I have recently embarked on a project to re-veneer the central "skateboard" piece in my '95 classic. In looking online, i found a website that sells quality veneers with the 3M PSA backed adhesive. Two weeks and some $$ later my veneer arrived. I have put a few pics below to show where im at so far, and will post any additional progress. The first few are the veneer as it came out of the truck. I'm sure like so many of you, mine was cracked faded and tired. Given that its the center piece of the car, having one that's in good condition really heightens the value of the car, so it will certainly be a worthy project. Below that is removing the old veneer. For the most part it just came off as the glue had long passed its "sell by date". Below that i have a picture of the final sanded center piece ready for a new veneer. Below that Ive put a WIP photo of testing out the various stains, polyurethane's and processes for finishing. I wanted to really make this piece shine so im taking my time in testing it all before just jumping into it. If anyone has done this process before, please leave me some comments. Also let me know what you think of the stains and finishes so far. As i said they are WIP so please be gentle.
Are you doing all the trim in the vehicle? What colour is the exterior and carpet/seats/plastic trim etc? If you are not going for a 100% stock look knowing the rest of the vehicles colour scheme would help.
I like what your doing.
__________________
"Your only supposed to blow the BLOODY DOORS OFF" Charlie Croaker. The Italian Job. 1969.
Its a White on Sorrell brown, all of the trim matches the sorrell. I believe the door strips and the glove box strip are burled walnut, but the original skateboard appeared to be walnut. I'm not doing the other pieces as they are all in great condition, just doing the center piece. The goal when all said and done is while it may not be be "stock" to the very trained eye, it will appear to be of OEM quality and finish.
I did this a few months ago and after many issues with the polyurethane "crawling" I have been very happy with the result.
I went to a local paint store with the original piece and the veneer - which I also sourced locally - and they tried various stains on a small piece of the veneer until they got a match.
Big upgrade vs. tired, cracked original.
the original Finnish (land rover) is a 2 part polyester not "brush on poly" good luck with that "stick on" veneer. It will probably last a couple of months. I am a cabinet maker and have been down that road. The only way to get the veneer to "stick" is with a vacuum press. Sorry, not trying to be a downer but it is what it is.
Vacuum press provides constant pressure throughout the whole surface ( about 50lbs per square inch) there is no chance of the veneer not adhering. PSA veneers alway delaminate at some point. The 2 part finnish is a polyester resin. It's very much like epoxy, but it is uv resistant. Epoxy will " yellow " over time. You can use epoxy if you varnish after ( varnish has uv protection)!the reason the two part polyester resin was used in the factory ( I suspect) is because of production time. You can " build" multiple coats in a mater of hours. Varnish or polyurethanes cure in 10-24 hour cycles.
I am a " high end" cabinet maker. I took one of the wood trim pieces of one of my doors thinking that I would re finish all the wood in my truck. I started with one, and have stopped there. If you want to do it right, it will be time consuming, and most likely bring out a whole lot of foul language. I figured I would invest my time and money ( so far 4k and counting) on mechanics etc.
I'm actually considering the center console from a disco in lieu of the one I have now. It's not wood!
I bought veneer wood from wood workers source, a national chain, and glued and clamped it together. About 4 years ago. Looks great, no peelup,,, no vacuum.
Appreciate the comments and feedback. Given where i was on the project, i had to forge ahead. I finally got to a point where i could stick down the veneer and start trimming it. I think its coming together nicely. I have cut out the low-range selector hole and sanded round the other edges to give it a clean shape. Now will just need to clean up the transmission hole and then get to the harder holes, the window/seat warmer switches. Once thats all done then i will be putting a ton of coats of polyurethane leaving plenty of time to dry and sanding in between coats. Ive put some pictures below of my progress as of last night. Let me know what you think.
So i took some time and finished the transmission lever hole, came out pretty nice. Also roughly cut all of the window switches and then finished one of the holes. The window switches are taking a particularly long time. But getting the right shape is crucial as there is nothing that covers them, unlike the transmission shifter hole and high/low range hole.
Ive almost finished the most upper left hand switch, took me about 2.5 hours to get it to where it is now. I think there is still about another 30 min to an hour left to get it perfect. Let me know what you think. Ill be working on finishing the remaining ones this weekend/next week. Then it will be coated many, many times and hopefully will look great. So the next pics you see will be of the finished product.
I did this as well. Though we have a wood store here that does the vacuum pressing for veneers for free. I went with a cherry veneer and darker mahogany stain. came out nice.
took a very very long time...(did all wood pieces)
how did you final work come out?
(also, you can use this paste most wood stores have to strip off the lacquer. For color tones i used a dye system that works with water or mineral spirits so could get exactly what i wanted).
I did this as well. Though we have a wood store here that does the vacuum pressing for veneers for free. I went with a cherry veneer and darker mahogany stain. came out nice.
took a very very long time...(did all wood pieces)
how did you final work come out?
(also, you can use this paste most wood stores have to strip off the lacquer. For color tones i used a dye system that works with water or mineral spirits so could get exactly what i wanted).
Hey,
Lucky you that they would do the vacuum pressing for free, i wish i had somewhere that would do that. I had a veneer scraper through and spent about an hour pressing air bubbles and what not out. It seems very solid but time will tell.
I'm not 100% done yet, ive posted a picture to where im at right now. I have finished cutting the holes and applied my first 7 coats of polyurethane. I have been applying extremely thin coats and building them up. I let that cure over night and the picture you see below is of the skateboard at that point.
When i go back tonight i will be lightly sanding and then applying another 5 to 7 light coats. More sanding, more coats, more sanding more coats. Hopefully will have a mirror like finish when im done.
I didnt go with any staining as i bought a really nice piece of veneer and i watned the beauty of the piece of wood to come through. It wont match perfectly but the other strips are so small that i dont think any one will notice. I think it will make a BIG difference when all said and done.
Do you have any pictures of your finished wood? Curious to see how it turned out.
Finally getting round to posting the finished piece of work. Its not perfect but its MUUUCH better than the deteriorating piece that was in there. All in all, for a DIY project, im very happy with it and think it looks great. If i had to do it again, maybe i would play around with the dyes and try to get it a bit darker.
First few pics are of the old piece, you can see all of the cracks and chipping, the lost of color and depth. aka, it looked like crap. The last image is the final finished piece.
Well, nice job. I've done this now a few times and here is what I have been using and doing...
1. vacuum press for your new burlap veneer is a must. I have a Woodcraft in the neighborhood where they do it for me...maybe you can get to one or a woodshop and they help you out
2. Also from Woodcraft, I use the following products.
A. STAR 10 for stripping. super good product. Apply liberally. I use a metal scraper they sell in a set to hand strip off the lacquer stuff (poly). Use this over a sander because it keeps the vertical grain in the wood as well as the horizontal. When you get near all wood, use a 320 grit sander to take rest of the poly off. this keeps the grain looking great
B. I use TransTint products they sell. You can custom make your own stain. Use a dowl rod to drip the drops of each tint in to get your stain. so you always know how many "drops" you need. Once you get color right, your golden.
C. WATCO clear lacquer. your lacquer looked a bit thin. maybe it was just the light stain, but you want to use a good product here...
I think you can buy all this stuff online at woodcraft also....
hope this helps on yuor next project! or others that may view this.
The AutoGuide.com network consists of the largest network of enthusiast-owned enthusiast-operated automotive communities.
AutoGuide.com provides the latest car reviews, auto show coverage, new car prices, and automotive news. The AutoGuide network operates more than 100 automotive forums where our users consult peers for shopping information and advice, and share opinions as a community.
Re-Veneering a '95 Classic "Skateboard"
Matt.
Linear Mode
