Walnut panel replacement

[Bronson]

Hi Guys, another newbie question. I just purchased a very, very clean 79 Spitfire.I have been driving it and really love it. My question is cosmetic. The original walnut veneer dash panel is splitting and de-laminating. I see replacement panels in the catalogues for around $300. I am wondering what is entailed in removing and replacing that (those 3) panel(s). since the car is otherwise very clean and drivable, is this a project that would require major dis-assemble , and extended down time? I am a retired aviation mechanic, so I am not easily deterred, but I also dont want to open a can of (Lucas?) worms. Thanks!

I should mention that I have two shop manuals, and have studied the instrumentation, and wiring involved, what I need to know is the "hidden" items I may encounter.

 

[TR4nut]

Its been a very long time since I owned a Spitfire, but other than needing to get your hands behind the dash for some delicate work I don't remember any specific trouble areas. Its not super easy though, any time you have to squeeze under there to remove gauges etc.

 

[Bronson]

Its been a very long time since I owned a Spitfire, but other than needing to get your hands behind the dash for some delicate work I don't remember any specific trouble areas. Its not super easy though, any time you have to squeeze under there to remove gauges etc.

Thanks, I bet this fat guy will need to remove the seats, before anything else!

 

[JodyFKerr]

Ok, my brother and I have recently been tackling this exact issue for my Mum's Spitfire. Removing the dash is a very "farty-roundy" process. Because of this you really only want to do it once and be done. That being said, it is in three pieces, so concievably you could redo the passenger side while still driving it, but I wouldn't be as comfortable with the center panel or the driver's side.

What we opted to do is source the wood pieces from another car. By doing that we had all the time in the world to put down, in our case, a new wood veneer, sand it, stain it, and varnish it. When we were all done it took an afternoon to remove the existing dash piece by piece and swap in the new veneer pieces.

When you get to the driver's side the wiring harness for the various gauges doesn't necessarily have a huge amount of slack in it. We unscrewed the dash panel, disconnected the speedometer cable, and any wiring harness bits that wouldn't let us tip the panel forward enough to get easy access to the back. Each bit of wire that was removed had a masking tape label added to it that let us know where to reconnect. We finished the disconnects with the panel tipped forward using the same masking tape labeling technique.

One it's loose you can put it up on the work back and swap over the gauges one by one to the new veneer. Then it's just a matter of reconnecting the wiring and speedometer and screwing the dash back in place. While we were at it we cleaned up the nuts and threads of any bolts and used new screws to remount it.

It's not a hard job if you do it that way, but you want to take your time with the wiring harness and label it correctly. IF you take lots of photos it also helps with the reassembly.

 

[Bronson]

Thanks very much, Jody. That is what I was hoping to hear. My car is very clean and original, and the delam walnut really stands out on an otherwise clean car. I will take plenty od pics. Do You know if the replacement panels are pre-drilled for mounting locations?
Also.....Is there a good way to remove the SCCA plaque from the panel wo damage, or are replacement plaques available. I have not seen any in My catalogues. thanks again!

 

[JodyFKerr]

Well, the replacement panels we used were stripped from a parts car, so they already held the screws. The original veneer in the '79 Spitfire was pretty shoddy stuff. If you have a real walnut dash in there it's not original, but likely an aftermarket one similar to the one that SpitBits carries (https://www.spitbits.com/store/39-SOLID-WALNUT-DASHBOARD-all-years-available-MK41500-P4377.aspx).

My brother's basically a carpenter by trade, so instead of buying a premade we stripped the crappy bits off of the spare dash and then laid down a new veneer across it. Then with the dash veneer side down we carefully trimmed the holes for the gauges and such.

 

[Bronson]

Thanks Jody. The dash is actually a veneer, so I recon it is original. I will order the good one from Spit-Bits.

 

[JodyFKerr]

If you're not familiar with Spit Bits, they generally have the best prices. I almost exclusively source my Spifire bits there. And if you call them the really know what they're talking about.

 

[Bronson]

Thanks, Jody!