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MG MGB Technical - area between dash and windshield

hello all,
i am currenly prepping the body of my 78 MGB for the last stage of its restoration, paint and interior.my question is about the area between the rear of the dashpad and the windshield. i have the windshield off the car and will be replacing the pad after painting. the area in question has a vinal piece over it around the defrost vents and is not in very good condition. this car is being built to show, but not on a concours leval as it has performance improvements.what have others done to this area when doing a restoration? any suggestions or comments are welcome.
thanks Paul
R Slice

Pretty straight forward. Get it off of there carefully and save it for pattern. Have the area painted when the car is done. Get some similar vinyl, cut using the old as pattern and glue it back on (before putting windshield on) using high heat resistant contact cement. That area gets hot as the dickens and regular contact cement will break down. Yes, that's how I learned. 3M has about 6 different kinds to choose from at very good hardware stores and most auto stores have one that is used to glue in interior heading material in cars.
J.T. Bamford

Paul, Check the archives. I do not remember if it was in MG General or Technical, but in the past week or so there was an excellent thread about this very issue. It had a lot of good comments and suggestions. I recently replaced the vinyl cover on my 73 MGB with a new piece from an upholstery shop. Some people say that they leave the vinyl off and leave this area the color of the car. I suggest you look at the archive. God luck.
Robert Browning

Kits are available for recovering this area, and the crash rail if fitted.
Paul Hunt

I have seen the area left painted (with no vinyl). Looked quite trick and clean. May try it on my own car.
Bo

Bo, I recently saw a MGB where they left the vinyl off and the paint exposed. But they also continued the stripes on the hood under the windshield and right into the dash. It looked really good.
Robert Browning

Here's a pic of my car right after I got it back from the paint shop...I did just what Robert mentioned...I carried the stripes right under the windshield up to the 'eyebrow' of the dash...I think it looks really good. -Rod

http://home.carolina.rr.com/ncrayls/cockpit_aug2002.jpg
Rod in WA

But they aren't half going to reflect in the screen.
Paul Hunt

If you wear polarized sunglasses you won't see the reflection! At night it shouldn't be an issue.

Just my two cents.
Jeff.

P.S. I'm going with body color on mine, rather than vinyl. Then again, I'm in the process of extensive non-factory body mods, so what's on more change. Does anyone know a good source for wrap-around lexan windshields???


Jeff Schlemmer

I Painted the area with black Crinkle spray paint and it looks as good or better than new.
B. Radenbaugh

When I did my B I carried the racing stripes through this area also. Looks different. I also already had the defroster vents taken out to paint the car, (2 nuts apiece but hard to reach) and had them chromed. No glare problem. Looks good. Anybody have a water type heated for a TD to trade? Also need one 14" mini-lite wheel w/ gold center.
Wayne Norman

I re-painted my dash and renewed the crash rail and thought that the vinyl looked v tatty. I pulled out the screen and glued on a new piece of vinyl that Moss sell.

It all looks great now, particulaly as I painted the screen vent trims at the same time as the dash.

I also replaced the seal between the screen and body at the same. Fitting the seal is a tough job.

Moss have the part you need.

cheers

Richard
Richard Thompson

Rod

where did you find the white speedo.

Ray
Ray Gordon

I got the gauges from Nisonger's...http://www.nisonger.com

ask for the magnolia-faced Smiths gauges. Their webpage isn't the greatest, but it has their number and address. Below is an address that shows some of the gauges. -Rod

http://www.caigauge.com/Smiths_Classic_Instruments.htm
Rod in WA

I just picked up on this thread, and was wondering if there is a source for the vinyl material that was originally used for this application. My last restoration was as '70 and I felt like I should have looked further at the time to to try to find the real item. I ended up useing a cloth backed bit of vinyl upolstery material for this area and never felt good about it. What about it Brits...is the real deal available? I like to know before my next I finish my current project.
Chris Jones

Yep, part of a kit that contains the covering for the cockpit rail as well. Available from many sources in the UK.
Paul Hunt

My 73 is now equipped with many non stock items. In the cockpit I used Wheelskins tan leather on the steering wheel and the company sold me matching leather in dimentions I provided. The price was fair. I have used the tan leather to trim out the edges of the cockpit to include the space between the new dash and windscreen.

Ken Knize
Binghamton NY
Ken Knize

This thread was discussed between 19/08/2003 and 05/09/2003

MG MGB Technical index

This thread is from the archive. The Live MG MGB Technical BBS is active now.