Hi Nev, thanks for your advice. The change to the plastic switches in 1967 is very helpful. Other evidence also points to a Radford conversion in 1967. I have also found the less attractive plastic switches on photos of several other Radfords. This had already given me the clue to consider them as part of the Radford conversion. I have not yet been able to find any handwritten markings on the wooden parts. The back is simply painted brown. However, I will look for it more precisely, perhaps I can still find usable markings.
I will also write to you via PM.
Now I'll continue with my activities.
For a complete rebuild, the dashboard must first be stripped down to the base frame. First I carefully removed the vinyl and then the foam layer. In the next step, I had to carefully remove all adhesive residue.
The aim is to create a nagative mould based on the original base plate in order to take a new positive from it. To do this, I provisionally closed all the recesses and openings with suitable cardboard inserts. Small holes could simply be sealed with thin adhesive tape. To create a universal negative mould for the Radford dashboard carrier, I then glued a single layer of aluminium adhesive foil over all the cut-outs and filler pieces. Unfortunately, the surface of the adhesive film didn't turn out as smooth as I had hoped. I will have to do the finishing work later in the negative mould.
Mini Radford De Ville comes back to life
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Dr.Mabo
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Re: Mini Radford De Ville comes back to life
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richardACS
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Re: Mini Radford De Ville comes back to life
Your comment about using vinyl and not leather on the dash might it be that the direct sunlight would cause the leather to deteriorate at a faster rate?
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hanlminiman
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Re: Mini Radford De Ville comes back to life
Hi Doc
Great review of dashboard refurbishment and thanks for updates. Neville mentioned the plywood front/dash which I assume will be veneered. Looking at the back of the base dashboard I notice cutouts for switches etc. From personal experience with my car I found the depth of glassfibre had been reduced to allow for fitting of the switches etc. Just an observation as it looks like your openings allow for switch fitting.
Great work as usual.
Great review of dashboard refurbishment and thanks for updates. Neville mentioned the plywood front/dash which I assume will be veneered. Looking at the back of the base dashboard I notice cutouts for switches etc. From personal experience with my car I found the depth of glassfibre had been reduced to allow for fitting of the switches etc. Just an observation as it looks like your openings allow for switch fitting.
Great work as usual.
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Dr.Mabo
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Re: Mini Radford De Ville comes back to life
Now it's time to laminate. Many moons ago I was taught how to laminate epoxy and GRP. It worked for my previous projects and went reasonably well. This time, however, it's a much larger piece with various corners and edges. It quickly became clear that the topic still had many challenges in store. I had already learned in advance that fabric mats are not suitable for such an angled shape, but that unstructured glass fibre mats adapt better to the contours. These in turn need to be processed with polyester resin. So let's get to work.
The edges of the dashboard support were slightly extended with sturdy aluminium tape and everything was painted with release paint.
Mix the polyester resin and hardener according to the manufacturer's instructions. As a precaution, I went to the lower limit with the hardener to give myself a little more time when working. As the polyester resin dissolves the mat structure, causing the glass fibres pressed as a mat to come loose, the whole thing quickly turned into a huge mess.
The material stuck to all the tools and brushes, but not to the dashboard support. Well, there was release paint on it. Applying the first layer was a real pain. But there was no way back. The only problem was that my botched application caused air to get under the GRP mats and I could hardly get the air bubbles out. To make matters worse, the time specified by the manufacturer for application was not correct at all. About 15 minutes after mixing the polyester resin and hardener, the stuff started to become lumpy. 
According to the manufacturer, the processing time should be 40 to 50 minutes. So I threw away all the gruel and mixed the next pot with half the amount of hardener. That worked reasonably well. In the end, I was able to apply three layers of GRP mats, but I needed about three times as much resin as the manufacturer said would have been necessary. However, I still couldn't get rid of the air bubbles and lumps. 
After stripping the mould a few days later, the inner surface of the mould was reasonably usable. Now it was time to make the surface look nice, smooth out the surfaces and fill in the air bubbles. After all, all the effort should not have been in vain.
But it's only the negative mould. I hope that my learning curve is steep enough for a usable positive piece.
The edges of the dashboard support were slightly extended with sturdy aluminium tape and everything was painted with release paint.
Mix the polyester resin and hardener according to the manufacturer's instructions. As a precaution, I went to the lower limit with the hardener to give myself a little more time when working. As the polyester resin dissolves the mat structure, causing the glass fibres pressed as a mat to come loose, the whole thing quickly turned into a huge mess.
The material stuck to all the tools and brushes, but not to the dashboard support. Well, there was release paint on it. Applying the first layer was a real pain. But there was no way back. The only problem was that my botched application caused air to get under the GRP mats and I could hardly get the air bubbles out. To make matters worse, the time specified by the manufacturer for application was not correct at all. About 15 minutes after mixing the polyester resin and hardener, the stuff started to become lumpy. According to the manufacturer, the processing time should be 40 to 50 minutes. So I threw away all the gruel and mixed the next pot with half the amount of hardener. That worked reasonably well. In the end, I was able to apply three layers of GRP mats, but I needed about three times as much resin as the manufacturer said would have been necessary. However, I still couldn't get rid of the air bubbles and lumps. After stripping the mould a few days later, the inner surface of the mould was reasonably usable. Now it was time to make the surface look nice, smooth out the surfaces and fill in the air bubbles. After all, all the effort should not have been in vain.
But it's only the negative mould. I hope that my learning curve is steep enough for a usable positive piece.
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Ronnie
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Re: Mini Radford De Ville comes back to life
It will be first class when you are finished Doc. I am sure you will of read up on the subject but you might check this site out for some tips.
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_ ... fiberglass
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_ ... fiberglass
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Dr.Mabo
- 998 Cooper
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Re: Mini Radford De Ville comes back to life
Making the negative mould nice was then a lot more work. But no matter, with a clear goal in mind, the loops are sometimes bigger than previously assumed. After filling and sanding, I decided to paint the inside of the negative mould to achieve a better surface. I also imagine that the release varnish or release wax won't have quite as much to do to release the new mould again.
All the GRP mats were prepared and moulded in advance. The deep top edge in particular, which will later form the overhang of the sunshield, had to be shaped so that the mats were free of air and wrinkles. I learnt from the numerous online videos that it is better to tear the edges of the GRP mats instead of cutting them. This makes the transitions from one mat to the next smoother and the fibres can adapt better to the contour. So I tried it out straight away and it worked.
I had also bought a de-aerating roller in the meantime, but I didn't really use it because the shape and edges were too small for it. Instead, I tweaked my application technique a little more and, lo and behold, it works largely bubble-free. Oh yes, and I reduced the hardener content to ¼ of what the manufacturer had actually specified.
After stripping the mould, I was really pleasantly surprised. Apart from a few small hard edges where neither resin nor GRP found their way, the dashboard base turned out to be really usable. Here is a comparison between old and new from the front and rear. I noticed that the old dashboard base has an average material thickness of 2 mm, while the new one is about 3 mm thick and therefore noticeably more stable.
Then I trimmed the edges and sanded them into shape. I really like the first fitting. And it is only held in place by its own tension and without any fixings.
All the GRP mats were prepared and moulded in advance. The deep top edge in particular, which will later form the overhang of the sunshield, had to be shaped so that the mats were free of air and wrinkles. I learnt from the numerous online videos that it is better to tear the edges of the GRP mats instead of cutting them. This makes the transitions from one mat to the next smoother and the fibres can adapt better to the contour. So I tried it out straight away and it worked.
I had also bought a de-aerating roller in the meantime, but I didn't really use it because the shape and edges were too small for it. Instead, I tweaked my application technique a little more and, lo and behold, it works largely bubble-free. Oh yes, and I reduced the hardener content to ¼ of what the manufacturer had actually specified.
After stripping the mould, I was really pleasantly surprised. Apart from a few small hard edges where neither resin nor GRP found their way, the dashboard base turned out to be really usable. Here is a comparison between old and new from the front and rear. I noticed that the old dashboard base has an average material thickness of 2 mm, while the new one is about 3 mm thick and therefore noticeably more stable.
Then I trimmed the edges and sanded them into shape. I really like the first fitting. And it is only held in place by its own tension and without any fixings.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
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timmy201
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Re: Mini Radford De Ville comes back to life
I feel itchy from here seeing all that fibreglass 
Great result!
Great result!
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roger mcnab
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Re: Mini Radford De Ville comes back to life
hi doc
a friend of mine used to make fibre glass boats he had a large assortment of those rollers but often used a brush with stiff bristles to get those tight little corners worked a treat
great result are you going to go into production
cheers rogr mcnab
a friend of mine used to make fibre glass boats he had a large assortment of those rollers but often used a brush with stiff bristles to get those tight little corners worked a treat
great result are you going to go into production
cheers rogr mcnab