veneer wood for car dash

[Robert Goodwin III]

I want to re-veneer the dash on my Triumph Spitfire car, I've stripped off the old veneer and the base wood is plywood. Since car interiors see a wide range of temperatures I would like to hear peoples thoughts on a couple of things.

The wood veneer should is be paper backed or bare wood?

What type of glue or adhesive should be used to deal with the temperature changes?

[johnny means]

Is the part to be veneered flat or curvy?

[Brian Holcombe]

If it's the typical flat section, you could pick almost anything that suits your fancy. Personally I would use paperbacked veneer which makes the process a bit easier.

[Jamie Buxton]

Pretty much any veneer will do. You can choose by authenticity (that is, what Triumph used), or by whatever you like. I'd glue it on using epoxy and a vacuum bag; that will be a strong reliable connection even in the demanding car environment. If you're using epoxy, there's no advantage to paper backing.

[Earl McLain]

While you may not have the same tooling, i've seen some videos on new car building (how it's made dream cars) that may provide some insight as well, good luck with the restoration!,
earl

[Greg R Bradley]

While you may not have the same tooling, i've seen some videos on new car building (how it's made dream cars) that may provide some insight as well, good luck with the restoration!,
earl
If you really want it to look great and last, send it to Madiera Concepts in Santa Barbara. Prepare for "sticker shock".

[Jim Becker]

I agree that it doesn't matter whether or not it's paper backed or not, but paper backed is easier to use as someone already mentioned. Part of that decision will revolved around whether or not the edges will be visible or not where the perforations for gauges, etc., are. I don't recall if they surface mount with a bezel or sit behind the piece...I have a good friend who restored a TR-6 and has a TR-250 waiting for attention. I'd also go epoxy and use a vacuum bag for this kind of project.

[johnny means]

Hmm, are we talking a dash or an instrument panel?

[Bob Cooper]

i've replaced all the wood in a fiat spider (74) i had...did it twice over the years and just used solid wood and clear coated it. No issues and i was living in FL at the time where it was super hot. The wood was used for
- instrument cluster
- around radio
- around shifter
- glove box door
- etc.

first time i used cherry and the second time i used cedar.

[andy bessette]

... I'd glue it on using epoxy and a vacuum bag...

Epoxy will almost certainly soak through and stain the face of any thin veneer.

I would use the original pieces as templates and cut new ones from veneered plywood of a similar thickness. Look for ply with exterior glue.

[Robert Goodwin III]

this is for the instrument panel.

[Jamie Buxton]

Epoxy will almost certainly soak through and stain the face of any thin veneer...

Urban legend. What happens is that the epoxy comes through the veneer in spots, and forms a very thin skin on the show surface of the veneer. It easily sands off, leaving no visible remainder. I do it all the time.

[andy bessette]

JB--no legend; it's happened to me. Soaked right through the veneer and could not be sanded off.

[Robert Engel]

Urban legend. What happens is that the epoxy comes through the veneer in spots, and forms a very thin skin on the show surface of the veneer. It easily sands off, leaving no visible remainder. I do it all the time.

No so fast :)

Glue can seep through endgrain areas of veneer, which are common in figured veneers and burls. When dry it results in a stain or uneven color.

I recently experienced this with some figured cherry. The solution is to apply shellac to the glue surface prior to glueing.

Or used a paper backed veneer.

Like Jim suggested, I would probably use epoxy because it dries extremely stiff which will resist extreme temp variations inside a vehicle.

[Jamie Buxton]

JB--no legend; it's happened to me. Soaked right through the veneer and could not be sanded off.

Perhaps you're using way too much epoxy. I roll it on with a low-nap roller. I use enough to make sure the surface is wetted, but that's about it.

My current project is a Murphy bed plus bookcases. There's a little over 100 square feet of curly maple veneer in it. The veneer is conventional veneer -- no paper back. All of it was glued with epoxy. There was some bleedthrough in patches. All of the bleedthrough disappeared in the sanding step.

[andy bessette]

JB--glad it worked out for you. The failure I had was done using WEST epoxy, applied in a thin coat, using a foam roller. The veneer was Birdseye maple.

[johnny means]

We had an epoxy "inlay" seep a half inch or so in either direction on a table top a few days ago. No amount of sanding would get at the staining. I've also seen over use of pva do the same thing with glued on edge banding. The glue seeps into the endgrain and changes the finishing characteriistics of that area.

[Robert Goodwin III]

The dash / instrument panel is made up of 3 sections, so total length is about 44 inches, one of the sections has a threaded stud that must be bonded in on the back side. I would like to bond the veneer down as one piece so the grains or bubbles line up across. It does look like it may have to be a epoxy, the couple of glue companies I contacted didn't have anything to handle the environment.
I'm thinking now to cut out three pieces of plywood to match as best as possible, not sure if I can route out the recesses for some the gauges, I'll have to dig out my old zip saw and give that a shot but at lest I can do a bonding sample with it. I'll need to find a a epoxy with enough working time to it for my speed. lol

[Bob Cooper]

Why the need for veneer?

[Jim Becker]

Why the need for veneer?
Many times on projects like this, the desire is for something "exotic" and that would be very expensive to do with solid stock. So much of the time, these replacement panels are made from quality plywood for strength and then veneered for "the look".

[Warren Lake]

veneer on ply should be more stable. I did ask a friend who is a custom car builder and he has done it both ways so some cars originally did have solid originally.