Spitfire 74 Spitfire instrument panel, Walnut or Teak?

[Spit_Newbie]

Any suggestions on what type of wood instrument pannel to put on my spit? The one that was on it was unrecognizable. Ive seen all types of options. 1974 Spitfire. Ill take suggestions on a reliable distributer as well. "Spitnewbie"

 

[Andrew Mace]

What do you like? IMO, it's almost that simple. There are tons of great exotic wood veneers available! Just "Google" the phrase wood veneers and you'll get lots of images to look at (almost 2 million hits on that phrase).

 

[guzzul]

Ill take suggestions on a reliable distributer as well. "Spitnewbie"

Jeff at Advanced Distributors is great to deal with. They will rebuild and recurve your current dizzy for a very reasonable price. Probably can supply you with a cost-effective replacement also if that's what you want. Check out his "Distributor Repair" page. The result should be pretty reliable. Worth a phone call for sure.
https://www.advanceddistributors.com/

Planet Auto Parts on ebay were selling a number of rebuilds for Spitfire and may have one for your year. Prices seem reasonable and the rebuilds were reasonably well done.
https://stores.ebay.com/Planet-Auto-Parts

If your distributor shaft bearings are good you may want to consider replacing the electronics with Pertronix. There are pretty good deals around for the Ignitor-I series from various discount places. Have a look at Retro Rockets. They can also fit you up with a complete new dizzy.
https://www.vintageperformance.com/retrorockets/

 

[IanF]

I'm in the process of making new dash panels which will be veneered with some sort of exotic wood.

The originals are made from a funiture-grade 7-ply that about 3/8" thick. Kinda hard to get. We tried using standard 3/8" plywood (3-ply) but there are so many voids that I didn't get a single piece out of 4 sets that doesn't have a void on an edge.

Woodworking friends have suggested using poplar as a substrate. Might try this but will need to plane boards to the proper thickness.

 

[kodanja]

I'm partial to Black Walnut

 

[Tinster]

And I like the look of solid, mountain Teak: