Made Your Dash I have Questions

[newkitman]

I am making my dash and center instrument cluster. The dash is cut and stained with two coats of stain and the center instrument cluster is cut and stained with three coats. This morning I applied the first coat of polyurethane and let it dry. Went out at 5PM to put the pieces in the shed overnight and noticed that the polyurethane 0n the left part of center cluster dried a milky color rather than clear like the rest of the cluster. My questions for those who made their wood dash and for any wood workers are: 1) what caused this and 2) how do I fix it. I forgot to take a photo to post but can post it tomorrow.

Allen Caron
VW based 53MGTD - "MoneyPenny"
"If one thing matters, everything matters" - from the book The Shack

[Toller]

Did you use a oil or water based stain? If water based how long did you let it dry before you applied the poly. As the milky discolouration was localized it probably was not the poly. My suspicion is that there was a moisture issue that caused the problem. You should be able to remove the poly with light sanding then if you have a moisture meter check to see if there is a differential in moisture content of milky area and either the back of the dash or on the front where poly did not turn white. There are probably other possible causes but start with a simple cause first

David B Dixon
Port Perry ON CA
Sabine

[newkitman]

I used Minwax oil based stain. After staining yesterday afternoon, I felt the instrument cluster got sort of lost in the main dash. I wanted it to stand out a little more. So I took one of the remaining two clusters (I usually make three just in case) and on the rear face applied three different stain colors. They are Minwax Gunstock, Minwax Ipswich Pine and Minwax Sedona Red. The photos can be seen at fotki.com/Allen1209. Looking in there MGTD Build folder, then go to page 6. I know which one I prefer but perhaps you’ll suggest another. The main das=h and steering wheel are Sedona Red.

Allen Caron
VW based 53MGTD - "MoneyPenny"
"If one thing matters, everything matters" - from the book The Shack

[John Simion]

If I were you, I’d continue to use the Sedona Red because IMHO the other colors clash and look “wrong.”  What you COULD do to set off the instrument panel, however, is to wrap it in plastic chrome molding like this:

http://www.brandsport.com/trmg-0301-05.html

That is the exact stuff that I put on the entire perimeter of my dashboard.

You could also consider putting an applique on the face of the instrument panel.  My instrument panel is a reproduction “real” TD instrument panel, but I got it cheap because the chrome was so *&^%% poor.  I didn’t want to pay to rechrome it, so I covered the face of it with engine-turned vinyl applique, similar to this:

You can see this in my photos on Flickr.  It’s on the instrument panel, the radio opening, and the radio opening door.  I like it and if I get tired of it, I can pull it off and replace it with something else.

[Author]

Posts