Hello and is my dashboard finish original?

[Dan Seelig]

Hello,

Greetings from rainy Amsterdam. I'm new here having finally made the leap from my collection of vintage VW's to the glorious 356. My 59' 1600 super was delivered new to a customer in Geneva and eventually found its way to Utah and now back to Europe. Original color was Auratium green but was sadly resprayed back in the day. Not going for a full resto but technically in order and on the road. Finally here comes my question. The dashboard is black but it also has a texture as though something had been sprayed on it like a truck bed liner. While I assume this is not stock I want to confirm that with the experts before we sand it off and respray.

Looking forward to your responses as well as pointing out anything else not correct in the photo. (Radio hole is hacked but will be repaired).

[Doug McDonnell]

Welcome Dan. Your dash would have been painted the same color as the exterior of your car. While your car is a 59 you might want to watch "Made by Hand" on Youtube.com. I think it was shot at the factory in 1960.

[Dan Seelig]

Thanks Doug for the quick response. Guess we'll start trying to remove whatever junk they put on there. I'll check out the "Made by hand" film straight away.

[Doug McDonnell]

A good resource for you would be Neil's book: http://blocks-books.com/BLOCKS-BOOKS/97 ... 166_1.html Also your seats seem to have lost the Pleat in the seat bottom. Trying to get everything correct is like trying to restore a Vintage Frank Lloyd Wright house ( my son is currently trying to buy one). So many details and some change year to year. If my son is successful I guarantee I am going to have a photo shoot with my car at the FLW house.

[Mike Wilson]

Probably sprayed with what is called "wrinkle paint". It was in vogue back in the day.

Mike

[Dan Seelig]

Thanks for that Mike. Too bad they did that but i'll get it back to how it should be.

[Mike Wilson]

Strip, sand and paint.
Glad to be of help, Dan, and welcome to the 356 community.

Mike

[Dan Seelig]

Thanks for the welcome. We have to fix the hacked radio hole as well. Does not seem to be a replacement radio piece available so we'll fab one up.

[Erik Thomas]

Dan:

Steering wheel appears to be identical to the one in my 1969 MGB-GT, perhaps made by "Personal" ? It is of a smaller diameter than the typical 356 steering wheel. I have owned mine since 1978, and I like it. However, not sure if there is a more appropriate "Porsche" crest center cap/horn button?

I have had a lot of fun with the 356 project(s) over the years. Welcome aboard.

[Dan Seelig]

Hi Erik, Thanks for mentioning the steering wheel. I am planning on removing it and replacing it with the beautiful OG wheel I found on "The Samba". Maybe someone would be interested in my wooden wheel.

[Mike Wilson]

Dan: Woody's Custom, one of our vendors, has a repair panel for dash boards that have had the radio hole enlarged. Maybe a cheap and temporary fix?

Mike

[Martin Bruechle]

Check this radio repair section.

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds ... id=2139313

[Dan Seelig]

Check this radio repair section.

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds ... id=2139313

Thanks! I welded one like that into my 66 21 window bus after the PO had hacked the dash to make space for a "modern" radio.

[Martin Bruechle]

Here is another one one ebay. $20.oo


https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dash-Repair-Pa ... -1&vxp=mtr

[Dan Seelig]

Ordered one last night. $15.00 for the part plus 22.00$ shipping to Europe.