Vendor updates

[BDA]

Some of you might know that Nisonger was flooded by Hurricane Ida wiping out a lot of their vintage parts and some equipment. As a result, they are changing their focus away from gauge restoration and it seems that they are mainly doing sales of Cobra and GT40 gauges. I don't know if they are still selling the Smiths classic gauges. Visit their website for more information (http://nisonger.com/) for more information. If you need a gauge restored, you may have to send it to West Valley Instruments (https://www.westvalleyinstruments.com/) but there are often local vendors with shops that can help.

I was just surfing around and noticed that the website for AutoMat (https://www.autointeriors.biz) was down (possibly temporarily). Since they are in New York, they might have succumbed to a similar fate as Nisonger. AutoMat had carpet patterns for probably any car in almost any color and pile as well as provided some nice services like custom embroidery on your floor mats. If they don't make a comeback, the usual suspects (r.d. enterprises, DBE,  Lotus Supplies, SJ Sportscars, etc.) are the only places that provide interior products and they certainly won't offer a choice of colors, piles, or custom touches. If anybody knows of a replacement for AutoMat, please let us know.

All this follows the retirement of the guy who ran Prestige Autowood who, to my eye, produced the best wood dashes. As everyone here knows I warn that it's important to finish the back and all the edges as well as the front to keep moisture out of the plywood. This may be a good alternate (https://cgautowood.com/index.php?route=common/home).

[Bryan Boyle]

AutoMat on Long Island still in business; they just made floor carpets for my TC resurrection...they had a couple questions, called me up and we straightened it out.  Just needed basically the driver and passenger floor, and 2 pieces to put under the seats.  Rest of my carpet is ok for now.

Madeira Concepts (https://www.maderaconcepts.com/) is doing europa dashboards; I've seen their work and it is just as nice as Prestige; in fact, they were the preferred refinishers for Jaguar; I had my overlays for my XJR done by them and it came back just the ticket.  Just FYI.

[BDA]

I couldn’t find on their site if they (here it comes….  ) finish the back and all the edges (some of you knew that was coming!). The picture of Jay Leno’s appears to be fully finished but I don’t know if that was something Jay specified. It would be worth confirming, or requesting, that your dash be fully finished so that moisture can’t get into the plywood behind the veneer.

Prestige Autowood did that. His dashes were amazing (he did my dash), but he’s retired now. With Prestige gone, it’s good to know there is a place to get a good quality dash.

One thing to note is that AutoMat has a choice of several different piles and colors and they can embroider the Lotus rounded in your mats if you want! Another great vendor!

[SilverBeast]

I knew you wouldn't let us down JB. 

[BDA]

SilverBeast, uhhh. I'm not JB - I don't think! But it's ok. I've been called a lot worse! I knew you were one of the guys who knew it was coming! 

[Kendo]

I recently got a dash from Madera. They do not finish the back, and had some complicated reason I can't quite recall, something about a back finish getting in the way of fitting all of the gauges? If anyone finds out, please let us know. (They haven't answered any of my emails since I got the dash). Perhaps if they are used to redoing fancy car dashes, their customers never take their cars out in the rain, and don't need the back finished?

It's flawlessly finished, really well done. And about twice as expensive as Prestige.

[BDA]

That’s unfortunate on both counts (price and finishing). I have a stock Lotus dash that is about 30 - 35 years old,  has never been outside (not an air conditioned, unfortunately), and its veneer has been cracking for years. Being a stock dash, it is only finished on the veneer. The Prestige Autowood dash in my car is over twenty years old. I rarely drive my car in the rain, but I have. When I drive, the windows are almost always open (obviously not when it’s raining!). It looks as good as the day I got it. The point is that completely finishing a wood dash actually makes a big difference.

It’s really unfortunate and bewildering why Madera does not completely finish their dashes. I can only think that they are trying to increase their profits. I would suggest that if you get one of their dashes, they you at least cover the edges and back with varnish.

I’ve looked around a bit but so far I haven’t found a replacement for Prestige Autowood. That’s too bad. Hopefully someone will will take up where Prestige left off.

[Exlimey]

Caerbont Automotive in South Wales UK are the official smiths instrument builder, nisonger is one of their dealers.

[GavinT]

The stock dash in my Type 54 only has a coat of brown paint on the back - and not a substantial coat at that. The same paint extends into the switch holes but not around the perimeter edges. I think the edges probably got a coat of whatever varnish was used on the face.
Is that not common across all models?

As I understand it, the original dash was a veneered panel most commonly used by the furniture industry. I've never seen a comment as to who made them for Lotus.
My theory is that the cracking occurs because the relatively thick varnish on the face is stronger than the glue used for the underlying veneer. That, and I expect the interior of a car sees temperature swings far greater than a piece of furniture using a lighter finish.

While I agree it's a good idea to seal the back of the dash, I don't think it's moisture ingress that causes the cracking. If moisture were the culprit, I reckon we'd also see examples of swelling and/or inter-layer delamination of the ply.

When I refinished my cracked dash, I used two-part epoxy to glue the new veneer and a 2K polyurethane marine varnish for the face. That's lasted decades in our hot climate with no sign of an issue.
Re-veneering the dash isn't a difficult job and no specialised skills are needed.

[BDA]

Caerbont Automotive in South Wales UK are the official smiths instrument builder, nisonger is one of their dealers.

Nisonger no longer does restorations or modifications (eg. convert RVI tach to RVC). They were flooded and lost a substantial amount of their equipment and spares. They now focus on selling new Smiths gauges. If you need restoration, repair, or modifications, I suggest you call North Hollywood Speedos (https://www.nhspeedometer.com/).

[BDA]

The stock dash in my Type 54 only has a coat of brown paint on the back - and not a substantial coat at that. The same paint extends into the switch holes but not around the perimeter edges. I think the edges probably got a coat of whatever varnish was used on the face.
Is that not common across all models?

As I understand it, the original dash was a veneered panel most commonly used by the furniture industry. I've never seen a comment as to who made them for Lotus.
My theory is that the cracking occurs because the relatively thick varnish on the face is stronger than the glue used for the underlying veneer. That, and I expect the interior of a car sees temperature swings far greater than a piece of furniture using a lighter finish.

While I agree it's a good idea to seal the back of the dash, I don't think it's moisture ingress that causes the cracking. If moisture were the culprit, I reckon we'd also see examples of swelling and/or inter-layer delamination of the ply.

When I refinished my cracked dash, I used two-part epoxy to glue the new veneer and a 2K polyurethane marine varnish for the face. That's lasted decades in our hot climate with no sign of an issue.
Re-veneering the dash isn't a difficult job and no specialised skills are needed.

My old Lotus dash was not painted on the back but looks more like a stain. I don't remember any varnish on any edges. I'm not a wood working guy so I can't speak authoritatively about the moisture situation, I'm really recalling what the guy who ran Prestige Autowood told me so I attributed the extra finishing to why mine has held up so well. I would say that I've seen delamination of the plywood on old Lotus dashes which I would blame on humidity.

When I did my search for other dash vendors this evening, I saw a lot of links to DIY instructions. I think you're right that it is probably within the skill set of most of us if we have the motivation and that might be the best option because you can satisfy yourself that it's done right as you define it.

[Richard48Y]

I have what should be all the equipment to re-veneer dashes, if I ever get caught up on other projects.
I will be doing my S2 and possible a couple more cars for my own use.
If that goes reasonably well I may be able to do more but it will never become a full time job.

[SilverBeast]

SilverBeast, uhhh. I'm not JB - I don't think! But it's ok. I've been called a lot worse! I knew you were one of the guys who knew it was coming! 

   Sorry. That'll teach me stop browsing and go to sleep instead....

[Richard48Y]

Talking with a Europa racer today this source came up.
In France but you may choose English when visiting their site.
May be a good source for those of us with S1/S2 cars.
I do not recall ever seeing them mentioned before.

http://www.gbsalpine.com/english/a110/catalog/p0016mot.html