52 mm dash restoration

[tbucketmad]

hi ,i am a new boy on here ,
i am starting a light restoration on a 1952 2 door mm with 918cc engine .
one of the tasks i a about to start is to replace to rotten screen rubber while thats out i am going to bead blast the dash gold painted panels and repaint them . is there any clever way to remove the chrome rings around the three instruments(speedo fuel oil )
prior to repainting them , hope you can help me , atb steve

[DAVIDMCCULLOUGH]

Hi Steve,
Im afraid there is no easy way to remove them. I took them off mine and one of them broke up, they are very flimsy bits of metal and the oil pressure and petrol are more difficult than the round speedo one. All I can suggest is to work at it with patience and hope its comes off in one peice.

Let us know how you get on

[mike.perry]

Remove the glove box lid and badge and inst. panel cover then I would suggest masking them and wiping any excess paint off as soon as you have sprayed them.
Regarding windscreen rubbers, search through the message boards before wishing you had never started

[C6Dave]

Hi Steve,
Im afraid there is no easy way to remove them. I took them off mine and one of them broke up, they are very flimsy bits of metal and the oil pressure and petrol are more difficult than the round speedo one. All I can suggest is to work at it with patience and hope its comes off in one piece.

Removing the panels first lets you get access to the rear and the inserts are only bent over the lip

A gentle straightening with a pair of pliers will let you remove them without damage

Once the panels are painted you can put them back the same way

I did mine a month ago before refitting the overhauled speedo

[RobThomas]

Might be worth a little light blow-torching to anneal the metal on those rings? Chrome on brass, if I remember. Might help.

[WPR678B]

Chrome on brass, if I remember.

You are lucky enough to have chrome on brass on HFH, but most are aluminium.
Only the earlier Lowlights used the brass one's
Nothing but the best for HFH though

[RobThomas]

HFH is now tucked up in a nice new garage and will be set upon with the paint gun sometime this year (hopefully ). Car Paints Plus in Bridgend still sell the correct matched dashboard paint in cellulose, should anyone need it.

[C6Dave]

Car Paints Plus in Bridgend still sell the correct matched dashboard paint in cellulose, should anyone need it.

So do ESM in a 500ml Aerosol that's a perfect match, is more than enough for several coats and fast drying for £11.50

[linearaudio]

Car Paints Plus in Bridgend still sell the correct matched dashboard paint in cellulose, should anyone need it.

So do ESM in a 500ml Aerosol that's a perfect match, is more than enough for several coats and fast drying for £11.50

Veering slightly to the left of the topic, would that by any chance be the same colour that the later(but pre-64ish) Big speedo was painted? I ask as I would like to match my accessory gauges background colour to the speedo on my '62 Moggy. Being the almost ubiquitous Almond green Traveller, I feel the original (gold, bronze??) speedo tones in better with the dash colour than the later black faced item! It also gives me the excuse to play around with silk screening

[mike.perry]

I have just fitted auxillary Smiths gauges in Magnolia which is a good match for the original Series MM gauges

[RobThomas]

I'd love to know where this one came from. Anyone got any ideas?[frame][/frame]

[mike.perry]

Series MO Oxford, they have four auxillary gauges, however I would have expected it to be fahrenheit not centigrade. They also have a 1600TPM speedo with a trip meter[frame][/frame]
Series 2 with extra gauges. Presumably he used a LHD glovebox lid and fitted the extra holes. I wonder if you could fit a rev counter as well

[RobThomas]

The holes for the speedo and for the clock/badge are different sizes. I did have a LHD dash at one point and tried it out.
Probably just as easy to go with the standard panel and then cut/weld as necessary?


MO Oxford?

[mike.perry]

Or could be from Morris Six or one of the Wolseleys? I am not so informed on MOs

[tbucketmad]

well i am proud to say we succsesfully fitted screen rubber after lots of investigation ,talking and advice .it has even passed the jetwash test so i am very happy , the only bits that leak are the wiper spindle rubber seals but as soon as i can get new ones i will . esm are out of stock does anyone know anybody else who stocks them ? , tommorrow is fit the new wiring loom day then we will be ready for the spring

[DAVIDMCCULLOUGH]

Its worth trying minor developments for the wiper bits, I got some from them a few years ago when no one else had them.