I have two Mk1A Tigers with original dashes that are 450 numbers apart and the
dashes look very different. One is dark brown and heavily burled and one is
light, almost oak in color, and has nice grain but no burl. The color
difference can be attributed to different levels of aging to an extent, but
the wood grain variation cannot. I have seen this variation on many Rootes
cars over the years, I always assumed their dash suppliers used whatever
veneer was available. Every piece of wood has a unique grain, and each piece
absorbs stain differently. I've been around vintage guitars since before they
were vintage and I've never seen two Les Pauls that were alike either.
My advice is to restore your dash in the spirit of what Rootes intended, but
choose the grains and color you prefer. I have always thought a deep cherry
red dash would look stunning on my black car, but I'm a bit off me chum
sometimes...
Bugz
-----Original Message-----
From: Allan Ballard
Sent: Thursday, June 07, 2012 3:38 PM
To: Gary Winblad
Cc: tigers@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: [Tigers] Re-veneering the dash
The mystery deepens :)
I stopped by the re-finisher to see the walnut veneer that he had selected to
match what is on the Tiger's dash, from his old stash.
It isn't burled :)
I've not looked closely at many stock Tiger dash's but mine is about 99% burl
free.
He further stated that the grain should be vertical to match, not left to
right.
He mentioned the color shade but I have forgotten the name of it. In his view
it was a relatively darkish shade of brown.
Then another question arose.
The small piece that joins the dash beneath the steering column - is it
supposed to match the veneer?
Rgds,
Allan Ballard
Mk1a Tiger
On 6/7/12 3:17 PM, Gary Winblad wrote:
> Well, there is "right" and there is "Prestige". There is no way any
> Tiger came with a dash with that perfect mirror finish!
> I think it should be burled but not that burled... it was a cheaper
> cut so to speak, probably like your store was telling you. It has
> burls (and every car is
> different) but not that many
> like what you buy now as burled. But NOT just plain Walnut!!
> And it should be dark like the protected bottom edge. Dark walnut
> stain is what I think I used. The dash had a clear plastic type
> finish. The steering wheel had an almost opaque brown finish, the
> wood grain hardly shows, it looked almost like brown plastic.
>
> Gary
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: awtiger@cox.net
> To: rfraser@bluefrog.com, aballard@ix.netcom.com,
> tigers@autox.team.net
> Sent: Thu, 07 Jun 2012 15:47:47 -0000 (UTC)
> Subject: Re: [Tigers] Re-veneering the dash
>
> Allan:
>
> If you are looking for a quality reproduction of an original Sunbeam
> dash, why not just buy one from Prestige Autowood? I realize that
> they are pricey, but they are very well done and look correct in the
> car. All you'll have to do is install it. I've got one in my car and
> it still looks new after 25 years. Evidently, redoing the original
> dashes must be difficult because you don't see too many of them done
> right; one can almost invariably tell that they were "homemade." From
> my way of thinking, if I'm going to have to be staring at that dash
> for years to come, I would want it right.
>
> http://www.prestigeautowood.com/
>
> My .02 worth,
> Andy Walker
> Edmond, OK
> B382001600LRXFE
> TAC #740
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