Thank you Peter!

I had one of the guys I worked with__who liked to play with wood__make a wooden fixture to match the outline of the instrument portion of the dash, with a 2x3 board on the back I could clamp in a table vise. I used the holes for the chrome surround to put small screws to hold the dash to the fitted board.

The vise was bolted on the table of a small Chinese mill/drill; the mill/drill was purchased based on having enough X/Y travel so that the dash would not have to be repositioned in the vise from start to finish.

I divided the area to be worked into four (4) quadrants, and started each row working out from the center, so the pattern didn't looked all stacked in one direction (like if you did the whole job starting at the top left, say).

I used a 3/4" Cratex rubberized abrasive rod__memory escapes me if I used a medium or fine grade (still have them both...). They come 6" long, but to be stable, you need to cut them down to use a piece no longer than 2" and I "choke up" on it by letting only an 1" to 3/4" or so sticking out of the collet at a time.

The milling table makes it easy to get consistent spacing, and while one can try to get consistent contact pressure and dwell time, and little variance lends to it being "done by hand"

Every so often, you need to dress the end of the abrasive with a piece of sandpaper, and the "strikes" were done dry (without any cutting fluid/oil; that just made a mess, and you couldn't see to track progress).

Time consuming__I did one dash as a test, then did the good one. The good one took me a full sixteen (16) hours, over two (2) days.

The dash was painted first, then engine-turned, then the whole thing sealed in clear__make sure it's a clear suitable to go over bare aluminum. A PROFESSIONAL paint shop did not use a clear for bare metal, blew the application and then sanded it all off__ALONG WITH ALL MY WORK!! I blew a fuse! Then did shot it clear myself, after doing the engine-turning all over again.

Robert -

The #1 hole is the correct hole for the washer, and on a '57, the washer pump would have been a simple, smaller diameter shaft with a chrome "button" on it, not the larger cup and button with writing on it...that was the next generation washer system when the cars moved to Abingdon in late '57 so the smaller hole seems correct. The #2 hole could have been a lighter (added after - not in the original position the factory would have put it), or something else. My washer control isn't in that "correct" position, but when I bought my car, the PO had put an ammeter where your #2 hole is, and I left the washer control where it was at - closer to the driver than original and more visually balanced in the center for the dash. I don't believe this dash was original to the car and may have come from a car without the washer option like a later 100-6.. I have since filled the ammeter hole, but who knows what it could have been. If you can find the original pump - your better than me. I have restored my '57 "Longbridge" with all the unique early 100-6 features, but that is the last one that has consistently eluded me. Good luck...

To explain the pics, 1st one is my car with the later Abingdon washer (wrong location), 2nd is the original configuration of my car with the ammeter, 3rd is an unrestored car with the correct "button" washer, and the 4th is an original early car with the original washer button AND the rare lighter option in the center where it would have been placed from the factory. Best!



Edited 6 time(s). Last edit at 2019-01-27 01:11 PM by dkgraber85.