Update by Tim Suddard to the
Austin-Healey Sprite project car
Aug 1, 2023
|
Austin-Healey,
Moss Motors,
Bugeye Sprite,
Austin-Healey Sprite,
Blast Masters
Photography by Tim Suddard
The dashboard on a Bugeye Sprite was originally covered with vinyl fabric that matched the interior color. This fabric was clipped on and not glued.
Today’s restorers usually skip the clips and glue the dash fabric in place. We chose a hybrid method.
To start the project, we had the metal dashboard media blasted and primed with a self-etching epoxy primer. The Blast Masters did this work.
We then inspected the dashboard. There was one dent that would have shown through the fabric, so we hammer and dollied it flat.
We then cut a piece of the correct navy vinyl that we sourced from Moss Motors. They sell material that matches all of its available seat kits.
We cut a piece of material with upholstery shears, leaving enough extra to wrap around the dash. The material seemed well made and stretched nicely, which is important for wrapping a dashboard.
We cleaned and dried the metal dash and then brushed on contact cement–both onto the dash and onto the fabric. (You can use spray adhesive, but we find the old-fashion contact cement designed for high-heat situations works best for a project like this.)
Once the glue was dry, we wrapped the material around the dash, cut some V-shaped slashes in the tight corners, and smoothed the material into position.
With every crease smoothed out and the vinyl trimmed on the inside of the dashboard, we ran clamps all around and let it sit overnight to fully dry.
It looks factory.
Next, we will replace or restore all the gauges and switches. Then we can wire up the dashboard and fit it into our freshly painted body.
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