Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) Cracked Dashboard

Made a revolting discovery today. Whoever installed the Brooklands Aero screens screwed the mounts into the edge of the dash panel instead of the ash scuttle framing and cracked the board in a couple of places on the top edge. Luckily, the cracks start in the back and don't go all of the way through, so I think I can save it. It's the original and made of really nice solid ribbon grain mahogany. Wondering if it's worth moving the screen mounts and having the holes patched and the scuttle repainted, or just carefully predrilling the holes for the fasteners after the cracks are epoxied. Thoughts?

First thought, squirt PVA glue into the crack(s) maybe very gently prizing apart so it goes in deeply, then clamp up, wipe off excess and wait until glue dried.

Are the holes through the leather roll on the scuttle or just into metal?
If you move the screens forward be careful the screens or the knobs on the nuts don't hit the windscreen when it is raised.

I'm assuming that yours has a plain metal dash top and not the padded dash top as mine has?

However, this photo shows where mine in screwed in - on mine the screens are fitted behind the posts. On others I've seen the screens fitted in front of the post. The 'black mark' on the red paint is where the screen sits when it's upright if that's makes sense.

Richard, I'll be using epoxy to do the repair and, after removing the old finish, sealing it with a penetrating epoxy before applying the varnish top coats.

John, the holes are in metal, our '64 doesn't have the leather trim on the scuttle and, we don't have a windshield to worry about...

Yes, Phil, we don't have the leather trimmed scuttle, just metal. The more I think about it, I'm leaning toward doing it right and moving the posts forward.

Should not be too difficult. If there is no screen to worry about i would consider bolts not screws forward of the ash frame if you can miss any electrics etc.

I found screws meant the mounts you have could wobble / losen.

You might also consider using some stainless steel threaded inserts. That way, you drill out the crack, alleviating the stress. You also use a machine screw thread like an M6 or 10-32 to hold down the screen mounts. I used them to repair stripped wood screw holes in the ash behind my dashboard.

John, I'd worry about the steel flexing and possibly even bending if the screws didn't go into the wood to provide a backing.