Dash Plate Restore

[Stefan]

I bought this dash plate months ago on ebay for like 20 dollars. It looked like garbage, but it cleaned up nicely. I am not satisfied with the project yet. It is a little difficult to tell, but if you look at the plate, there are spots of discoloration and scratches. It really catches my eye, and I want to clean it up more before I install it.

Any suggestions on products? I have tried Mother’s Mag and Alum Polish.

I am wondering if the plate just needs to be painted. I want to keep it the chrome-silver-aluminum-metal look. Although, I suppose that I also would not mind painting it chrome either, may look cool. Does anyone have experience with using chrome paint on something like this? Brand recommendation? Did it weather poorly? etc

As for an additional question. How did yall install? I am considering buying a 52 mm drill bit and just drilling holes for the gauges, but online I have seen that people made entire cutouts for the plate. Any input is appreciated.

Thanks,

-S

[Paul Mossberg]

Stefan

Originals were screwed to the dash with Phillips head screws. They were also usually painted black or tan.

Nothing wrong with going with a polished plate. You might have to make that plate look worse before it gets better; sanding with increasingly fine sandpaper, then polish (similar to sanding and polishing modern headlights).

Paul Mossberg
Former Owner of a 1981 Classic Roadsters Ltd. Duchess (VW)
2005 Intermeccanica Roadster

If you own a TDr and are not in the Registry, please go to https://tdreplica.com/forums/topic/mg-td-replica-registry/ and register (you need to copy and paste the link)

[Stefan]

So you are suggesting that I use sandpaper, and sand down the plate. Then, polish it up again?

Would that get rid of the scratch marks and discoloration? Would it not damage the plate?

If I were to do this, should I hand sand it? What grit would you suggest starting and finishing with?

Sorry for all the questions , I am unfamiliar with this.

[edward ericson]

Hey Stefan, nice find! I did mine a dozen years ago and paid a lot more for an original plate in worse shape than yours. (Story at link).

Originally these were bolted to the wood dash panel with those round-head screws, with a nut and spring washer on the back of each one. The holes they fit through are squared off so you don’t need to hold them when spinning the nuts on the back. From the front they look like rivets.

My plate had previously been butchered so I had to plug the big hole in it, and the little one.

That “bodywork precluded me doing a mirror polish, but I was going for the OG look anyway…

Moss Motors carries a rattle can with the factory-correct paint. I just used a copper color I had laying around the shop, with a mist of silver over it and a clearcoat. I think Paul is right though, you could emory cloth and steel wool the thing to shiny if that’s the look you’re after.  I did polish up the edge bead and that worked well.

[Stefan]

Thanks for the link to your site. I will be a frequent visitor, it seems like I can learn a lot from your experiences that you detailed. I enjoyed reading your story with your fuel sender, getting mine to read now is active battle I have been fighting. The unevenly spaced mounting holes seems so illogical to me, but I am glad I wasn’t the only one that was frustrated by it.

[Author]

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