Mildred’s final paint job is still a few months down the road. But the inner doors and tailgate frame and the outer skins will get painted before the parts will be put together again. And my wife and I decided, that Mildred’s future dashboard will also be painted with the new body color instead of black. As this might happen soon – it is time to double check the dashboard, test fit all components and identify things that need to be fixed or changed.
The dashboard I will be most likely using for Mildred is an early MGB variant – the one with the Lucas toggle switches. Fortunately, I was able to buy one covered in blue leather from Andreas in Munich. Back then my preferred color for Mildred was Midnight Blue (paint code BLVC 12) with blue leather interior. But over time my preference has changed and both my wife and I agreed on a dark grey/silver variant with a brown/beige/cognac (tbd) interior now. Paint color will either be Jaguar Opalscent Gunmetal (paint code Jag 702) or Aston Martin Tungston silver.
The MGB dashboard has a shape with does not really handles well on the workbench. I noticed this when taking of the leather a short while ago. Therefore I quickly build a hinged mount out of some wood I had left. If you work on a MGB dashboard – I highly recommend doing the same. I makes the job a whole lot easier and should greatly reduce the risk of damaging anything after the new paint has been applied. While test fitting all components, I found a few issues with the dashboard. The new 100mm Smith eletric speedometer is almost exactly 100mm – but the dashboard opening only 97mm. To fix this I created a tapered wooden disk with with an other diameter of 99mm on the top and 95mm on the bottom. With 180 grid sandpaper glued to the side I was able to easily enlarge the opening – without forcing in the new gauge. I used quite bit of degreaser and cleaner to get rid of all the old glue residue.
The hole for the old overdrive switch, along with the ones for the indicator lights were all modified. As I don’t need an overdrive button – a push button was installed instead. Two new 12mm indicator bulbs fix the crudely bored out old openings. Three Lucas switches (I will install an electric washer pump), as well as new pull switches complete the test fit. Even though I am undecided if I will install a radio or blanking plate – I made sure a standard mounting cage will fit. So far so good. The worst part is the glove box. It has a dent in the lower right corner, and it looks like somebody broke it open in the past – the right corner is bent. I am not sure what to do about this yet.
Fixing C6622 
Leave a comment