The Clear coat is worn and chipping

I have two questions 1. what can i use to strip the coating off.
2. How can I remove the trim. So I can work on it.

I did mine with a heat gun. The finish is polyester and comes off easy.

To refinish I used 2 pack polyurethane varnish, lots of coats and wet sand until smooth then polish.

I'm away ATM when I get home next week I can post some pics for you.

Interesting - I'd like to see some pics as well as I have a similar problem.

I did mine some years back, only I also re-veneered with waterfall babinga. I used water based polyurethane. did 2 coats to allow for some "soaking in", then sanded back, 3 coats, sanded back, 3 coats, sanded back, final 3 coats and sanded. of coarse wipe clean after all sanding with a tack cloth. after letting dry and cure, I used a self leveling clear coat spray in glossed finish I applied 4 light coats then polished out




IMAG0005



more of the stripping



Applying the finish



vacuum sealed. Do not own a regular vacuum pump and bags. A bit of ingenuity, use a Space Bag and my shop vac LOL



10 coats of Polyacrylic, applied by brush, hand sanded between coats. 4 coats of spray on Ploy, followed up by 4 coats of Liquid Glass polish



010

Why did you vacuum seal ?

You need to get the veneer to take the shape of the metal parts - vacuum sealing is the best way to ensure it takes to all the contours.

But you would not vacuum after applying the finish, you would vacuum after applying adhesive. Your procedure is out of step.

Correct. In fact, if you look at the image with the vacuum bag, you can see that the veneer is untrimmed.

You all did beautiful finishing. On my XJ6 I took a different tack. My dash needed to be replaced, so I cut a new one out of teak. Oil and polished it look great, but did not have a high gloss. Just another approach to wood finishing.

I just looked at the pic above applying finish and then the next pic vacuumed and did not notice the centers not cut out but now I have seen the light.
Thank you

Sorry about that, I did put them out of step, my bad

My veneer was in good condition so all it needed was re-finishing.

The new finish is 2 pack polyurethane varnish, I used Wattyl 7008. Lots of coats 7-8 with a brush, then wet sand starting with 600 to get the surface flat. Then finer grades to remove the scratching until polishing with buffing compound.

To remove the old polyester finish I used a heat gun and the polyester just pealed off.

Now that's pretty!

nice job, looks gorgeous

How did you remove the trim from the car is there a trick, I don't want to break something (YET)

The trim is held by pegs on the back that go into plastic bungs, it just levers off; but it is very easy indeed to crack the veneer when doing so. Just levering it up all round a tiny bit at a time worked for me. The door or glove box trim is secured from the back by small nuts, requiring access from behind by removing the panels (thanks Warren!)

Door and glove box trim is held on by nuts. You need to remove the glove box lid back, the bit with the mirror and this reveals the nuts.

Door trim, you need to remove the door card, then the nuts are accessible.

If your car is a 96 ( I'm guessing from your signature) and it has a passengers side airbag, then the entire dash needs to come out and the drivers side airbag and steering wheel removed to be able to get the wood and aluminium panel out. It's bolted from behind.

When I did mine, it was part of fixing the climate control and the passengers airbag had to come out to do that, I can't remember now if the passengers airbag can stay in place, or it needs to come out as well. I think it can stay.

Some photos. First is the dash assembly out of the car, second is a close up of the backside of the wood trim panel that is in front of the airbag. These nuts can only be accessed by removing the dash. It's not that bad a job, just follow the manual. You will have to either buy or make a tool to disarm the drivers side airbag to remove it though.