It turns out my fears on the new wood veneers I installed came true. There is a hairline crack in the finish on the glove compartment already! The set lasted 20 years in the UK! The arid Colorado climate took its toll in a week! I'm really disappointed. The car looked almost new on the interior.

If only I could find an interior wood set made from Aspen trees... "sigh"

 

That's disappoointing...perhaps the small crack gives it character? Wood is a challenge in US weather, that's for sure!

 

Hello fellow Coloradan!

So I was looking at replacing my wood veneer as well. After reading your post and having owned another car that had much thicker wood veneers that STILL cracked (Chevy G20 van conversion), I am hesitant to try this. It's so dry here in Colorado that owning a humidifier for your well-insulated house is a must, if that tells you anything.

So I was thinking of maybe replacing the wood veneers with those polyurethane kits they sell. Yes, It's not wood, I get that, and I hate to consider it, but reality is, no wood lasts in Colorado. Thoughts on this?

Eskr

 

I redid all the wood in my Jag using 3M Di-Noc Vinyl wood grain followed by 3-4 coats of Duplicolor clear and so far it looks great.

 

I used Valspar Exterior grade polyurethane clear. To duplicate the original thick layer of fiberglass clear I put on about ten coats sanding until the last coat. This paint is rated against heat(sun), cold and water(moisture). I got it at Home Depot, but valspar is sold everywhere. Best stuff to use. Hope this helped.

 

can you put more sealer on it or something? I just don't understand how a sealed piece of wood cracks. The stuff that usually goes on is polyurethane and that doesn't really dry out, it just gets damaged and cracked from the sun.

 

I'm currently refinishing the wood in my '96 VDP with a 3-part product called Awl Brite. It's nasty stuff to apply but so far so good. The veneer itself on the two front door cards is cracked through and must be replaced but the rest of the car's veneer looks good except for the finish being cracked and yellow.

 

Check out SARC's Jag. True, it's not wood (may be important to you), but it looks damn good.