Looking to restore my wood..

Forrest39

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CAT Member
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406
... instrument panel. I have what I believe is the original instrument panel and the varnish or urethane coating is cracked and flaking in places. Is there a particular way of rejuvenating the coating and wood? I want to stick with the original panel if at all possible. I'm afraid that if I just start sanding that I'll go right through the veneer. All suggestions greatly appreciated!
Thanks! -Kevin
 

ktwhite

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Dash

I just had a new dash made for my Tiger by a gentleman in San Jose and he did a great job. He can change things on the dash if you want something moved or different. Cost was affordable. I think he does the dashes for a lot of the Tiger restoration guys. Can give you info if you like. My old dash was worn and was not worth the time and effort.
 

Forrest39

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406
I just had a new dash made for my Tiger by a gentleman in San Jose and he did a great job. He can change things on the dash if you want something moved or different. Cost was affordable. I think he does the dashes for a lot of the Tiger restoration guys. Can give you info if you like. My old dash was worn and was not worth the time and effort.

I think that's Prestige Autowood. I will swing by there and ask about doing a restoration as they are right around the corner from the plating shop that I use.

Thanks! -Kevin
 

kbecker

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256
dash

my original dash looked like all the other 40 year old dashes (at the time)
cracked I took mine to a local furniture restorer in town, they saved all the original dash except to the right of the tach where pieces were missing. Not the best pictures but looks like the old dash, dark spots and all. I do have another original dash all ready to verneer if I decide to go another direction. My car is a 65 crossover
413599723.jpg

413599724.jpg
 

TAH_Tiger

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274
Dash

Prestige Autowood makes a beautiful dash and I would highly recommend them, but after receiving it I decided to have a furniture refinisher refinish mine as I preferred the rosewood look and sold the new one.
 

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Warren

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Light reactive

Not much of a carpenter but I have considerable boat refinish varnish exp.
Depending on the U.V. qualities of the wood and the resistance of the finish it's rather amazing what will change. I remember taking a piece of Cherry and taping a quarter on it and putting in the sun for one week, big difference in the darkening, this was when considering flooring for my residence.
I had a Prestige auto wood dash on three cars. They use a one and done epoxy coat which is rather thick and easily chipped near the edges of the instrument holes. All you can do to repair that happens is use nail polish.
A dash that came with my 3rd. Tiger was sold off as it had a Shelby signed glove box door and it had some noticeable color difference between the lower dash pad and the uninstalled glove box door.
What's the point here? protect it from the sun or get a finish with some U.V. resistance. Epoxy is not as good as the best old school marine varnish with U.V. inhibitors and some wood is more susceptible to darkening then others.
 

Forrest39

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406
Thanks for all all of the excellent responses. I really like the look of the Prestige Autowood dash, but will have to put that a little down the list. I like the idea of pulling the original and mounting it on the “how cool am I” wall.
For now I would like to use the original. Is there a stripper I should use that wont damage the wood or should I just carefully sand the old varnish away?
Thanks! -Kevin
 

dstephns

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CAT Member
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146
I have had two dashes done by Prestige Autowood and the fit and finish was flawless.
Frankly, the back of the dash was finished very nicely too. If you go for a new dash I would certainly recommend Prestige.
Dave
 

steven

Gold forum user
Messages
875
I finished my dash with genuine burled walnut veneer it was fiitted by local factory specialising in veneers. They also sealed the finish with UV resistant semi gloss. The only thing I had to do was cut the holes. Very happy
 
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