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Kendo:
I recently got a dash from Madera. They do not finish the back, and had some complicated reason I can't quite recall, something about a back finish getting in the way of fitting all of the gauges? If anyone finds out, please let us know. (They haven't answered any of my emails since I got the dash). Perhaps if they are used to redoing fancy car dashes, their customers never take their cars out in the rain, and don't need the back finished?

It's flawlessly finished, really well done. And about twice as expensive as Prestige.

BDA:
That’s unfortunate on both counts (price and finishing). I have a stock Lotus dash that is about 30 - 35 years old,  has never been outside (not an air conditioned, unfortunately), and its veneer has been cracking for years. Being a stock dash, it is only finished on the veneer. The Prestige Autowood dash in my car is over twenty years old. I rarely drive my car in the rain, but I have. When I drive, the windows are almost always open (obviously not when it’s raining!). It looks as good as the day I got it. The point is that completely finishing a wood dash actually makes a big difference.

It’s really unfortunate and bewildering why Madera does not completely finish their dashes. I can only think that they are trying to increase their profits. I would suggest that if you get one of their dashes, they you at least cover the edges and back with varnish.

I’ve looked around a bit but so far I haven’t found a replacement for Prestige Autowood. That’s too bad. Hopefully someone will will take up where Prestige left off.

Exlimey:
Caerbont Automotive in South Wales UK are the official smiths instrument builder, nisonger is one of their dealers.

GavinT:
The stock dash in my Type 54 only has a coat of brown paint on the back - and not a substantial coat at that. The same paint extends into the switch holes but not around the perimeter edges. I think the edges probably got a coat of whatever varnish was used on the face.
Is that not common across all models?

As I understand it, the original dash was a veneered panel most commonly used by the furniture industry. I've never seen a comment as to who made them for Lotus.
My theory is that the cracking occurs because the relatively thick varnish on the face is stronger than the glue used for the underlying veneer. That, and I expect the interior of a car sees temperature swings far greater than a piece of furniture using a lighter finish.

While I agree it's a good idea to seal the back of the dash, I don't think it's moisture ingress that causes the cracking. If moisture were the culprit, I reckon we'd also see examples of swelling and/or inter-layer delamination of the ply.

When I refinished my cracked dash, I used two-part epoxy to glue the new veneer and a 2K polyurethane marine varnish for the face. That's lasted decades in our hot climate with no sign of an issue.
Re-veneering the dash isn't a difficult job and no specialised skills are needed.

BDA:

--- Quote from: Exlimey on Thursday,April 21, 2022, 07:06:47 PM ---Caerbont Automotive in South Wales UK are the official smiths instrument builder, nisonger is one of their dealers.

--- End quote ---
Nisonger no longer does restorations or modifications (eg. convert RVI tach to RVC). They were flooded and lost a substantial amount of their equipment and spares. They now focus on selling new Smiths gauges. If you need restoration, repair, or modifications, I suggest you call North Hollywood Speedos (https://www.nhspeedometer.com/).

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