In a message dated 5/12/99 12:19:34 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
jdean@designdimension.com writes:
> Answer:
> Plywood with a veneer is much more stable than solid wood. Solid wood
looks
> good, but being in a car and therefore not exactly climate controlled, it
could
> easily warp or worse yet crack, eventually. Not a problem if you enjoy
making
> dashboards. .
Jim,
Let me toss in my 2 cents worth here. You're right, solid wood is more prone
to spitting and cracking than plywood, but it's not been shown to be a
problem in our little cars, especially since we don't normally park them out
in the weather for long periods. I've had a solid wood dash in my car for
over 11 years with no problems at all, and it is regularly driven on extended
trips where it spends a lot of time outdoors. I know of a lot of others with
solid wood dashes as well, and I've not heard of any serious problems with
them. A lot of the replacement dashes sold are of solid wood (usually Teak, I
think, which may be less prone to warpage and splitting than some of the
other woods).
Plywood, on the other hand, is subject to de-lamination, which solid wood
isn't. When I removed the dash from my TR6 to use as a pattern, it came apart
in my hands. All the layers of the plywood came apart, and they were so thin
and brittle that the layers crumbled as I handled it. I was JUST able to
salvage enough to use for a pattern. I had no choice but to make my own, as I
was using non-standard guages, and a non-standard dash layout (V8
conversion), so none of the commercially available dashes would work.
> Veneer will look just as good as solid wood, and there is no shame
> in using it, it is after all real wood too.
I agree with you 100% on that also. Other than personal preferences, veneer
is suitable for fine furniture as well. If it weren't for veneer, very, very,
few of us could afford nice furniture. On a Spitfire, I wouldn't have a
preference for one over the other, as there is no glovebox door to expose the
edge of the dash (I don't have a Spitfire, so I may be wrong, but I don't
think the edge is visible anywhere when the dash is installed). Visually, no
one will know which you have -- solid or veneer.
For my TR6, I just didn't want to see the edge of the plywood when the
glovebox door was opened, even if it were well finished, and I wanted the
grain on the back of the door to match the front. Picky, picky, I know, but
that was my preference.
Using veneer is easier than using solid wood (MUCH, MUCH easier if you are
trying to cut out the glove box door for a TR6 from one piece and have the
grain match across the door), and if you make a boo-boo, just toss out the
$10.00 piece of plywood and do it again. Screw up an expensive piece of Burl
Oak, and.........$$$$$$ Working with the veneer itself is fairly easy to do,
really requiring nothing more than patience and a little bit of advice from
the pros.
Like a lot of things in life, either choice will do, there are pros and cons
to each, and it boils down to personal preference.
If you are interested, you can check out my dash at:
http://members.aol.com/danmas/dashboar.htm
Dan Masters,
Alcoa, TN
'71 TR6---------3000mile/year driver, fully restored
'71 TR6---------undergoing full restoration and Ford 5.0 V8 insertion - see:
http://members.aol.com/danmas/
'74 MGBGT---3000mile/year driver, original condition - slated for a V8 soon
'68 MGBGT---organ donor for the '74
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