By Brenda Fenech-Soler

Restoration work on a vintage car is like peeling an onion;  after you get started, you find there are many layers!  Frequently, after you start a project, you have to put it aside to source/order parts, and then wait for them to arrive.  When they do arrive, inevitably there’s always that one critical item that has been back-ordered.  Murphy’s Law is alive and well in the resto garage!  This installment will chronicle two such projects;  replacement of the windscreen, and refurbishment of the dash.

The windscreen had a stone chip that needed repair.  Ian jokes that our little car is like a big Meccano set, so he “simply” unbolted it and took it to a local auto glass shop.  While there, he found the cost of having it repaired was almost the same as getting a new tinted one, so that was a no-brainer. With the new windscreen resting comfortably on towels on our living room floor (yes, really!), Ian removed the old one from the frame, which then came to me for cleaning/polishing.  He ordered the new rubber seals needed for re-installation, and so started the waiting game!

The dash in our MGB is full of vintage car character and it really does make the cockpit special.  The fascia is black vinyl and the gauges and dials are trimmed with chrome and have glass lenses.  There are even a few components that are made of Bakelite.  Once again, Purdey’s age was showing but Ian was convinced that between the two of us, we could address the condition issues of her signature dash.

First, Ian removed the complete dash assembly, carefully marking all of the electrical connections.  Next, he removed the gauges, switches, indicators and knobs from the dash, and most of those came to me for cleaning/polishing.  I had to take great care, as not all of them are available from our trusty British car parts supplier, or even the second-hand market.

With all of the gauges out, Ian worked to correct a previously made, but poorly executed repair to the black vinyl dash.  A LOT of black caulking had been used, and it had oozed out and was very messy looking.  He also made a couple of repairs with a 3M vinyl repair kit, and treated the entire dash with a product called Solution Finish Black Trim Restorer.  He says it’s easy to use, but it’s messy and doesn’t come off your skin readily.  Don’t ask him how he knows!

While the dash was out, and brandishing the wiring diagrams from his trusty Haynes manual, Ian set out to test and check the electrical system.  The headlights, tail lights, signal lights and their associated trim were removed; checked (repaired if needed); cleaned; and re-installed with new gaskets/seals.  Ian revels in this stuff, and prior to re-installing the dash, he also tidied up the wiring loom (removed the “nothing” wires) and installed a missing trunk light switch and door/ignition indicator that had been originally wired in, but not installed.

The last step before the dash could go back in was to replace the ripped, crunchy vinyl on the body of the car where the dash gets mounted.  We cut and glued in some spiffy, new black marine vinyl, and the windscreen defroster vents were given a new coat of black gloss paint.  The dash has since been reinstalled, and Ian’s done a quality check to ensure everything works the way it should.

Our goal is to keep our MGB original as possible, but there are a few modern conveniences we want to add:

The radio housing won’t get re-installed until the new carpet has been glued onto the transmission tunnel, which is a great point to finish up this installment.  Carpet installation could well be an entire installment alone!