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MG TD TF 1500 - Padded or flat dash?

Hi All,

I'm about to put new vinyl on an old dash that was stored under a house for the last 20 years. At a British Field Meet, we saw a few TD's where a thin layer of padding (foam?) was placed under the dash vinyl, and it looked pretty nice, given a bit of depth to the dash.

Has anyone else done this? I'm sure a number of people will have a say regarding its non-originality, but I'm interested in all views. The current dash is a wood abomination where the PO to my father replaced all of the original switches with industrial metal toggles, except for the ignition switch and of course the choke and starter. So putting in an original vinyl-covered wooden dash with original instruments will go a long way towards originality.

I've got a TD I inherited that isn't really that close to original, and I'm just doing some things to get it closer but I'm not a fanatic about it. I've owned a '68 midget for the last 31 years and I do the same with it, although it's still pretty close to stock.

Thanks for any input,
Scott
Scott

Hi Scott,

First of all, you don't have to apologize to us for seeking a non-original look. Knowing what is original and then doing something different is fine, especially if you do something which is 'reversible' for a subseqent owner. Our threads about originality are helpful, but we aren't fanatics.

I've not seen any padding under a dash, but I can see how it might look nice especially if done subtly. Our cars had pretty sparse lines, and right angles, so too much fluff tends to take away from the look, in my opinion. My guess though, is the padding you saw was more along the lines of polyester fiberous backing than foam padding.

On ebay right now there is a nearly complete dash. It might help you out with bringing your car more in line with originality, if that is what you are seeking.

warmly,
dave
Dave Braun

I have seen two with padded dashes... both had put way too much padding under it...looked very weird!
I would replace with stock flat, unpadded.
gordon lawson - TD 27667

I have seen a few with a thin ( 1/4 inch) layer of foam under the vinyl. It looked Ok . I did see one with thick padding , about a half inch thick it looked odd like it had gotten wet and swelled up. It also had a lot of what looked like pleats in the vinyl around the Speedo and Tach. It looked like the guy had a devil of a time keeping it smooth while inserting the guages and he just go tired and shoved them in.
As soon as people see the dash like that they seem to ask " is this a FIBER-FAB CAR?" or an original.
I also agree with Dave , it's your car make it the way you like it, hell I stuck a glass pack muffler on mine . It makes it sound real sporty and gives the impression that you are going real fast even though you know your not.
Alan

Hi Scott, whatever you decide to do, consider the fact that the dash will get wet at some time, and any padding that may be behind it may get wet and rot.

It would be next to impossible to dry out without pulling it apart.

Cheers,

Paul.
Paul van Gool

Good point, Paul. Although the same can be said for the vinyl on the rear wheel arches and rear side panels. Let's face it, the biggest dangers our cars face (besides the dreaded previous owner!) is moisture and its cousin, dry rot.

warmly,
dave
Dave Braun

Dave:

I always thought the most danger was the nut behind the wheel? hehe

I have seen wooden dashes of various types of wood, swirl steel, vinyl and painted. I have not seen a padded dash. A very thin foam or cotton backing may be an intersting look. the instument panel would indent it a bit.

As pointed out. You can always reverse it. As the original was covered, as long as you can get back to wood, you can always recover it.

Bruce Cunha

Scott
I have on my TD used 3mm 1/8 in padding
and vinyl same as interior on my
dash looks quit nice and and it gives a little indent when installing the instruments
cheers

thoralf
t g sorensen

Scott, Drop me an email and I'll send some dash pics. The PO had done a good job of a thin layer of padding, about 3mm. Not sure whether it is foam or polyester.
Looks pretty neat, see what you think.
Regards
Graham
TD/C 7822
G.D. Smith

Well, you are ALL right! Actually, the purpose of the padding was to conform to the specification of the day for a padded dashboard that would protect the nut in the event of a high-speed collision.

For the same reason, padding was used in the pockets in the doors - a precursor to bags with air, at the side of the car, doncha y'know?

Ya see folks, Abingdon was really light years ahead of the Yanks.

Gord Clark
Rockburn, Qué.

Gordon A. Clark


FYI, for padding I was thinking along the lines of something like that thin pink packing foam... Just a few mm thick. I'm not looking for a really padded dash, just a tiny bit.

Scott


Scott

This thread was discussed between 10/02/2006 and 11/02/2006

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