Fletcher Dash peeling - sod the lot of 'em

oGaryo

oGaryo

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Following on from previous posts regarding my new toy and the need for a little 19GTS TLC in some areas.. I've fairly extensively researched getting the dash rebuilt as it currently looks like the attached.

I've looked at leather, relaminating, painting ect and it all looks like a couple of hundred notes to get it sorted when taking in to consideration carriage etc.. one guy quoted £500! Even the Felt yer thing's gone a bit Pete Tong as it now transpires the £50 is to provide a laminated sheet of metal with no fixings at the rear AND no holes for the gauges.. I now understand why it was so cheap!.

So.. I'm going to have a crack it doing a DIY job using enamel paint... watch this space for pictures, it'll either be an amazing cock up or something better than the attached! :) Whatever happens , I'll do a step by step pictorial guide to the steps I've taken to allow other Fletcher owners to see how (or indeed, how not) to carry out a dash repair..

should be all done and dusted within a week as I'll be doing it bit by bit in the evenings after work.

wish me luck.. reckon I'm going to need a bit ;)
 
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non marine

have you tried taking it to a french polisher or a shopfitting style firm for repair ? they would be far cheaper than anywhere or anything with MARINE in the title
 
Dash repair

That looks such an easy repair it's untrue, just get an offcut of Bur walnut laminate, contact adhesive it to the original and recut holes and edges with a laminate trimmer, Job Done!

Or do the same with carbon fibre sheet from halfords, or even have it paterned by the local sheet metal shop and have a new one CNC'd from brushed stainless (stop the glare if it's brushed).
 
will certainly give them a go if my efforts don't come to much.. ntohing a bit of paint stripper wont fix if I mess it up.

Here's the progress so far:


Sliced away the majority of the peeling laminate using a thin flexible blade taking care not to score the metalwork
Hack%20the%20tough%20bits.jpg


Used one of these to melt the stubborn bits rather than put too much pressure on the knife
Burn%20the%20bad%20bits.jpg


result is all the laminate off but still left with some glue
Burned%20Off.jpg


a bit of wet and dry put to use to get shot of the glue.. notice the small pitting where the laminate had peeled away leaving the metalwork open to salt errosion.. shame
Sandy.jpg


all sanded down and degreased with white spirit.. pitting now really evident but not too bad and to be honest, not much to be done about it.. hopeful the paint layers wiill hide it anyway
Sanded.jpg


a couple of coats of enamel paint primer
Primed.jpg


and finally, not much difference yet.. a couple of coats of red enamel paint
First%20two%20coats.jpg


will leave it overnight in the warm to harden up some more.. then give it a light sanding tomorrow and add a few more layers.. I'll add more layers for the next few nights to hopefully build up and deeper coat ready for compounding and buffing up. was going to finish off with some acrylic lacquer but have read it softens paint beneath it.... should have put it on first apparently and then put the enamel paint on top.. oh well :)
 
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Well done, was about to suggest you do what you did, then I saw the pics!

Depending on your taste, either leave it matt, or go shiny. To go shiny, just sand, laquer (buy a can from Halfords), sand again and then polish.
 
Blinkin' heck, you don't hang around do you? I'll be lucky if I've washed the boat by spring let alone do any work on it. :D

Thought £50 was a bit low for a new dash - anyway, that's an extra half tank of petrol for you.
 
good call on the lacquer.. ok under the enamel but not on top.... the enamel paint seems pretty tough so far to be honest so I don't need to do more than give it a bit of a buff when done

Re the keeness.. all driven by a need to go out and play as soon as weather and work permit... so far, I've done the following:

Got the leg sounding smooth and silky after replacing the lube
Given the engine half a tune up.. the rest awaiting the outcome of a fuel change.
Started sorting the dash
Installed new heavy duty winch
Replaced wheel bearings on trailer (via broker)
Just received a new sony MP3/cd player and 10 disc CD changer.. that'll go in soon
Fixed the horn.. dismantled, cleaned and rebuilt
Cleaned all the seating, cuddy and bilge area
Installed new SS Vengeance prop
Installed wireless thermometer and tube heater in engine bay.. put to use last night
Inline thermostat on the way to automate the tube heater
Drained block and exhaust riser
VSR's just arrived, awaiting 2 x isolation switches and second battery
12v 4 in 1 outlet panel on order to power electric toys like the portable DVD player
4 in 1 RCA panel on order to push vibes from dvd, MP3 player etc through new stereo
Canopy removed and sent to zip repair bods - ceased with calcium deposits
New Garmin 400c Fishfinder on the way.. arriving tomorrow.. Humminbord 200DX now for sale ;)
All 4 spark plugs have been replaced
Will be replacing fuel & oil filters and dizzy, rotor, HT leads if stale fuel change doesn't sort the engine idle issue
Garmin Etrix GPS fitted
Apologised to SWMBO for spending too much time on the other love of my life ;)

Will be ordering a DSC capable radio and GPS receiver tonight (Etrix not NMEA capable) and will also be on the lookout for a set of red fenders. Also need a rotary polisher (with 3m compound and polish) to get the minor oxidisation sorted where the storage cover hasn't covered the red stripe on the boat (has faded).

Kept all the other necessaries from the old boat so I reckon I should have her fit and well within a couple of weeks at a guess ;) will be gagging to get on the water when she is :)
 
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oGaryo said:
good call on the lacquer.. ok under the enamel but not on top.... the enamel paint seems pretty tough so far to be honest so I don't need to do more than give it a bit of a buff when done
Click to expand...

mmm scrub that idea.. just read up on cutting and polishing enamel paint and it's not recommended to do so... looks pretty good in a matt sheen anyway.
 
oGaryo said:
mmm scrub that idea.. just read up on cutting and polishing enamel paint and it's not recommended to do so... looks pretty good in a matt sheen anyway.
Click to expand...

Ever thought of the old coachbuilders wheeze ?

Add varnish to the enamel in increasing percentages for each coat finally ending up with 100 % varnish.

Lovely deep shining colour.

Tom
 
nonitoo said:
Ever thought of the old coachbuilders wheeze ?

Add varnish to the enamel in increasing percentages for each coat finally ending up with 100 % varnish.

Lovely deep shining colour.

Tom
Click to expand...

sounds like a damn fine idea to me... on coat number 8 now and it looks great but very matt... time to get hold of some yacht varnish then before putting more on
 
oGaryo said:
sounds like a damn fine idea to me... on coat number 8 now and it looks great but very matt... time to get hold of some yacht varnish then before putting more on
Click to expand...

Good luck, but remember to take your time and allow the paint/varnish to thoroughly dry between coats otherwise you will notice a very slight 'ripple' effect in the later varnish stages. Making sure the surface is completely clean and dry after light sanding will ensure a high gloss finish.

Tom
 
Don't see many/any red fenders about. Maybe try Norfloat (near Wellington, Soms) they will either have them or make them for you.

Dash looks good!
 
thanks again for the advice on the coachwork thing but I've bottled it :) have put about 20 thin coats of enamel paint on and ended up getting hold of a spray tin of enamel lacquer from Halfords.. 1st coat of lacquer is on and will build up a few coats and call it a day.... bored now, the new radio, fishfinder and stereo have arrived.. time to get all electrical instead ;)

1st%20coat%20of%20lacquer.jpg


p.s. I was wrong when I said this earlier "Will be ordering a DSC capable radio and GPS receiver tonight (Etrix not NMEA capable)"... it is NMEA capable and I just need to make a cable up to hook it up to the Uniden Oceanus radio.. result
 
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that's it then, second coat of clear enamel applied.. bodge job complete so to say. for the price of a bit of elbow grease, tin of primer, tin of red enamel and tin of enamel lacquer... do wonder if acrylic paint would have been better though.... the result'll do for now until I get around to doing something better with it.

Before:
Dash%20Removed.jpg


After:
Final%20Coat%20Of%20Lacquer.JPG


I'll leave the panel in the house for a few weeks to harden up further before installing the gauges and putting it back in the boat

Hope this little story'll help some other Flacky Fletcher owner out in future ;)
 
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