TR4 / 4a Control Plinth

[had17462]

Superb ,hopefully u get enough interest to cover your time and effort maybe contact Tr shop etc to c if they will buy in numbers

good luck with it ,it amazes me how talented you guys are 

Nick

[TR4Tony VC]

On 11/13/2025 at 8:30 PM, GreatOldOne said:

Still purple, but in a state where I think these are ready. They’ve been test fitted to Tony’s dash and look ok - and I’ve managed to put a ‘leather’ texture on the surfaces. When it’s printed in black I think it’ll be a pretty good match to the original 

What colour was the fascia panel / insert? I printed it in black planting use the end of a roll up, but if it was silver I can see what colours are available. I doubt it could be printed to match a bright polished aluminium or similar, but something with a bit of shine should be doable with some of the ‘silk’ filaments out there. 

Facia panel is bare brushed aluminium as standard - my black one is painted Jason.

Ready to fit up again ? Patterning in the plinth looks bang on!

[GreatOldOne]

@TR4Tony VC - I've got some Black ASA filament coming and I'm going to print both versions out for you to try. You'll also be able to test run serial #0001 of the blade SF4 as well. 😎

Edited November 17, 2025 by GreatOldOne

[TR4Tony VC]

3 hours ago, GreatOldOne said:

@TR4Tony VC - I've got some Black ASA filament coming and I'm going to print both versions out for you to try. You'll also be able to test run serial #0001 of the blade SF4 as well. 😎

Great ! Can’t wait … dashboard back in the car this weekend !

[GreatOldOne]

Plinth = Black ASA plastic. Fascia Insert Silver / Grey Silk PLA+

Leather texture detail:

Fascia detail. This (depending on people’s comments may get a test reprint with a finder a nozzle to try and better define the hatching. This is with a 0.4mm nozzle, I have a 0.2 arriving today.

[TR4Tony VC]

Switch plynth looks very good ! I think most could make the silver bezel work if they paint it ?

[Chilliman]

Great work Jason, they are looking really good. 👍

[GreatOldOne]

19 minutes ago, TR4Tony VC said:

Switch plynth looks very good ! I think most could make the silver bezel work if they paint it ?

I was trying to make it so people didn’t need to paint. I assume from that, it’s not silver enough? The silk plastics tend to have more shine to them… I’ll see if I have anything shinier in stock before ordering another roll.

[TR4Tony VC]

25 minutes ago, GreatOldOne said:

I was trying to make it so people didn’t need to paint. I assume from that, it’s not silver enough? The silk plastics tend to have more shine to them… I’ll see if I have anything shinier in stock before ordering another roll.

The original is a polished aluminium plate, pressed / patterned during manufacture so whilst not bright polished it was shiny, so ideally I would have thought a silvery option that looks like chrome might work ?

[GreatOldOne]

Also available with no cut outs. 😎

 

55 minutes ago, TR4Tony VC said:

The original is a polished aluminium plate, pressed / patterned during manufacture so whilst not bright polished it was shiny, so ideally I would have thought a silvery option that looks like chrome might work ?

I’ll see if I can get a brighter silver. 

[Jimgreen01]

Wow - this looks really good!

[RogerH]

Clever things going on   

[Jase]

On 10/16/2025 at 11:27 AM, BlueTR3A-5EKT said:

In jewellery manufacture such patterning is rolled into the metal’s surface     Issue with doing that is the resultant curve.

Another method would be etching    Place a mash securely over the aluminium that has all the holes in it like a net curtain.   Spray on a product that will resist acid etching in the masked areas, Immerse in etching liquid and see what you get.    Then anodise to get a bright finish.

 

You could cut the pattern out of vinyl, apply and etch. We used to do this with brass key rings.

Edited November 21, 2025 by Jase

[GreatOldOne]

Shiney. 😎

This is as silver as it gets - but I think it looks 100% better to the previous attempt. If it needs to be even shiny / chrome like, then it will need painting with one of the chrome like paints.

If that is necessary then I may as well print these in black. And a word of advice when painting - use a specialist plastic primer before the colour.

[Chilliman]

That is looking close enough for me....Nice job 👍

[RogerH]

Looks very smart   👍

[stuart]

That does look really close to original as the original ally finish does tend to dull off after a while so would be a good match, what about the steel backing bracket that is needed to stop the choke cable pulling the whole thing off ? Will that fit behind?

Stuart

[Chilliman]

14 minutes ago, stuart said:

That does look really close to original as the original ally finish does tend to dull off after a while so would be a good match, what about the steel backing bracket that is needed to stop the choke cable pulling the whole thing off ? Will that fit behind?

Stuart

And bearing in mind there were two different versions of that plate............

[GreatOldOne]

I believe it should be - as Tony supplied me one of the brackets when I was creating the model. We’ll know for sure though next week, as he’s picking up the version without any crash pad cut outs and a black version of the fascia plate tomorrow night, and he’s fitting them to his car. 
 

all the dimensions of the plinth and the fascia along with the location and sizing of the holes are off the plastic version & oem fascia he lent me. If there are other hole spacing / patterns out there, I don’t know them as I only had those to work from (and don’t have a TR4 myself)

[stuart]

12 hours ago, GreatOldOne said:

I believe it should be - as Tony supplied me one of the brackets when I was creating the model. We’ll know for sure though next week, as he’s picking up the version without any crash pad cut outs and a black version of the fascia plate tomorrow night, and he’s fitting them to his car. 
 

all the dimensions of the plinth and the fascia along with the location and sizing of the holes are off the plastic version & oem fascia he lent me. If there are other hole spacing / patterns out there, I don’t know them as I only had those to work from (and don’t have a TR4 myself)

The plinth is fine from what I can see its just that there is a steel backing plate that was originally fitted behind the inner section of original plinths and had a return angle section on the right hand end that bolted to the side of the vent flap bracket to stop you pulling the whole thing off the dash when pulling the choke out. Just wondered how it would fit behind your plinth? Item 98 here https://www.moss-europe.co.uk/en-gb/dashboard-tr4-4a-1961-67-tr24--22--05--02

Stuart.

[GreatOldOne]

From the image on Moss, that’s the bracket that Tony left with me. It should sit behind ok as far as I can tell, as I tried it behind the new part and the holes lined up - as for height and the ability to bolt it all up - we’ll have to wait for Tony to report back once he’s tried it.

My reproduction is the same height as the original, and it’s got (as far as I can measure) the same recessed section to it that the fascia sits in. And the wall thickness is the same as the original too. So fingers crossed that the plinth underside sits at the correct height. If it’s off I can always adjust and reprint. 🙂

Edited November 24, 2025 by GreatOldOne

[stuart]

48 minutes ago, GreatOldOne said:

From the image on Moss, that’s the bracket that Tony left with me. It should sit behind ok as far as I can tell, as I tried it behind the new part and the holes lined up - as for height and the ability to bolt it all up - we’ll have to wait for Tony to report back once he’s tried it.

My reproduction is the same height as the original, and it’s got (as far as I can measure) the same recessed section to it that the fascia sits in. And the wall thickness is the same as the original too. So fingers crossed that the plinth underside sits at the correct height. If it’s off I can always adjust and reprint. 🙂

There is this original on fleabay with a picture of the rear. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/406148810347

Stuart.

[GreatOldOne]

Maybe this will help - top, original part. Bottom my repro. Both have the same internal / underside features and wall thicknesses. 

[RogerH]

can you not reproduce that wavy/bent top edge     

 

Roger

PS - well done

[GreatOldOne]

1 hour ago, RogerH said:

can you not reproduce that wavy/bent top edge     

Anything’s possible… 🤪