dash veneer opinions

[toggle45]

It's time to refinish my S3 dash.

I was never that pleased with the original dark mahogany wood color for my yellow Elan, so am considering carbon fiber veneer. Does anyone have experience with it? I assume it is no different than any other veneering task.

Has anyone tried covering the dash in leather?

I'm interested in any suggestions. From the archives, it seems most like to keep their cars original (although I saw one reference to a formica dash). I am willing to deviate from original for a better aesthetic.

Regards.

[jkolb]

My S2 is a vintage racer and in homage to the FJ and the 23, I covered my dash in a red vinyl to match the red 26r replica steering wheel I bought from TTR. BRG body and the whole thing looks very good. Much more period than carbon fiber.

Jerry

[worzel]

Hi

Never having been very keen on polished wood facias (although I'll admit they look upmarket) and having had the odd elan panel warp/crack/fade I opted to make my own out of half inch birch ply, moved a few switches around to more logical positions and then trimmed the whole lot in black ambla. Not an easy job if you don't want any rough edges or if you're to end up with an amateurish backstreet special but it can be done. rather than try to stretch the ambla over the rocker switch apertures I looked around for something that would weatly cover the edges- I actually found that the wedge austin princess uses exactly the same size rocker switches- and- very conveniently some of the models have blanks on the dash panels. By carefully cutting out the centres these "blanks exactly fit around the elan rocker switches and in fact look like part of the switch.

I did this over 20 years ago and the dash finish still looks like it did when it went in. Some of the other mods I did was to make up small stainless brackets (six of them) and these were screwed into the back of the dash, by using small spire clips the underdash trims could be properly secured to the panel (screwing into end grain of wood, even plywood isn't a good idea). Instead of the chrome bolts used to fix the dash in place I opted for stainless mushroom headed socket screws and I also made the dash slightly deeper to stiffen things up against the scuttle area.

One tip when fixing these panels in place- bolt up the two end fastenings first (just finger tight at first) the see if the dash swivels against the upper and lower mounting points. if it does you need to pack out the spacers to keep the panel flat otherwise you'll end up "bananaing" it with the result that the veneer will crack around the mounting points (guess how I found that one out).

I topped the dash off with a custom made fibreglass crash pad which I made in situ. This is a pretty heavy item admittedly but because it's such a snug fit it doesn't even need to be glued into place and it never moves. By stiffening up these items and making sure everything is a close fit I've managed to eliminate the annoying rattles/creaks/bangs etc from the dash area. Even if other owners don't like these mods I'd still advocate that they fit multi plugs behind the dash next time they may have cause to remove it- it's now possible on my car to get the dash out with all switches/ instruments still in place in around an hour. Some owners might recall I've written about these mods before and the last time some commented that a stiff heavy grp crashpad might be risky in an accident- I imagine that other issues might more important if you hit anything hard enough in one of these cars!

I'll try to get some clear pictures posted if anybody wants to see the results.

regards

John

[toggle45]

Jerry, John. Thanks for the replies. Pictures of the vinyl and birch ply dashes would be appreciated if you have the time. I tried covering my dash in leather and liked the look, although it was not up to my finish standards and would need to be redone professionally.

Since I think one of the greatest attributes of the Elan is the way that it transcends its period, I am not inhibited from using modern materials, and am still playing with carbon fiber veneer samples.

But I am still also checking out lighter-tone wood veneer finishes, because the all black interior does benefit from wood's softening effect.

I have retired the original combined water temp and oil pressure gauge, opting for separate matching Smith's electrical gauges. I also added an ammeter. To accommodate the extra gauges, I tossed the ashtray and cigar lighter.

John, I like the idea of multiplugs for the electrical connects. Can you provide more detail? Any problems with this approach in reliability?

Regards,

[worzel]

Hi again

Firstly- I don't bother with a radio so the space behind the blanking panel/above the heater is "free"- that's where I located the multiplugs. Basically I extended the wiring from the dash end so that I could pull the panel out a fair way for accessability to the plugs. this works fine but if doing the job again I'd extend it even further so that the plugs located on the passenger side around/behind the glovebox.

While the panel was out I also "reworked" the wiring at the panel end so that it was both more neat and easy to trace and used a number of "P" clips to secure the loom properly so there was no danger of things pulling apart.

Reliability- it's been in about a year with no issues. I'd expect it to be more reliable (if that's the word) than it was before although in all fairness it wasn't giving any problems before fitting the plugs.

Whilst the dash was out I also moved all of the relays inside the car- I made up a panel to which the relays are screwed and this panel is fitted on the passenger side on the undersurface of the flat part of the bulkhead/scuttle to which the chassis plate is normally fixed. Again I extended the wiring so that by removing two fixing bolts the whole panel could be dropped to the floor and pulled outwards to facilitate access.

On a roll I also fitted an alternator and an 8 way blade type modern fuse box. Whilst I've never really had much trouble with the electrics over the years (I've had the car since 1978) I was never very keen on the fuse/earthing arrangements so apart from the fusebox I reworked all earths so that each corner of the car is separately earthed. The idea being that if a component didn't work eg indicator but the sidelight for that corner did then since both had the same common earth the fault was probably the supply.

I was lucky in that as only the second owner this car had never been got at with extras wired in etc- I suspect that most of the problems are "previous owner related" as far as electrics go.

If you intend to redo the dash I'd definitely consider fitting the plugs at the very least- it's a cheap job but a longwinded one involving an awful lot of soldering!

I'll see what I can do about the pictures of the interior.

Regards

John

[cabc26b]

Hi Weldon,


Keep in mind you asked for opinions -

For me Carbon-Fiber would not be an option.

I like wood best - maybe there's a wood veneer you like better than the stock one ( not a fan of burl for a lotus though) .

Second would be to use Red-lamiplate that lotus used on the space-frame cars in the 60's. I assume it's still available here in the state's. I bought a life-time supply from gustofson machine , there might be another source that will cut less than a whole sheet. The the vinyl is fused to sheet ( The stuff i got was aluminum , i have seen it on a seven in steel ) and does not come off . However it is thin and will need support ( the area on a sports racer or formula car is a lot less) - I did a type 46 europa in it and have used in race cars , but never in an elan. Maybe Jerry can tell you how he did his.

Another Dash I liked was done in aluminum plate ( thicker that a sheet like lamiplate ) with a black wrinkle finish .

George

[toggle45]

Final Decision

Sue just forwarded the new Mick Miller catalog in the mail. They speak concisely there about the Elan dash; the inference is that if one cares for the Elan at all, the dash finish will be a straight grained wood, preferably teak. Burl is deprecated, as was alluded to in another reply here.

I like it when my life is simplified. I may not choose teak; quartered walnut, butternut, elm, and others have a visually interesting straight grain also. Now to find the nicest available piece. And then to decide if my original dash is so ratted out that I should just use it for a template and hatch another. Ahah, I see an excuse to buy a router. More decisions.

Thanks for the opinions all.

[gerrym]

John, your wiring mods are definitely the way to go! Also use flags on the rear of the gauges to minimise depth of wiring Regards

[garyeanderson]

I've done a couple in the past and wood makes for an easy job. I have used 10 mm Baltic birch plywood and with Veneer, it makes it look pretty. There are lots of different veneers that you can use to get the effect you want. You don't have to veneer it, you can paint it too. Alloy and carbon fibers are ok if you have the tools to work it but I guess I'll leave those options to others as I don't think they add much to the Elan. All of these are either Walnut or Walnut burl veneer. I bought an 18 inch by 8 foot piece of burl and was able to do the face of 3 dashboards with the white Coupe being the last. The bottom right corner where it attachs to the backbone was spliced in but will only show an inch at the most when the backbone consode cover goes in. The othe two Walnut straight grain dashes are just different finishes and give two different effects. Black spay trim paint over a prime on the baltic Birch would be ok too and the spray black crinkle would have a good effect too I would think. S4 are the biggest pains to make as the cuts for the switches are a bit diffacult to get right with a router and you need to do it twice for the backer that raises the switches to the proper height. I don't bother with radio or ashtrays and I left out the glove box on the yellow Coupe as that was the effect I was looking for and I wanted to add some stiffness to the scuttle. The new owner has taken the dash out and put the glovebox opening in since its been sold. To do the dashes right you need quite a few pattern cutting bits, straight, 15 degree, 30 degree and a couple others I am sure. I never did make a good pattern for routing the switch cutouts on the back of the S2 and S3 dashes, I used a 1 3/8 forsner bit and I guess the point broke through once so I think it would be a good idea to make one if I ever did any more. They are a lot of work to make and when you make one its almost as easy to do multiples as each set up take the most time and the cutting is a small part of the total work. The finish took the longest of all the jobs and I guess the more you do the less work it is as you learn with each one. I still have most of the patterns and will probably do some more at sometime when I need them. The last one I needed was for a RHD S3 and I bought one for that as RD Enterprises had one that was damaged around the mounting holes for $150 and I couldn't buy the materials for that price.











This is the dash from Ray at RD Enterprises that I paid $150 for it. Its got an extra hole to the right and just below the ashtray, I dont know what its for.

[Rob_LaMoreaux]

The veneer on my dash had delaminated and the dash board was cracked near the steering column. I epoxied the dash board and put new walnut veneer on. The lighter walnut (no stain) makes the car feel less dark. since someone had glud something to the train around the shift nob which left ugly glue remants I took a think plywood and added the same veneer to it for that section. It looks pretty decent. Since the plastic on the tunnel is getting pretty cracked up I may put the solid wood tunnel cover I bought cheap off ebay on one of these days.

Rob

[m750rider]

Check with Randy Keller at Prestige Autowood in San Jose, CA. He makes beautiful dashboards with almost any veneer you want. His quality is excellent - perfect fit in my S4. I used Koa and it came out very nice. I can email some pictures of you like. He makes them custom - takes a couple months or so.

[ElliottN]

The dash in my S4 (replaced about 25+ years ago) was cut from a sheet of solid, straight grained black bean timber (an Oz species - not sure what it compares to in the northern hemisphere). It's not correct for purists and doesn't have a gloss finish - I just oil it from time to time.
Easy to maintain, never cracks and looks reasonably period.

[stugilmour]

Check with Randy Keller at Prestige Autowood in San Jose, CA. He makes beautiful dashboards with almost any veneer you want. His quality is excellent - perfect fit in my S4. I used Koa and it came out very nice. I can email some pictures of you like. He makes them custom - takes a couple months or so.

Randy's work is great. Will do them with or without lettering, radio cutout, etc. Highly recommended. Might have to send him your glovebox hinges.