1959 Triumph TR3A Restoration Project, Dash Re-Covering.

[@stephengent9974]

Heat guns are handy to get the vinyl to conform more easily to complex shapes. When laying up over an inside curve you need to cut small triangles of material away, so the vinyl lays in . A bone folder is a handy tool to push the cloth into recesses, like the glove box. It is better to lay up straight areas first and do the corners last. Make a paper pattern, and practice first using paper. That will tell you where there are potential errors. Tension the cloth corner to corner to get wrinkles out. Lastly paint the dash the color of the covering. It will hide any little faux pas better

[@cheftush]

Thanks for the tips! I’ll put them to use on a future project…covering the cockpit cappings next, so might try a few things.

[@LarryMiceli]

Today I upholstered the dash in my 58 TR3 using your video as a guide. I used over 100 of the small binder clips! I was able to get those 2 problem areas wrinkle free using a hair dryer and stretched the vinyl and applied pressure as the area cooled. I’ll know if it worked tomorrow morning! Next, the cockpit rails! Thanks again Dave!

[@cheftush]

@@LarryMiceli excellent!

[@robertcrowley6573]

Happy New Year Dave👍

[@cheftush]

Happy New Year!

[@jerryhouck2708]

Happy New Year Dave. I hope that you had a wonderful Christmas with family and friends. I covered the dash in my '71 TR6 a couple of years back. It had been overlaid with a really bad outcome with a cheap veneer by some high school kid. I couldn't afford to by a new one from Moss so I just used a dark brown mottled naugahyde. It isn't wood but it looks just fine and I have gotten a few compliments on it. I always enjoy watching your vids. Jerry 😎👍

[@cheftush]

Thanks Jerry! Happy New Year!

[@onetombomb1]

Looks great, really nice in red. I'm also in the process of recovering the instrument panel, dash top and the crash pads on my 63' TR4 project! I find there is something very rewarding about doing your own interior work

[@pda49184]

That was a real fiddly job David, but I have to say you did it very well and the finished job looks great including the period appropriate 'turned' instrument cluster. I owned and drove a TR-3A for about 18 months back in the late 1960's and I remember the factory fitted dash had a few small imperfections, so your tiny imperfections are unlikely to cause any controversy 😅..

[@barry6274]

I think you did a great job, that looks fabulous and I love the center guage panel. Ive seen Elin do heating the glue and doing a bit of stretch on thecorner of the glove box door piece. It might ease your mind of what you think is a fault. If you did and it doesnt work nothing's lost. Happy New Year , thanks for the video.

[@cheftush]

Thanks so much! Happy New Year!

[@TR3A]

Happy new year from another TR3A enthusiast and “Still Game” fan.

[@cheftush]

Love “Still Game” I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched the series 😉

[@TR3A]

@@cheftush Me too!

[@dennisbranam3847]

Great job!

[@cheftush]

Thank You Dennis!

[@Openairgarage]

Dash came out very nice. Now you are going to have to engine turn the inside of the glove box door to match the center pod.

[@cheftush]

😁 don’t think I’ll do the inside of the cubby door, but I’m planning on making some kick plates for the bottom insides of the doors that will be engine turned. Stay tuned!

[@mikeg5877]

Enjoyable as always Tush... Happy New Year to ya!

[@cheftush]

Hey Mike! Happy New Year! Just curious, do you have a timeline for completion of your project?

[@mikeg5877]

@@cheftush Haha... a loaded question if there was ever one. I want to finish before I am too old to get back out of it once gravity has gotten me in ;-) In all seriousness, I hope to get the bodywork done in another year, then move on from there to frame, etc. I have restored many of the sub-assemblies and so they are waiting in boxes for me to need them. So... I think 3 more years.

[@markaluge]

Chef, great video. I really enjoyed the challenge of recovering my ‘58 dash. I wish I had as many bulldog clips as you had, if I did another one I would buy a load as you did. I did do a wrap of the central console piece, I also had to convert my glove box lid from lhd to rhd, which was interesting but again I am pleased with the results. It all comes down to patience and think twice before you cut.

[@cheftush]

Thanks Mark, yes, I’d be a little more careful next time. It was a good learning experience. Cappings up next I think!

[@alanvinegar5729]

Grest to see back workinh on the TR3. HAPPY NEW YEAR 🎉

[@cheftush]

Happy new year!

[@firechief214]

The dash looks great. I hope you had a good Christmas and I wish you a Happy New Year!

[@cheftush]

Fantastic! Hope You had the same! Happy New Year!

[@MrAfricker]

The dash turned out great! I also engine turned the center dash on my TR3a.

[@cheftush]

Thank You! Curious, is your interior colour red as well? What is your exterior colour?

[@MrAfricker]

My interior is black with white piping and the exterior I painted dodge viper red.

[@cheftush]

@@MrAfricker nice. On my 1960 TR3A, it has a black with white piping interior in all leather. White exterior ( was originally BRG exterior with a red interior)

[@jimconklin8040]

I love the key tag "Triumph" with the red background, it is a perfect match! You really spend a good amount of time doing the little things that make a car go from good to amazing!

[@cheftush]

You sure spot the little details. I like that!

[@jimconklin8040]

Oh, sorry, it is a curse. I can spot things from quite far away. I worked as a machinery installer for many years and some customers maintenance departments did not like that I saw things they did not see. one customer calls it my "Jimmy eye" @@cheftush

[@alanm.4298]

I really like the dark red interior and am anxious to hear what you'll be doing with the exterior of the car! Happy New Year!

[@cheftush]

I’m glad the red is a little darker. I didn’t want a bright red…this is almost trending more towards a burgundy. Cheers, Tush

[@MrMikeyspfx]

Very nice job David. Thanks for the vids and a Happy New Year to you.

[@cheftush]

Thanks for the kind words! Happy New Year!

[@philtucker1224]

Hi Dave welcome back and happy new year. The dashboard recovering was a little finicky and using leatherette cloth is never easy. Personally I like to fit a hard, thin foam underlay beneath the leatherette and then use a fair amount of “warm stretching” to take up the odd wrinkly areas. (It just makes the task a little more forgiving). However I love the colour and the machined metal centre piece is much nicer than plain old wrinkle finish black! Overall a great start to the project year! Keep well my friend 🙏🇬🇧

[@cheftush]

Thanks Phil! I thought about doing some thin foam as well, but in the end, just went with the stock approach.

[@timpsensky5181]

Looks great. I don't think you'll be able to see those cuts from the driver seat.

[@cheftush]

I’ll still know they are there 😉

[@davidwarr8600]

Beautiful job! A bit finicky but certainly a rewarding effort. Happy New Year!

[@cheftush]

Thanks David, Happy New Year !

[@jimconklin8040]

David, the dash looks fantastic! yea, I spotted the areas you pointed out before you said anything, but the overall end result is amazing! All of the new switch knobs look really good and I love the swirl pattern on the aluminum, it really sets the dash off! Happy New Year, glad to see you back making videos, not just commenting on other videos!

[@cheftush]

Hi Jim, yeah, I didn’t realize id cut that area too short until I installed the cubby door…bit of a bummer…when I recover it in 30 years, I’ll fix my mistake 😉. Happy New Year!

[@crasbee]

12:50 Besides making sure the primer is actually dry, it's probably a good idea to use a two component primer so that it's totally resistant to the solvents in the glue.

[@cheftush]

Yes, a good epoxy primer works well here.

[@rickdaniel8478]

Zoom zoom 😊

[@mikestrang6229]

man I have been wanting to play with my dash but it will be sometime Iam going with the John skinner interior in leather (thats how my car came) red but the deeper red plus the 1955 had the padded gauge plate and I also have a set of stop watches with vintage mounting plate for the cubby door. nice tutorial.

[@cheftush]

Hey Mike, hope you are doing well! Yeah, skinner makes really nice interiors. I’m sure doing it in leather will be a little more difficult than doing vinyl…you will most likely need some heat and possibly some water when you do yours.

[@mikestrang6229]

ya it looks a little scary to get smooth I have seen upholstery shops use steam to do it.@@cheftush

[@nicktomasi392]

Second - Happy New Year, Chef!!

[@cheftush]

Thanks Nick! Happy New Year!

[@richardpeacock1197]

First

[@cheftush]

Thanks for watching and commenting Richard! Happy New Year.

[@richardpeacock1197]

Happy New Year, David. Glad to have you back at it.

[@pucman1]

Third

[@cheftush]

You will always be first in my heart 😉