How to bodge / fix your ropey dash veneer...
Discussion
OK.
I know I'm gonna get slated for this, but here goes...
My glovebox lid veneer had presumably given up the ghost some time ago. Rather than re-veneer it, someone had gone to great expense and apply some rather ugly lookey likey veneer to the lid. Completely wrong and it looked sh1te. See the before pic:
Well, something had to be done. I saw this stuff and had to give it a go:
Yes thats right "stick on veneer"
- like sticky back plastic but has a picture of a veneer on the non-sticky side. Cost, a very reasonable £25.99 for a 50cm x 50cm (20" x 20"
piece from Halfrauds.
So here goes.
Step 1, remove glovebox lid, remove cover enabling you to get at the bolts that hold onto the veneer section (actually a piece of steel which the veneer is glued to):
Step 2, remove old veneer (Or in my case some stick on plastic stuff from the early 80's:
Step 3, cut new plastic stick on veneer to size, allowing for an overlap:
Step 4, CAREFULLY remove the backing from the plastic as you apply to steel section of dash which is accepting it, making sure no air bubbles, creases or wrinkles are present. When done, simply, reattach newly sticky veneered metal section to glovebox lid:
Step 5, reattach glovebox lid back in car:
At step 5, I also took the opportunity to realign the glovebox catch.
Well, all in all a good job. This stuff looks great. Admittedly not as good as a proper veneer but it certainly does not look stuck on or "plasticy". I did enquire as to getting this section properly reveneered and was quoted around £100, or £250 for all 3 panels (the other 2 panels are fine incedently) and if only doing 1 panel, the 2 places I went to for quotes could not guarantee a colour match.
Good points? - Cheep, easy, quick - this section took me about 40 mins from start to finish.
Bad points? - OK, so it does not look as good as a proper veneer, basically as it has no lacquer, the plastic does not have the depth to it, also the colour match is not bang on for my existing dash.
Summary - For a quick fix or maybe if your dash is fknackered and you cannot afford the expense of getting your woodwork professionally re-done, this stuff does come a close second.
As I said, I know I will get slated for posting this, but for some wedge owners on a budget, it is a simply way to cost effectively brighten up that tired woodwork.
Please go easy on me
* edited to re-arrange pics.
I know I'm gonna get slated for this, but here goes...
My glovebox lid veneer had presumably given up the ghost some time ago. Rather than re-veneer it, someone had gone to great expense and apply some rather ugly lookey likey veneer to the lid. Completely wrong and it looked sh1te. See the before pic:
Well, something had to be done. I saw this stuff and had to give it a go:
Yes thats right "stick on veneer"
- like sticky back plastic but has a picture of a veneer on the non-sticky side. Cost, a very reasonable £25.99 for a 50cm x 50cm (20" x 20" piece from Halfrauds. So here goes.
Step 1, remove glovebox lid, remove cover enabling you to get at the bolts that hold onto the veneer section (actually a piece of steel which the veneer is glued to):
Step 2, remove old veneer (Or in my case some stick on plastic stuff from the early 80's:
Step 3, cut new plastic stick on veneer to size, allowing for an overlap:
Step 4, CAREFULLY remove the backing from the plastic as you apply to steel section of dash which is accepting it, making sure no air bubbles, creases or wrinkles are present. When done, simply, reattach newly sticky veneered metal section to glovebox lid:
Step 5, reattach glovebox lid back in car:
At step 5, I also took the opportunity to realign the glovebox catch.
Well, all in all a good job. This stuff looks great. Admittedly not as good as a proper veneer but it certainly does not look stuck on or "plasticy". I did enquire as to getting this section properly reveneered and was quoted around £100, or £250 for all 3 panels (the other 2 panels are fine incedently) and if only doing 1 panel, the 2 places I went to for quotes could not guarantee a colour match.
Good points? - Cheep, easy, quick - this section took me about 40 mins from start to finish.
Bad points? - OK, so it does not look as good as a proper veneer, basically as it has no lacquer, the plastic does not have the depth to it, also the colour match is not bang on for my existing dash.
Summary - For a quick fix or maybe if your dash is fknackered and you cannot afford the expense of getting your woodwork professionally re-done, this stuff does come a close second.
As I said, I know I will get slated for posting this, but for some wedge owners on a budget, it is a simply way to cost effectively brighten up that tired woodwork.
Please go easy on me
* edited to re-arrange pics.
Edited by l33 on Sunday 20th August 20:46
Looks good and I've seen alot worse, but this looks better IMHO
www.pixeltechnology.co.uk/wedge/maint_veneering.html
www.pixeltechnology.co.uk/wedge/maint_veneering.html
pies said:
Looks good and I've seen alot worse, but this looks better IMHO
www.pixeltechnology.co.uk/wedge/maint_veneering.html
www.pixeltechnology.co.uk/wedge/maint_veneering.html
i will be going down that route this winter if the wedge doesn't sell
pies said:
Looks good and I've seen alot worse, but this looks better IMHO
www.pixeltechnology.co.uk/wedge/maint_veneering.html
www.pixeltechnology.co.uk/wedge/maint_veneering.html
I agree.
BUT for a quick fix that does not take a lot of skill, effort or cost, then you can't knock the stick-on route. I have already re-veneered a panel by following the instructions in the above link - very fiddly and time consuming although if you have the time and patients, the results you can achieve are very good indeed.
I shall have a bash at my glovebox panel in the winter, but I don't have the time at the moment. Too busy
What about going for the real thing: a wooden plank of walnut, chesnut or whatever. Always have the feeling that veneer is not the real thing as being flimsy and in 10 years time you need to replace it again. It could perhaps be that a plank of nice wood won't stay straight, and therefore manufacturers go for a non-temperature/non-moisture affected backplate with veneer on? Or am I wrong here? Planning to put some grey maple wood (thick and massive) in the wedge when I get around to do it, after all the other jobs to be done.
Rob
Rob
350zwelgje said:
What about going for the real thing: a wooden plank of walnut, chesnut or whatever. Always have the feeling that veneer is not the real thing as being flimsy and in 10 years time you need to replace it again. It could perhaps be that a plank of nice wood won't stay straight, and therefore manufacturers go for a non-temperature/non-moisture affected backplate with veneer on? Or am I wrong here? Planning to put some grey maple wood (thick and massive) in the wedge when I get around to do it, after all the other jobs to be done.
Rob
Rob
Sounds good in theory, but where walnut is concerned, a plank shows the longitudinal grain... like any piece of wood. What gives burr walnut it's characteristic swirls is the horizontal slices taken through the trunk, showing the multiple growth rings and so on.
In professional veneering, a balancing veneer is applied to the back of the 'ground' wood to compensate for temperature and humidity that would tend to warp the ground and crack the facing veneer.
The early wedges used a plywood ground with lacquered real walnut; most mid-80s onwards cars use what seems suspiciously like Formica - a thin hard plastic veneer, with lacquer. Alas it's brittle, which is why it cracks when the steel backing expands with heat or is flexed.
Fablon, unfortunately, don't do a burr walnut and their other woodgrain finishes wouldn't look anything like correct.
I have seen that Halfords stuff on the 'net and thought it would be a good compromise, but it'd need lacquering... and preferably with Shellac, not polyurethane (depth of shine).
Glad to see someone else tried it
Looks good, Liberon do an "Easy French Polish" which you could try
www.kingdomrestorations.com/catalog_g19.html?catId=7763
www.kingdomrestorations.com/catalog_g19.html?catId=7763
Looks pretty good to me. It definately looks better than my polished chrome dash, inflicted upon my chariot by a previous 'caretaker'.
I've been thinking of the solid wood route myself, might give it a go when the weather turns bad over Winter..... What's that I hear you all say it's already Winter.... No it just bl00dy seems like it!
Now add that to the fix speedo job, rebush rear end, re trim cockpit, find more horses
, unblock pipes to LH petrol tank, polish rocker covers, change oil / filter, refurb wheels, uprate brakes, get prop balanced / UJ's changed.
No wonder there's so much month left at the end of the money
Mind you Wedge driving does beat Class A's for fun (More expensive though, probably)
I've been thinking of the solid wood route myself, might give it a go when the weather turns bad over Winter..... What's that I hear you all say it's already Winter.... No it just bl00dy seems like it!
Now add that to the fix speedo job, rebush rear end, re trim cockpit, find more horses
, unblock pipes to LH petrol tank, polish rocker covers, change oil / filter, refurb wheels, uprate brakes, get prop balanced / UJ's changed. No wonder there's so much month left at the end of the money
Mind you Wedge driving does beat Class A's for fun (More expensive though, probably)
350zwelgje said:
What about going for the real thing: a wooden plank of walnut, chesnut or whatever. Always have the feeling that veneer is not the real thing as being flimsy and in 10 years time you need to replace it again. It could perhaps be that a plank of nice wood won't stay straight, and therefore manufacturers go for a non-temperature/non-moisture affected backplate with veneer on? Or am I wrong here? Planning to put some grey maple wood (thick and massive) in the wedge when I get around to do it, after all the other jobs to be done.
Rob
Rob
boltontvr posted this very thing on the 8th of August. I would have included a link to it, but my skills with a computer don't allow this.
Hi,
I'm in the process of making a Carbon fibre dash etc, should be finished this week end, will post pic's when done, will cost aprox £50, I've had a sample and it does look like it will come out well, All I need now is for the ali bezels to become avalable again as they should look nice on black carbon.
I'm in the process of making a Carbon fibre dash etc, should be finished this week end, will post pic's when done, will cost aprox £50, I've had a sample and it does look like it will come out well, All I need now is for the ali bezels to become avalable again as they should look nice on black carbon.
matt-man said:
GV said:
It looks crap...nuff said
How lovely...always good to see supportive comments from simple minded people... 
A simple "not my cup of tea" or even silence would have been more polite!
Next time your feeling grumpy try kicking the dog instead of PH.
hey it looks better than it did !
you can always do it better next time - that's half the fun of making stuff
it's a learning what works and what doesn't thing
it was cheap too which is always a bonus
if we could all afford our cars to be works of art then forums like this wouldn't exist and we'd never get to meet new people and learn stuff
you can always do it better next time - that's half the fun of making stuff
it's a learning what works and what doesn't thing
it was cheap too which is always a bonus
if we could all afford our cars to be works of art then forums like this wouldn't exist and we'd never get to meet new people and learn stuff
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