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MGB VB MGB Dash Pad kit

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Paul Slice

Paul Slice

Jedi Hopeful
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I am about to start on the last stage of the restoration of my 78 MGB, which is the total rebuild of the interior. ordered a new Dash pad from VB and realised that the pad must be installed onto the old metal dash frame. The quality on the pad looks very good, the vinal grain looks like the old pad, minus the tears and warping. The directions say to seperate the foam and vinal from the metal backing and glue the new pad to the old frame. my question is has anyone allready done this and/or should it be taken to the upholstery shop or attemped at home? I have allready redone the seats as well as installing the carpet myself. Any tips, suggestions or ideas would be appreciated before I strip the old pad off the frame. BTW this is not a dash cap, it is the whole dash pad.
thanks Paul
 
I haven't done one myself, but a lot of folks have. It's not THAT hard, if you're careful. The trickiest part is making sure the glove box is lined up well. That can get hairy.

I have stripped a few MG dashes, though, and I can give you some idea of what you're looking at: MG dashes are made up of a sandwich of 4 layers. On bottom, there's the steel. Then there's two types of foam - A medium-density urethane foam, and some really hard stuff. On top of all that, there's the vinyl. I haven't checked out the dash pad, but I'm sure it's replacing the vinyl and medium-density foam. That's good.
On the back side of the dash you'll see where they glued the vinyl to the metal. Start there and work the vinyl off. Try not to damage the foam. You can always remove some, but if you damage something you want you'll be hating it. But really, it all separates relatively easily.
 
The first time is always the most interesting. I used 3M vinyl top adhesive. It comes with instructions.The glove box and guage area are the hardest to get stuck. You will have to press on that for awhile. Old pantyhose to tie it down works well, as they don't damage the dash surface.
 
1979 MGB is tricky I’ve done several.
The problem is the tach and speedo are clip-in and recessed, with no room for error.
If the recess is not concentric with the aperture in the metal you cannot get the gauges back into the recess. To align the cover accurately carefully trim out the holes for the two top switches. When fitting the cover slide the hazard & fan switch into the cover and thro the metal this will hold the cover in the correct position while the adhesive hardens.
Be careful when removing the foam, only part of it has to be removed. Look inside the cover and see the shape molded inside, only remove this section, the other part stays on the metal (if damaged or removed it is not available new). For adhesive use 3M 8088 (definitely not 3M 8090). Have lots of spring type clamps available about 20 to hold the return edges down while the adhesive sets.
 
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