Strange Dash!

The dash top and crash pads are cracked and split but the dash face is really interesting. At first I thought it was a rare dash with a vertical veneer. Upon closer inspection it was evident that, not only was the walnut (?) veneer gone, but, the first layer of plywood veneer was also gone! Hence the vertical grain. I have a different and unorthodox "fix" planned.

After about 30 minutes work it's looking better already. First thing to do was to strip away the top veneer. After years of exposure to the sun it was in pretty bad shape and basically "fell" off with a little help from a 1" chisel. Some sanding and it'll be ready for the new finish.

Quite a difference from the pictures up above. I still need to work on the glove box door and may or may not reuse the original latch. I can't decide if it's supposed to be put in at an angle or if someone just did a lousy installation job. The problem is..... it looks real weird the way it was as can be seen in the top photo. I also decided not to recess the chrome instrument bezel into the dash. I like it better when you can see all of the bezel.

Well, here's a close up of the new finish..... yup, it's burlwood. All it needs now is a bunch of finish coats.

I like the new dash finish a lot better!

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