History Saving Dominique - Now with (slow) build thread!

A full view. You can see the dash top humps have been removed. I believe that the missing dash pad above the gold panel was replaced with a solid mahogany rail that mimicked the dash pad. It originally had a Nardi mahogany steering wheel.

 

There's a lot of cleaning going on when you get a car that hasn't been taken care of. The trunk is cleaned out and vacuumed. The interior is stripped out and vacuumed. I stripped the seats down to the original upholstery, but they are rough. A lot of the springs in the bottom seat cushions have rusted through but the frames are decent.

 

Looks like a fun project. Carry on.

 

Thanks for the updates!

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Awesome...Thank you for the pic. The buckets that are on the car now don't look like these, but I'm going to try to find a pair

 

Thanks. Love your truck!

 

So...with the little sliver of wood from the dash and pictures from the little mags, I drew up a template of the dash panel. Although the wooden piece I have is metalflake gold, it looks to be white in the picture. It also has a wooden insert around the gauges. I'll get this made after the virus is gone. I also noticed he used 2 gauges on each side of the speedometer instead of 2 on the left and 3 on the right.

 

Although the copy under the picture above says push/pull switches in the gold panel, they look like toggle switches to me....and the second one from the left is missing!

 

Maybe he was laying on his back when he installed them

 

I would think they are these style Lucas toggles, Jaguar Dash:


https://www.holden.co.uk/p/lucas_65sa_type_off_on_toggle_switch_jaguar_lever

 

The paint on the gauge cluster surround may be a bright gold metallic, making it appear white in the flash of the camera.

 

Those do look like the ones he used. Thanks for the info.

 

That is a possibility. The wooden piece is shown in the previous photos. I'm not sure it would have washed out that much even with a flash. Here's a color shot from the cover. Hmmmm.

 

Yeah, I think you're right! That definitely looks white in the color shot.

 

Now on to the console panel. The only thing I have to go on is the 3 screw holes in the tunnel. I'm not even sure how much of the cutout in the tunnel is original. Looks like 2 lights or buttons and a toggle switch to the right of the shifter. Do you think the panel is triangular or does it square off near the seats. Can't make out what's going on near the seats. Also, for Corvette guys in the know - is this a standard shift handle or could it be for an automatic? The pedals aren't clear in the pics.

 

I have in my shop 2 wood
Veneer,real wood panels 12in. by 24 in x 1/32th.its mahogany raw an very smooth,if those are some thing you can use,there yours free,let me know if needed,I'll ship
There is vinyl stick on with wood grain pat,out there,I've seen used an looks good as dash back ground too. I used some of that on a woody wagon I had way back.
The steering wheel I see in old little book photo,is the same design I had stock on a Jag.,so yes, the Jag flip type switchs if used ,could of came from a Jag.

 

I don't know...I keep looking at the 'Speedometer' and it looks like a tachometer maybe it is just me...

 

You may be right. I never even looked closely at the pic. I was wondering if anyone could tell what kind of gauges were used. A few of the SW gauges I just pulled out have needles that pivot from the middle. The ones in the pic all look like they pivot from the bottom. Please let me know.

 

I definitely want to use real wood on the dash panel. I have to measure the thickness of the recess. Thanks for the offer - I will get back to you. It was great talking with you on private message.

 

Thanks, Mark.

 

So the tach....kind of looks like a Bosch, do you think? Now for the others...SW, maybe.

 

Looked like a Sun tach to me ,I had one in 60,but the brain box failed about 2 years later,so I replaced,today they make what looks the very same,but dose not need the extra box,its all built inside tach head now{that exrta box was what went bad a lot anyway} ; Same look an size=
https://www.jegs.com/i/Sunpro/885/F...C7oR3_RqQ4RTXZ187TrCh7NJrz2bwt2BoCJNgQAvD_BwE

 

Just getting the 350 ready to pull. Wiring is all out along with headers, generator, etc. I do have a question. The steering arm looks awfully close to the spark plug in the pic. Since these are angle plug heads, no problem. It looks like it would be very tight with regular heads. Engine mounts look stock.

 

Super cool 4 tube Hedman headers! Those were likely around in 1962..I'd be inclined to run those on that car. Keep up the good work..

 

Incidentally....the McMullen roadster ran Hedman headers too. They made two different variations of the 4 tube design. The one shown...and the "big tube" header that Dominque has. Since the tubing was bigger on your set they ran two in front and two behind on that mid collector flange. Bitchin headers.

 

Very cool history lesson....Thanks!!!

 

So the tail lights are 59 Cad. After cleaning, the backing plates look like they were gold plated and possibly the finned light surrounds might have been plated also. A few look like they were. The outer four lenses are red and the middle 2 are clear according to the magazine pics. Quite a few sets came with the car but I believe new ones are in order. Lately there have been a lot of people disappointed with reproduction parts. Is there anyone who makes good repro 59 Cad. tail lights? Thanks.

 

Found another pic of Dominique in Custom Craft May, 1962. This is the earliest dated mag I have found a pic in. 20 top flight front end treatments. 5th magazine so far. Probably won't get much done until the virus is over, then the 350 comes out and work will progress....