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New topic.
The '89 has walnut colored wood trim. Like nearly ALL 30+ year jags one or more or the wood pieces has experienced some degree of fading.
I had the 'bright idea' to take the pieces to a local furniture repair shop to have the outer laquer layer stripped off and then relaquered.
No good idea go un-punished. According to the wood worker who tried this before (and was actually approached a couple decades ago to specialize in wood dash restoration) these english cars do not use laquer. They have an epoxy layer on top of the wood. The laquer does not hold up to the environmental conditions inside the car, i.e. the heat and cold.
I know I can buy replacements but was hoping to find a less expensive option to get the 'like new' look again.
It is possible to sand back the laquer to the veneer, but the veneer is very thin and easily damaged, so go very slowly. I have done this successfully, but I would not recommend this unless you have some woodworking experience. Once you are back to the bare veneer, I used multiple coats of brushed on Minwax Helmsman spar urethane {available from most home centers}, sanding with wet and dry to a uniform matt finish after drying for 12 hours. Finally, spray 2 or 3 coats of the matching Minwax Helmsman in the spray can, without sanding, to get a high gloss finish. The difficult part is in removing the old finish, particularly on the ski slope, without damaging the veneer. I would start with a small, less conspicuous part first and see how it goes. Usually the veneer is not cracked, where it is backed by a thick wood substrate, but on my car (1993), the veneer around the computer display above the climate controls, is mounted on a thin metal substrate and the expansion and cotraction had destroyed it, so I had to find a suitable veneer to replace it. Tim
Done this numerous times. Use a heat gun to soften the epoxy finish, then remove carefully with a blunt chisel or similar. Lightly sand to remove any marks from the chisel. I then stain minwax dark walnut to counter the fading. You may want to use some other color if the wood is not walnut. You can finish with a two pack urethane but this involves sanding and polishing. A good quality polyurethane yacht varnish also works well. Rustoleum marine spar varnish is a good choice
Thanks guys,
I am just back from my woodworking guy and we discovered much of what you are saying. A hot air gun (ideally one that is adjustable) works well to remove the outer layer of epoxy. The heat softens it up so it can flaked off with a pick.
Next a coat of walnut or elm stain to refresh years of UV fade.
Finally a coat of slow drying furniture epoxy either poured on or use a high quality brush so as not to leave any bristles in the coating.
i will use a spare piece or two to try out out the polyurethane method.
NOTE: The ski slope is a different animal. Mine is actually a metal piece with some kind of painted on or heat wrapped coating. I have the suppliers contact info if anyone is interested.
Now back to my mechanical issues. Specifically a vacuum leak somewhere producing excessive high idol; no power to the ABS pump; and no power to a wiper motor plug.
One bad experiance that I will share is take caution when determining how to refinish. I spent days removing such a coating on a different car (Triumph) and it all went well - right up until I used an oil based varnish that wasn't supposed to stain - the wood went almost black - totally destroyed it.
I was told by a caoch builder that the varnish was likely an oil base but varnish is also typically not used in vehicle refinishing, they use a lacquer, lots of layers and sanding between and till that point I had no idea the difference. The likes of Jaguar used epoxy because the effort required to do a lacquer finish to a glass like finish is gargantuan.
When I got my 94 v12 home for the first time the ski slope was covered in wrinkle finish black paint.
After scratching it with my finger nail I saw what looked like nice burled wood underneath.
What I eventually found worked best was a freshly broken piece of Plexiglass as a scraper.
The Plexiglass will eventually dull but that's OK, just break it again.
Use this with the 105 resin. It will do everything you like.
Failing that, MAS epoxy makes a "Bristol Finish" that also works well. I use it on my boat, and in addition to it's ability to flow easily and self-level, you can get six or so coats on in a day, and has very high UV resistance.
The previous owner of my recently purchased XJS had Bill Rau https://www.rau-autowood.com/restore.htm rework the complete interior in 1996. The finish remains unblemished to this day. Certainly not a less expensive option but perhaps a viable one if time and expertise are lacking.
Hello, I restored the wooden elements. Actually, the hardest part was removing the old coating. I removed it with hot air, but I have experience with that. If you don't have experience, you have to sand. Then I used a two-component epoxy varnish. I applied four coats, sanding between coats with wet sandpaper from 400 to 3,500. Then I polished with epoxy resin paste.
Wood trim
