I'm moving on to the next items to tackle on my car and the wood really needs some attention. I thought I would start with the door cap strips which I assumed were just pieces of wood, but after reading @csbush 's great thread I am starting to second guess myself. Is this a finished piece of wood or a veneer?

 

The door cappings are a solid piece of mahogany.

 

Csbush's restoration was of a Mk2. It has another piece of wood at the top of the door card; it's below the top capping adjacent to the window. That other piece is veneered, but isn't present on the 420.

 

Very early 420's had the full S Type trim. Later models had the padded roll and a solid garnish rail like yours.

 

Maybe a better questions is - how can I tell if the wood is solid or veneered? Every piece I have looked at on my car looks like a piece of solid wood - the dash, the radio panel, the window surrounds. Is it safe to assume it's all solid wood?

EDIT - Glyn I just saw your reply. Sounds like it's all wood.

 

Dash & console is veneered. Only the garnish rail is solid. Most of the wood in the car is veneered. (bookmatched). Side of windscreen is veneered. Across top solid. B posts veneered etc. Be very careful what you sand or you will go straight through the veneer.

 

Can you post a decent picture of your dash so we can have a look at the grain. On the S type all the wood is Burr Walnut veneer finished apart from the piece over the top of each door as you have shown in your photo. This is as stated Solid Mahogany then varnished due to the fact it is an area that would get wet if the window was down and it rained. Veneer does not like water and will lift and crack if it gets wet.
I think the wood on the dash is the same design as the S Type so the Glove box, centre gauges and speedo sections are the same and should be veneered. I have spares of all three in really good condition but unfortunately for a right hand drive car. The 420 had the padded dash where as the S Type has a wooden dash. The S type had veneer wood sections over the top of each door car under the Mahogany section you have shown where as the 420 had taller door cards with a padded section at the top.

 

If there's a burr (burl), it's veneer. If it's a corner or edge and there's a defined cross hatch grain, it's also veneer. In my Mk2, relying on memory from the distant past, the only visible wood surfaces that are not veneered are the door cappings. Certainly, anything that has large, flatish areas is veneered all over.

 

Like this is through the veneer but fortunately chrome covered in this case.

 

Here's what I got:
right side of dash and glove box:


Inside of glovebox:


Edge of glovebox door:


Radio panel:


Left front top of window:


Top of windshield, right side:


Right side B-pillar:


Right side top of rear door:

 

Everything you show is veneered apart from the pieces behind the sunvisor using my car as a reference. The pieces behind the sunvisor are just VERY closely matched. It looks like someone has had a go at it previously & some untouched from original. e.g. A pillars untouched.

 

Hate to say it but it looks like someone has sanded down the glove box face too much and has taken the veneer off. All of the wood underneath is a pine ply made of lots of layers. The top layer though should look like your centre consul section which is the veneer. The "A" pillar wood is Mahogany. The "B" pillar wood is Mahogany but the cap below has a veneer face to it. The wood sections over the tops of the doors are like the wood capping the door tops and is a Mahogany not veneered.
I have attached some photos I have just taken of the wood in my S type to try and give you a comparison. This is all original but has been re varnished.

This is an old photo of the radio section and central dash

Front door wood capping on the S Type showing the Mahogany top and veneered lower section.

Glove box with holes courtsey of the previous owner.

Dash top on the S type.

"B" pillar which is polished Mahogany and cap with a veneer inset on the front face.

Rear door wood capping on the S Type showing the Mahogany top and veneered lower section.

​​​​​​​"A" pillar wood which is polished Mahogany.

 

I think the only things that are not veneered are the small pieces on top of the door trims and the pieces across the top of the windshield behind the sun visors. The small blocks that the courtesy lights mount to on the B pillar might also be solid. The rest is veneered. Anything walnut is veneer for sure.

 

It is hard to tell on the "A" and "B" pillar wood as the finish looks too grainy to be Burr Walnut but it is highly polished.

 

A pillar should be veneered. At the top of the B pillar there is a small block not much bigger than the light body itself. I think that is solid. The main part of the B pillar trim is veneer. Cass, for sure the main A and B on your car is veneer.

 

The A pillars on my car are veneered ~ ask me how I know ~ we had a piece that we sanded through on an edge (small) that a particularly good artist "hid" for me before staining & clearcoating (i.e. painted on the grain). My pieces above the doors are veneered. Picked this up on one of my 2 donors where it had lifted. Maybe all are not identical.

 

To be fair that's the answer I was expecting to hear. Let's say if I was to pull the dashboard and re-veneer it, would something like this be an appropriate look?

 

As for blocks you tell me ~ before final polishing ~ long curing in the sun. We cured for ages in the sun to stop recession into the softgrain before final coats ~ did not have an oven like British Autowood in Florida who I rate the benchmark.. Excuse horrible red push on my restorers Cell camera.

 

The walnut comes from California, it's clario walnut. Veneering is a specialized skill within woodworking, this is one pace where I wouldn't DIY. I've done plenty of cabinet making and have a shop full of tools, but I know I don't have the right glues and presses to successfully reveneer a dashboard.

 

I don't see the pieces in your photo. This is what I'm thinking of. The base of the courtesy light screws to it, and this one is not veneered.