What Wood Would U Choose

[tomshobby]

I refinished my 1990 Peterbilt dash...it was a rosewood veneer. I used a rosewood stain and finished it with a gloss polyurethane finish...beautiful!

The hardest part was removing and reinstalling 21 gauges...

Just mount a 5th wheel on your Triumph! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/jester.gif

 

[swift6]

Roofman,
Your oak looks great. I see your gages have black rims. Is that original for a '72 or did you paint them, either way I like the way they look.

Early TR6's had black rimmed gauges. Later TR6's gauges have chrome rims.

 

[DNK]

I think you should use clear plexiglass--that way, you can keep the look of your sig line photo.

Mike -Your killing me!!

 

[LastDeadLast]

African Rosewood and chrome rings for the insturments (72 had black rings originally). It's not everyone's cup-a-tea, but I like it. I think the way I re-did the interior it fits in well.

 

[rotoflex]

The orginal dashboards were veneered plywood for good reason: less likely to warp, etc. I have a feeling that those who've installed fancy new dashboards are less likely to expose them to environmental extremes that Triumph had to worry about for all customers.

 

[LastDeadLast]

Don't know about the others, but my dash is veneered. The vendor that I bought it from, Prestige Autowood uses marine quality glues and varnishes to assemble the dash. The dash wasn't cheap, but it will probably last as long as the car does if it's stored correctly.

The DPO had installed a solid dash and it was already starting to crack despite being stored indoors for a number of years.. he also left out the glove compartment.

 

[Aldwyn]

My solid cherry dash is also cracking. I suspect I will replace it with walnut... perhaps vaneer... in the next year or two.

 

[gjh2007]

Any coating should be UV resitant, specifically a good grade marine, like Valspar. If it will stand up to salt & sun, it should last a long time in your TR.

 

[Keoke]

What do YOU like? That's all that matters here. I love oak, but not on a Triumph dashboard. Maybe you'll like oak, maybe not. It's YOUR car, and YOU are the one who will be staring at this dash more than anyone else.

I've seen many different woods used, some whose names I never could pronounce! Whatever you choose, though, I suggest choosing it in a veneer you'll then put over your original dashboard or a replacment made of a proper marine-grade plywood. Solid wood dashes are simply more prone to warping and splitting no matter how well they're sealed and finished.

Oh, and veneers are also usually much cheaper than a solid piece of the same wood. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif

/bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/iagree.gif Andrew, and besides you have all the holes and fitting locations in place.---Keoke

 

[RonMacPherson]

Sounds like you've got an excellent opportunity to beautify your dash, what with the selection of woods to choose from.

Only one wood that should be used, all others pale in comparison,

KOA!!

 

[DNK]

Started stripping my dash and I'm off to the veneer shop to pick one out.
What's the best way to do the cubby front?
Any choice of finish. I saw UV protectant is good,any brans ? Do you prefer varnish over poly???
Too many questions!

 

[2wrench]

DNK, I'm right there with you. Mine is drying on the
kitchen table as we speak.

Firstly, I was fortuate enough to use my original wood.
Some imperfections, yes, but original it is.

Got some tips from someone on the forum and avoided
sanding so as not to breach through the thin walnut
veneer. This left me to use a finish remover from
Home Depot. Went with the finish stripper (focus of stripper was on the varnishes; polys; urethanes, etc on the lable.)

Then I cleaned it off with product designed for this
purpose; ie, gets the crud off after stripping. Used a
wide blade plastic putty knife to scrape off the
old finish after product was applied and rubbed with medium grade steel wool. Wore rubber gloves, of course.

Went with Minwax Indoor/Outdoor Helmsman Spar Urethane
for the finish. It claims exceptional protection from:
Sunlight; rain & moisture and temperature changes.
Thought that sounded good, huh?

Here's the RED FLAG! Went with the Minwax Dark Walnut
stain to restore depth of color. Put the stuff on and
loved the way it looked. I mean, I really liked it. Problem was that to get the look, I had to leave more stain
on the surface of the wood. Thought this would be okay
after it dried. Guess what? It's not okay! All stain
must be wiped off the wood (for the type I bought, anyway),
and if I wiped it off the wood, I was back to start. It
took no extra color whatsoever. I was sooo close. Went
so far as to leave some stain on there and even shot the urethane finish on the first time around. Got huge
fisheyes in the finish and just couldn't go with that.

So I stripped it and called Minwax.

Here's the deal: If your stain does not penetrate the
wood for some reason, then the answer is: Buy gel stain.
Gel stain looks much like any other from the outside of the
can, but it is more like a jelly when you open the can and
look. This material did what I needed it to do. Got better
penetration and was able to leave a small amount on the
surface. Finished with the Helmsman spar urethane.

I don't have a picture uploaded yet, but maybe it will be
forthcoming. Best of luck,

2wrench

 

[angelfj1]

Dale: Hadn't noticed before. What's the deal with the colored lights on crypty's dash?

Cheers,

Frank

 

[angelfj1]

Dale: Hadn't noticed before. What's the deal with the colored lights on crypty's dash?

Cheers,

Frank

 

[DNK]

I ended up Getting a piece of flat cut Koa. Very pretty and should darken up nicely.

 

[DNK]

Me again- A question. What did everyone use to glue a new veneer on. This has no backing to it so I was planning on using contact cement. Think it will be OK? Do you think there will be any bleed through??