Sanded my e9 dash - how can I make it look best

[Roman596061]

I sanded my e9 dash with 80, 120 and 220 sandpaper and it looked great.

I stained it and the 2nd and 3rd coat are not adhering in some spaces.

Should I sand the stain off and simply clear coat the wood?

Open to suggestions.

Thanks

 

[Rod Cole]

We sent ours out, that is not just the dash but all the wood to these people~

Madera Concepts- Home

Madera Concepts specializes in the restoration of decorative and structural wood for classic cars.

www.maderaconcepts.com

 

[rsporsche]

be careful on the sanding as this is only thin veneer on plywood backing. the pictures are a little blurry / small so i can't get a good view of the wood.

question - did you stain all the way through the original lacquer before applying the stain? stain will not apply on top of lacquer / varnish as it absorbs into the raw wood.

 

[HB Chris]

I’m amazed you tried this without removing the dash.

 

[aearch]

thats too far gone
buy
super thin french walnut veneer
and glue it over and trim
i did all my wood that way
use wood glue
soak the wood in water for a bit so it bends and forms well

 

[Roman596061]

I’m amazed you tried this without removing the dash.

It was easy to do - I simply pulled out the black metal pieces and push back the indicators.

 

[Roman596061]

aaerch,

I had several versions of thin veneer and it looks much better.

Thanks!

 

[Gransin]

Sorry but why not do it the proper way? The results will be so, so much better compared to what you're achieving right now.
It's not a big project to remove the instrument cluster, and it's well documented on the forum.

Speedo gauge

Looks like I will be learning how to remove my Speedo gauge today. The center cap fell off the needle. Does anyone know if it just snaps back on or do I need to glue it? Doug

e9coupe.com

At the same time you can easily clean the gauges, replace the bulbs and maybe even open the gauges and get them looking brand new.
My gauges looked horrible when I started my project, they had a lot of dirt on the inside of the glass.
Here's how I opened them up and cleaned them:

DIY: Open up & clean the inside of your gauges

I don't know if this is already documented somewhere on this forum, couldn't find anything so I thought I could share some pictures of the process. I was a bit afraid when I started but it turned out to be quite easy and not extremely time consuming, approx an hour/gauge if you already have them...

e9coupe.com

 

[Roman596061]

Amazing - job well done!!

 

[bmw2800cs]

Sorry but why not do it the proper way? The results will be so, so much better compared to what you're achieving right now.
It's not a big project to remove the instrument cluster, and it's well documented on the forum.

Speedo gauge

Looks like I will be learning how to remove my Speedo gauge today. The center cap fell off the needle. Does anyone know if it just snaps back on or do I need to glue it? Doug

e9coupe.com

At the same time you can easily clean the gauges, replace the bulbs and maybe even open the gauges and get them looking brand new.
My gauges looked horrible when I started my project, they had a lot of dirt on the inside of the glass.
Here's how I opened them up and cleaned them:

DIY: Open up & clean the inside of your gauges

I don't know if this is already documented somewhere on this forum, couldn't find anything so I thought I could share some pictures of the process. I was a bit afraid when I started but it turned out to be quite easy and not extremely time consuming, approx an hour/gauge if you already have them...

e9coupe.com

View attachment 127051View attachment 127052View attachment 127053

NIce!

 

[Belgiumbarry]

Sorry but why not do it the proper way? The results will be so, so much better compared to what you're achieving right now.
It's not a big project to remove the instrument cluster, and it's well documented on the forum.

Speedo gauge

Looks like I will be learning how to remove my Speedo gauge today. The center cap fell off the needle. Does anyone know if it just snaps back on or do I need to glue it? Doug

e9coupe.com

At the same time you can easily clean the gauges, replace the bulbs and maybe even open the gauges and get them looking brand new.
My gauges looked horrible when I started my project, they had a lot of dirt on the inside of the glass.
Here's how I opened them up and cleaned them:

DIY: Open up & clean the inside of your gauges

I don't know if this is already documented somewhere on this forum, couldn't find anything so I thought I could share some pictures of the process. I was a bit afraid when I started but it turned out to be quite easy and not extremely time consuming, approx an hour/gauge if you already have them...

e9coupe.com

View attachment 127051View attachment 127052View attachment 127053

@Gransin

Robert , as far i have seen in threads, it is still not clear to me if we can pull the complete cluster ( as your pic above) by loosing 2 nuts ? or 4 ?
and how far can it be pulled with all wires connected ?

thanks for info !

 

[Gransin]

@Gransin

Robert , as far i have seen in threads, it is still not clear to me if we can pull the complete cluster ( as your pic above) by loosing 2 nuts ? or 4 ?
and how far can it be pulled with all wires connected ?

thanks for info !

If you look in the thread I posted, on @Markos post, there are two 8mm nuts on the rear of the cluster that needs to come out, then you unplug the two connectors for the wires, and then undo the speedometer wire. The cluster with wiring and gauges should pop right out

EDIT:
@Belgiumbarry Come to think of it, I dived into @Markos deconstruction thread and saw that he had removed the grab rail before removing the cluster, maybe @Markos can confirm? I'm very sorry if I have passed on the wrong information, from memory I was sure the cluster was removable but maybe it requires more dissasembly of the dash

Deconstruction Thread: How to part-out an E9

hey markos that box looks familar

e9coupe.com

 

[alprada70]

@Gransin How you cleaned your gauges?

 

[rsporsche]

the gauge cluster can be pulled out without removing the dash or without removing the dash cap. you have to loosen the bolts on the vinyl gauge surround to give some vertical freedom - don't try to remove it as it is screwed to the dash cap from behind. then the 2 other nuts that have to come off ... then you have to undo the speedometer cable. with that undone you can push the cluster forward, then reach behind and unplug the two connectors for the gauges and the whole piece comes out.

 

[Gransin]

the gauge cluster can be pulled out without removing the dash or without removing the dash cap. you have to loosen the bolts on the vinyl gauge surround to give some vertical freedom - don't try to remove it as it is screwed to the dash cap from behind. then the 2 other nuts that have to come off ... then you have to undo the speedometer cable. with that undone you can push the cluster forward, then reach behind and unplug the two connectors for the gauges and the whole piece comes out.

Thanks for confirming!

 

[Gransin]

@Gransin How you cleaned your gauges?

Look at my previous post with the pictures, there's a link to a DIY thread explaining how to open the gauges.

Here it as well:

DIY: Open up & clean the inside of your gauges

I don't know if this is already documented somewhere on this forum, couldn't find anything so I thought I could share some pictures of the process. I was a bit afraid when I started but it turned out to be quite easy and not extremely time consuming, approx an hour/gauge if you already have them...

e9coupe.com