No, Jay, that's not me behind the wheel, that's my best friend and lover.
Your name is familiar. I'm sure we've chatted before... the words Les
Leston and the color pink come to mind.
Thank you to all who took the time to view my dash and thanks also for all
the kind words. To Jay's question, here's a short description of my
approach:
I bought a used and flawed dash unit on ebay from a gent in PA (my mechanic
talked me into not using the original dash because it was flawless) to use
as both a pattern and base for the wood. I removed all the plastic and foam
padding. Using the instrument portion as a pattern, I cut a thin piece of
cumaru (because it was available) to use as the base for the veneer. Quarter
inch plywood would be the usual choice, but I preferred having a solid wood
underneath (in violation of veneering rules). Veneered the panel, then cut
out all the holes (traced from earlier step). The proper sized forstner
bits and a drill press hole cutter help a lot.
Next was to cut the panel for the right side. However, the Midget dash has
a very odd shape where the right side is steeply angled (down and away)
where it was filled with foam for that ribbed look. I used a piece of scrap
mahogany there but had to angle slice it into a wedge with the bottom
approximately 1.25" thick to bring the surface back to vertical. Again, I
then veneered that section. Next came the cut-outs for the additional
gauges - through the wood and metal dash. I added an oil gauge because I
always thought there should have been one - and an AMP gauge. In between the
two is a wind up chrono-clock from a MIG fighter. I'm told it can withstand
the G-forces of the Midget.
There is a solid piece of wood fitted to where the two dash sides meet.
This could have been avoided, but provided a nice transition to the gauge
side. The top rail is also a solid wood. The veneer is a waterfall bubinga
and the solids are the same wood. It's actually a little darker red than it
appears in the pictures. The finish started with a sanding sealer, followed
by a spar urethane, and finally an oil-urethane top coat from General
Finishes. Lots of sanding before and between coats.
Yeah, that was the short version.
Regards,
Mike Lempert
>Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2006 12:13:07 -0500
>From: Jay Fishbein <type79@ix.netcom.com>
>Subject: Re: Wood dash conversion
>
>That's a nice looking dash. How about some more details like how thick
>is the wood and what did you apply for a finish?
>
>Also, is that you in the driver's seat?
>http://www.pbase.com/mdlempert/image/57333366
>
>jay fishbein
>wallingford, ct
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