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Fun With Yinyl, Part 2 or The Dash is Done!

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Tinkerman

Tinkerman

Darth Vader
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Well, the dash is covered. A tedious time consuming job. I have a bunch of pictures to share if any one is interested.

THINGS I LEARNED:
1. Weldwood brush on contact worked very well. Spray contact was not fun to work with, would not suggest it.
2. The interior corners of the cubby box opening were by far the toughest.
3. Do not pre-cut any holes in the vinyl before gluing. At the suggestion of a friend who had worked with vinyl I did. Caused me considerable grief as I got into the project.
4. I used primer on the back of the dash and the solvents in the glue caused it to get soft. Had to let the glue dry a minimum of 30 min. for it not to create a problem.
5. I used a heat gun to soften the vinyl for the stretch around corners. Heat the back of the vinyl NOT the front. Doesn't take much heat, experiment on scrap pieces.
6. On the tight corners I let the cement dry at least 24 hours before removal of the clamps.

TOOLS FOR THE JOB
As you can see from the picture I used a variety of cutting, clamping, markers and glue applicators to get the job done. I used the heat gun on a low setting briefly to get the right stretch in the vinyl.
I forgot to mention 2 important tools. At the suggestion of Texas Knucklhead I cut out a plywood plug for the instrument cluster and used a large socket and clamp for the steering column section. Those really helped.

Good luck to those of you out there that are planning to do the same job and feel free to contact me for questions or pictures.

Cheers, Tinkerman
 

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Looks really good. :yesnod: Nice job Dick.
 
VERY NICE. Those spring actuated wooden clamps look mighty sophisticated.
 
Very Nice.

Cheers,
M. Pied Lourd
 
Great work, Dick!

The dash and the elbow caps behind the doors are two of the most challenging and rewarding tasks in restoring TR3's. those compound curves are a job!
 
By the way, Janet and I are coming through your fair town soon. You up for a bite to eat?
 
Dick
That looks very nice!!
Good job.
 
Dash looks FANTASTIC!!. Leave the cubby off untill you get EVERYTHING else sorted out with the car and have all the rest together. It's a lot easier if you need access to the rear of the ins panel for some reason..........like to tighten or unscrew it!!
Gordon
 
Nice job. Looking forward to seeing that with the gauges installed.
 
Mickey Richaud said:
By the way, Janet and I are coming through your fair town soon. You up for a bite to eat?
Click to expand...
Yep! June and I would love to visit with you and Janet. Just let me know when and we can set it up. My email is in my profile so drop me a note.
Cheers, Dick
 
That looks fabulous. I'm glad you used the plug idea. I have a tendency to over complicate things, but I think it really worked out here.

So, how much time did you spend recovering the dash? How much faster could you do it again? I ask myself these questions often and know it takes a lot longer to figure out how and what tools to use, than to do it. And then I wonder if I'll remember it, if I ever do it again. -that's where the search in this forum really pays off because we get to learn from others.

It looks great.
 
The plug worked out great for me Tex.
I really don't know how much time it took. A lot more than I expected. If I were, God forbid, have to do another one, it would take much less time. The time consumer for me was the cement drying time. Plus the time after the gluing to get it dry enough to take the clamps off. If I had to guess, probably a full two weeks+.
It was an experience, I'll grant you that. I still have all the caps to do, I'm almost looking forward to that.
Thanks for all the pictures and the suggestions, they really helped!

Tinkerman
 
I did my cappings first and the dash was the last thing that I did and the least satisfied with. Yours looks great.
 
Mornin Eric, the dash was a toughie. Hoping that the caps won't be so bad. My upholstery kit (came with the car) has a mixture of leather and vinyl for the caps. I saw what you did with the leather ones. I plan on using the same type of jig that Art made when he did his. I noticed that you used that jig also. Did you soak the leather? That's what I plan on trying anyway.

Thanks for your kind words!
Cheers, Dick
 
A bit late jumping on here, but the dash looks great. Thanks for the notes, and more pictures of the "in process" part would be great!
 
I did soak and light heat. The only regret that I have is that the grain in the leather comes out when you stretch it. But I can't see any way around it. My door caps came out great though and You don't need to soak ,and only stretch as much as is needed to get tension on the foam piece.
 
Very nice Tink! Yet another item I haven't started on. Maybe I can pester Tex and see if he'll do mine for me.
 
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