Series one Dashboard

C

campingstoveman

New Member
Gentlemen,

Please forgive me my questions but as a new owner I am finding it a good place to get answers.
My question is regards the top of the dash which covers the speedo and clock and goes the full width of the car.
How easy is it to remove and does anybody have a good one for sale as mine has a split in the centre.

Martin P
 
It's easy enough once you have the windscreen out. Sounds dramatic but actually very easy - bonnet off, decker panel off and the (4?) bolts that hold the screen in are then winking at you. No sealant or other nasties to complicate the procedure. See the item on windscreens for other notes.

A replacement top dash shroud should be pretty easy to come by from one of the breakers - try Ian at Roverclassics or perhaps Red Hat?

Chris
 
I take it you mean the long top across the length of the dash?. You don't need to take the windscreen out at all.

You need to remove the following:

Remove the two padded A-post interior covers. This are fixed in place with simple crosshead self tappers, two per cover.

Under the shelf there are a series of bolts fixed on the underneath of this long top these are bolted to U-shaped brackets in the dash so loosen these nuts. From my recollection, there are four located across the underneath of the long top.

Next, there are two fixing bolts for the centre clock, these bolts will need to be completely removed to remove the clock from the long top, place the clock on the dash shelf.

With the A-post covers off and the nuts loosened/removed, the shelf should slide out with a gentle pull. Take care with the far edges of this long top, these can become quite fragile with age and will need to be clear of any other trim.

I've removed and refitted mine several times to get round the back of the speedo and have also replaced it using this procedure.

Lastly, beware that Series 1 and 2 dashboard tops are not the same, the Series 1 is much lower profile and flatter. A uncracked, unmarked one is becoming quite hard to find. I got mine from Colin at Kingsbury Garage for a very reasonable price, a breakers would be a bit cheaper admittedly.

Weather permitting, I'm taking a visit to my local one to maybe get a few interior bits myself, if I see one, I'll grab it. They're pretty reasonable and as it's not your everyday car, they usually take pity on classic car owners and don't charge the earth.
 
As these dashboards are not as easy to come by here in the states, and as all the ones I have here are badly dried out and cracked, I am anticipating making my own by molding close cell foam and covering with vinyl. Any one else tried anything like this?

Dick West
 
Not yet, but I was intending to make something similar for my project, I was going to bend some ply-wood and cover with thin foam and vinyl, but I guess moulding out of solid foam and covering would make it safer in a crash. I wonder if some of the spray-foam would be strong enough ? Maybe if you set some thin metal bars in it to add stiffness, but would bend when hit by a passenger.
 
Thanks for that, I will have a look tomorrow, I wont do much for a couple of weeks because we are taking her to a small car show next weekend.

Martin P
 
I removed the panel from my project yesterday, admittedly the screen was already out, but, it was obvious that you wouldn't need to remove it to get the panel out, I just removed the 2 nuts (one behind the instrument panel), A post trim was already removed, and pulled it towards the steering wheel, and it popped out.
 
Apology for Martin - since the screens are more out than in in both my cars recently it didn't occour to me to try this with the screen in. By the way, I found a new rust location on the English car! On the apron below the bottom of the screen under the front decker. P6's never cease to amaze me!

Chris
 
The front and rear decker panels trap leaves, pine needles, debris, and if not cleaned out and treated at some time, you will find the areas below have rusted away.It is very worthwhile to remove the deckers and clean and treat the the rust BEFORE it is too late.
Wish I had done this on mine.

Dick West
 
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