particular planned, but if I wanted to bring in my dash and veneer before hand, they could vacuum bag apply the veneer to the dash as the demo...

So I'm going to take advantage of the offer and get it done by someone who knows what he's doing and has done this many times before making guitars and the like !

 

[Rhodyspit75]

Sounds like a good plan Justin. The first thing I did after I veneered my dash was to put a couple of coats of sealer on the veneer before I started cutting out all the holes. This keeps the veneer from chipping and getting stained while you are working on it.

 

[TR6Quebec]

Justin....I've seen those comments before....

Robert

 

[justin_mercier]

I've removed everything I need to lift the tub except for the clutch break and gas pedals. I wanted to wait and look up if I need to do anything special with the hydrolic lines before disconnecting them. Hopefully this next weekend, before i head up to the patriots game at Gillette sunday afternoon, I can separate the tub from the frame. I took advantage of the two sales that TRF was having this weekend and ordered new differential mount bushings, the left and right wheel well splash plate / sealer kits, and the plastic gearbox cover kit with seals and hardware, and all the rubber seals I need for the factory hard top that I've got and am refurbishing at the same time.

I've been cleaning a lot of parts with my sand blasting cabinet as I remove them to save time later. I need to determine which paint I'm going to use for the hardware and components like the wiper motor, hood latch, etc.

This thursday I'll be getting the dash re-veneered with the burl wood. The fellow Dan who is doing it, is using my dash for his demo at Woodcraft on RT2 south of Providence this thursday evening if anyone else is in the area and wants to see it done.

 

[Number_6]

Funny I missed this thread, Your right next door to me. I live in Cumberland on the Mass border. Looks like your making pretty good progress on your TR6. If you ever need a hand, feel free to PM me.

 

[Tabcon]

Re: The start of something big. Frame off restorat

If you don't already know about this shop, check it out. Piet does first rate restorations and is a great guy to know as well.

Piet Mozes

 

[justin_mercier]

Re: The start of something big. Frame off restorat

Today was re-doing the dash!

Some prep work was done before this including book matching the burl veneer and quickly cutting out some particle board for a press top. First we've got everything laid out on the table.

We decided to do the face of the glovebox at the same time as the rest of the dash, so first we waxed up the edges of the glove box so that the glue would not adhere to the sides.

For glue we chose titebond III because of its water resistant properties for outdoor use.

An outline of the dash was traced onto the bookmatched and taped up veneer so that blemishes could be stuck within parts that will be removed or cut away.

We used a large vacuum bag from the Vac-U-Clamp company which was large enough for the dashboard.

for vacuum veneering you need make sure the vacuum will reach the whole bag and create and even pressure, cross-scored MDF is used to make a base that will go within the bag for the bottom of the 'press'

It's important to position the nipple on the corner of the board so that it can draw vacuum from all the way around and not end up with good pressure in just one area.

To ensure that the veneer didn't shift, it was tapped to a back board on the corners where the dash would not be affixed

Because of the holes in the dash, to get an even pressure with the vacuum bag, a top-plate was cut to match the outline of the dash, with the top corners rounded off so that they wouldn't damage the bag when under vacuum

 

[justin_mercier]

Re: The start of something big. Frame off restorat

A wood glue roller was used to apply the glue in a thin layer over the whole face of the dash.

The dash was then carefully positioned within the traced outline and pressed down to let the glue get tacky

Some tape was then used to make sure that it would not slide side to side at all when inserted into the vacuum bag

Next the top plate was positioned ontop of the dashboard

With that done, as a unit the stack was inserted into the vacuum bag and held steady while the pump started to suck

The vacuum builds slowly, so care was taken to make sure that nothing shifted

Once most of the air was out it holds itself pretty well. The glue will set faster under vacuum than without, and it should sit like this under vacuum for at least 4 hours

You cant really see it in the resized image, but of note is that there is almost no glue 'squeze out' around the edges of the dash and veneer, you want to be very sparing with the glue for veneer so that it doesnt get sucked right through the veneer and stain it.

Finally we can see that teh vacuum is being maintained at about -25 Bar, that equates to (if my math is right) about 320 PSI, far more efficient than using a clamp table and a whole ton of clamps.

I'll be picking up the dash tonight so that I can start using a razor to trim the edges and the cutouts and get to finishing it.

 

[ekamm]

Re: The start of something big. Frame off restorat

Wow nice skills. Ready to see the finished product. Great explanation and use of pictures. I need some one to rebuild the steering and front suspension on a tr3a and give the same tutorial.

 

[HerronScott]

Re: The start of something big. Frame off restorat

I agree with Eric. Nice pictures and explanation. How much would it cost to get someone to do this for you including the veneer?

Scott

 

[DNK]

Re: The start of something big. Frame off restorat

I think it is one of the easier jobs I have done on my 6