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Doug is right.. nothing can be done except to remove the dashboard and then remove the remaining "clear coat" - the stuff that is cracked.
Be careful as this is only veneer wood - very thin DO NOT SAND IT.
You may want to do some research on this forum about this subject,...if you screw it up,..you will find its a major factor that will affect the value of the car. "o"
This is not a job for the weekend warrior,..you should really research the subject of dashboard refurbishment. I have commented on how to go about this task and get a great results, and you will find this nfo in the past posts.
There is no easy "instant gratification" method - just need to get organized and research the subject. To remove the dash, to remove the old clear coat, prep for new clear coat, apply new clear coat, reinstall dash....about a week long exercise...
I haven't attempted to redo my dash yet, but I use to restore furniture. I agree with Doug if its cracked the only real way is to gently strip with a paint stripper, fine wire wool, stain and polish or re varnish as desired.
I would not use a stripper with the dash in the car..path to disaster...
REMOVE THE DASH then use a clothes iron to help release the clear from the veneered wood lying just under the clear. See my past posts - I have done this before.. a few times...
Luckily, in my car only the center console and ski-slope trim were beyond repair.
The dash itself has some light cracking, but is fine as it is.
I saw the solution I applied on some TV-show like wheeler dealers or something like that.
I sanded down all the remaining wood, untill the parts were bare and smooth.
Then i applied a foil with burlwood print and covered that in clear coat.
The result looks like this:
If the cracking and crazing isn't too bad, the wood can be improved in appearance.
I used a gentle cleaner to remove any surface grime. Then a couple of coats of the same high carnauba content paste wax that I used on the exterior paint. Much better. Mine could stand another such treatment. amongst so many things to do.......
Luckily, in my car only the center console and ski-slope trim were beyond repair.
The dash itself has some light cracking, but is fine as it is.
I saw the solution I applied on some TV-show like wheeler dealers or something like that.
I sanded down all the remaining wood, untill the parts were bare and smooth.
Then i applied a foil with burlwood print and covered that in clear coat.
The result looks like this:
Looks good! Has anyone tried sanding off the old varnish and veneer, reveneering with wood veneer and re varnishing? I ask as I happened to see a wide variety of very attractive paper thin wood veneers in a high end wood store recently.
When I refurbished my dashboard, I bought a couple that were for sale on Ebay,.. practiced on them,... then did one of them (VDP style)that came out real nice ,..so I used it in my car. I refinished my original dashboard a few weeks after that and kept it as a spare.
Last edited by alynmurray; 03-26-2018 at 01:51 PM.
When I refurbished my dashboard, I bought a couple that were for sale on Ebay,.. practiced on them,... then did one of them (VDP style)that came out real nice ,..so I used it in my car. I refinished my original dashboard a few weeks after that and kept it as a spare.
...practiced with veneer? I was going to practice this on my parts car S1 dash and trim. Is it pretty straight forward? My plan was to sand it all off, seal and glue the veneer on, cut all edges out with a scalpel (for dials etc) then finish with uv resistant marine varnish....
When I refurbished my dashboard, I bought a couple that were for sale on Ebay,.. practiced on them,... then did one of them (VDP style)that came out real nice ,..so I used it in my car. I refinished my original dashboard a few weeks after that and kept it as a spare.
Thanks lnrB.
Did it in my spare time and did not turn out as an amateur job... Its all a matter of understanding what you are working with and then not wrecking it. When I had the dash out ,..it was easy to see the spots that were not sun bleached,..considerably darker - as it was from the factory. I used "oooo" steel wool, (after I had removed all the cracked and lifting clear coat), I used a clothes iron set at 75%,..laid it against the dashboard clear coat until I could smell warm plastic and then kept looking under the iron until the area I was working on was "cloudy".
The heat from the iron causes the clear coat to expand/contract thereby causing the clear coat to turn cloudy and release from the veneer, and then can be lifted off using just fingers. Does not damage the veneer.
I re stained the veneer to bring out the figured burl - which it did. Using some clear that I had on hand ( was leftover from when I resprayed the car ) was then applied. The clear was a 2 part deal with UV protection . 5 years later, still not yellowed. It was premium classic 2000 clear -- good stuff.
I tried to match the stained veneer to the steering wheel color - came quite close...
Sorry Jose but it is not an amateur job and I did not whimp out and just send it out to be done. With me its a "personal expression" hobby/project
resto mod. Could have sent the car out for a paint job as well, but because I had the equipment and skills I did it myself. $1500 in paint supplies and car stripped to bare metal,... Cajones!
Sure you could throw money at the problem, but that is not me. Its a matter of pride of workmanship, self satisfaction.
hey Alyn, come repaint my car!! I will dismantle it completely, mask it completely where needed, then you do the paint. Because I can't paint cars, I don't have that skill.
Thanks lnrB.
Did it in my spare time and did not turn out as an amateur job... Its all a matter of understanding what you are working with and then not wrecking it. When I had the dash out ,..it was easy to see the spots that were not sun bleached,..considerably darker - as it was from the factory. I used "oooo" steel wool, (after I had removed all the cracked and lifting clear coat), I used a clothes iron set at 75%,..laid it against the dashboard clear coat until I could smell warm plastic and then kept looking under the iron until the area I was working on was "cloudy".
The heat from the iron causes the clear coat to expand/contract thereby causing the clear coat to turn cloudy and release from the veneer, and then can be lifted off using just fingers. Does not damage the veneer.
I re stained the veneer to bring out the figured burl - which it did. Using some clear that I had on hand ( was leftover from when I resprayed the car ) was then applied. The clear was a 2 part deal with UV protection . 5 years later, still not yellowed. It was premium classic 2000 clear -- good stuff.
I tried to match the stained veneer to the steering wheel color - came quite close...
Sorry Jose but it is not an amateur job and I did not whimp out and just send it out to be done. With me its a "personal expression" hobby/project
resto mod. Could have sent the car out for a paint job as well, but because I had the equipment and skills I did it myself. $1500 in paint supplies and car stripped to bare metal,... Cajones!
Sure you could throw money at the problem, but that is not me. Its a matter of pride of workmanship, self satisfaction.
Jose here is the sad reality.. The cost to send your car to a shop for a bare metal respray would probably run well over $ 10,000 closer to 20 for a real nice job that takes into consideration repairing all the "blemishes" removing all the paint down to bare metal...etc.
Paint supplies purchased today (mine was done 6-7 years ago) would run around $ 2000. Epoxy primer PPG 2 part ,... PPG 2 part color coat, Top of the line clear coat... lots of labor patience patience patience
03-26-2018, 05:32 AM
