Dash re-veneer

[Yatesy350i]

Had a go at the centre console re-veneer.

Took four attempts to get a satisfactory finish. Mainly due to poor adhesive choice followed by the wrong lacqure. Finally ended up with an impact adhesive and guitar laqure. Lovely finish, really over the moon with it. Colour match was close to the rest of the das as well. Gone through two sheets of burr walnut.

Well guess what. Bl&&dy chipped it putting it back in!!!!!!! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!.

Attempt five coming up!

I love this car but the interior is assembled worse than a Robin Hood kit car I had years ago. Inch + screws when one a third as long would do. Time for a re-think in places.

Went out for a 20 mile blast though. The Roof was not allowed to join us. Great!!!!! But it does like to get out of shape with those 205's on the rear also really surprised buy, how shall I put it? How fast you find yourself CLOSE to the speed limit. Great blast up the M6. Couldn't feel my fingers when I got back, but I was grinning like a maniac I might take the roof next time it's 1degC.

[mrzigazaga]

Yatesy350i said:

The Roof was not allowed to join us.

"ROOF"...Whats one of them???..I had a dog that had two.."Roof roof"... ...Funnily enough i was discussing the veneer with someone earlier and the glue is less of a problem than the lacquer and like you say its finding the right one..Ideally it needs to be waterproof..Cold resisitant..Hard wearing and not affected by UV ray's..There has been quite a few post's on the subject and some useful info has transpired from it...

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
I think the Hydrographics is a pretty cool idea..Ziga

[Yatesy350i]

I did a bit of research on the lacqure front. After filling miserably with halfords clear ( should have known better but I'd got half a can left from something)

According to several articles I read Nitrocellulose is the stuff to try?

I got this from EBay and think I will try again but with a better glue and longer hardening times. Very pleased with the finish.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/120731094093

[MarkS1966]

Yatesy350i said:

I did a bit of research on the lacqure front. After filling miserably with halfords clear ( should have known better but I'd got half a can left from something)

According to several articles I read Nitrocellulose is the stuff to try?

I got this from EBay and think I will try again but with a better glue and longer hardening times. Very pleased with the finish.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/120731094093

Karl,
I'm a cabinet maker by trade, although its 20+ years since I picked up a chisel or a hammer in anger
After I bought my wedge last year, I had to sort my dash out, as it had very little veneer left on it and the main dash section was more warped than a nine bob note!

As Ziga says earlier the choice of adhesive isn't as important as the choice of finish!
If it was staying inside in a controlled, dehumidifier atmosphere, you should French polish it, it'd take at least a week solid to get a decent finish and it's the most onerous task imaginable and fragile as hell afterwards, unfortunately, French polish really doesn't like UV rays, moisture, heat, etc. so you're left with having to use a decent lacquer, ideally out of a spray can and then buff it afterwards to get a half decent finish.
Of course the substrate that your fixing the lacquer to has to be correct as well, as the expansion co-efficient of the veneer and the substrate need to be compatible, so if you're trying to fix to the metal centre console section, it's best to put a layer of another base timber veneer on first, I used a beech veneer applied at 90 degrees to the main direction of the finish coat veneer, this stops any possible cracking of the top surface, but it does mean doing it twice!
I made a replacement glove box lid, using a mix of American oak and Imbuia, both hard woods and both very straight grained& plank cut, as opposed to crown cut, but it may not be that easy to get hold of if you don't have any contacts in the trade, it's planked in 22mm sections, 15mm thick, to remove any chance of it warping, before machine it to accept the dials and cut outs on the dash, which took the best part of 8 hours of work with a mini router and more measuring than a man obsessed with measuring in a tape measure workshop!

After I applied the adhesive to both surfaces, I placed each piece in a vacuum bag to cure, this makes sure that the adhesive cures against all surfaces.
Then filing and sanding to get all of the burrs nice and smooth, don't forget with any burr veneer, you need to use a circular motion when sanding, this way you get the best finish possible.
Burrs have a tendency to "pop out" if the adhesive hasn't gone off completely, or if you catch them at all, so be careful with that.
If one does disappear on you, you can get over it by filling it with something like a brummer stopper, then sand it down flush, it'll be really difficult to get a colour match; with walnut burr veneer you can use a touch of black ink to touch on the stopper, as when it's lacquered, as long as its darker, it'll blend in.

Then it's down to lots and lots of coats of lacquer and tons of sanding between coats, each coat getting smoother and smoother, until you're down to about a 1200 grit, you don't need to go any smoother than that otherwise subsequent coats of lacquer may have problems adhering.
Then assuming your happy with the finish, you can then polish it, I find a fine rubbing compound a few days after the lacquers VOC's have all gone off works well and give me a nice finish.

You'll be able to see from my pic that I book matched the veneer on the glovebox lid, which took a bit of doing, but with a bit of perseverance it's all very do-able and immensely satisfying once its all done.
The it's onto the door trims exactly the same way as the rest.
The door handles have too small a radius on their edge to be able to apply veneer very successfully at home, especially when using a burr veneer, so I used a bit of chrome vinyl instead, which will do until I get around to doing them properly in one of my mates factories.

I think that so long as you're reasonably confident in your own abilities and are willing to have a go, then my suggestion is to "go for it!"

Drop me a PM if you want anymore info or tips on getting a decent veneer surface.

Cheers for now
Mark

P.S. don't forget to post some pics for us to see.

[Yatesy350i]

Thanks Mark

Great advise again!

I think my problem was as you say controlled environment. I glued it all together in the garage very cold and then did the first two days sanding and spraying in there. Got to about 1 degree in there late on in the week, so I finished off in the kitchen. Almost better than Stella Artois! I can still smell it now.

I had some residue from the rattle can left on the panel this morning, so had a polish with the window panel polish you get from the roof refurb guys forget what it's called and can't be ar$ed to go in the garage to find out. The results where really good.

Big problem I think was lack of patients as I fitted it today. Should have let it cure for a while I think. It was the bl@@dt temp control wheels that did the damage.

I am going to leave it for now as its 200% better than it was and wait for some warmer weather. I cant bring it in the house again else I'm going to have to sign the dog up to addicts are us

Cheers Karl

[MarkS1966]

Yatesy350i said:

Thanks Mark

Great advise again!

I think my problem was as you say controlled environment. I glued it all together in the garage very cold and then did the first two days sanding and spraying in there. Got to about 1 degree in there late on in the week, so I finished off in the kitchen. Almost better than Stella Artois! I can still smell it now.

I cant bring it in the house again else I'm going to have to sign the dog up to addicts are us

Cheers Karl

No problem Karl
Those VOC's in the lacquer are some nasty stuff that's for sure and will leave you higher than a kite if you're not careful!
So long as you're happy with it, that's all that matter mate.

Catch up soon and I'm really pleased you're enjoying your car, but you're braver than me driving in 1 or 2 degrees.