Christopher writes that he's
> eyeing a reconditioned '74 TR6
and asks
> Has anyone tried to improve or replace the wooden dashboard panel?
My gut feel is that if the original is caught before it gets into
the state you describe as
> the veneer ... cracking everywhere and lifting near the edges
then you should be able to tackle the dash like any other wood refinishing
job. There's lots of strippers, stains, and finishes to work with. I'd
be careful to get an "exterior" grade finish due to the sun exposure
it will have to put up with.
When veneered wood gets into a serious peel mode, it becomes much more
difficult to recover the original. You're into serious glueing, then
planing or sanding to restore a smooth top surface -- but don't remove
much or you'll go through the top layer of veneer.
I suspect it would take a rather nicely equipped woodworking shop to
do justice to cutting out a replacement. Lots of different size holes
and angles, and the door to the glove compartment needs to match nicely.
There are replacements available from a number of sources in quality
ranging from veneered plywood (similar to original) to fancy hardwood
replacements. The $$ is proportional to the wood quality! I seem to
remember that some folks here have indicated that hardwood is not
really a good choice due to the exposure issues.
The PO of my TR6 either refinished or replaced my dash. It was done
in a lighter finish than original which seems to be holding up pretty
well.
Mine does have a problem though. The glove compartment door is darned
difficult to open! The PO showed me how: use your drivers license to
pry the door open while pressing the latch button. That works like a
champ, but I have yet to get it open with any other variation of pressing,
pulling, or cursing with the latch button. It seems that the spring which
returns the latch to its "latched" position is stronger than anything
which tends to open the door! The only spring to open the door is the
plunger for the compartment light switch (which is just along for the
ride since there's a hole where the light is supposed to be!). Am I
missing a spring or something? Perhaps a common problem since one of
the catalogs shows a finger hook for the latch, along with the notation
that TR6s were never equipped with such a hook.
On a different note...
Ray grumbled about the weather only suiting LBCs on the left coast.
Well the right coast is doing pretty well too. Atlanta today
saw the seventies -- my TR6 loved the exercise (although I left
the top up). It's not an issue of left vs right, it's more of
and up and down issue. Th' suthuners vusus y'all nawthuners! What's
that grayish brown stuff on the ground. Oh, so THAT's snow!
Anyway I'm off to the "left coast" for a week -- let's see, EVERYBODY
in Calif drives either a "restored classic" or a "new yuppiemobile",
right?
Cheers,
Joe
flake@d311510.atl.hp.com
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