I have a couple of cracks in the finish so I have wanted to do this for a bit. I am starting with the wood around the shifter, I figure if I really mess up I can paint it black.

The stripping went well, I had some older paint stripper. It took a long time to react even with the good stripper (over night) and I had a few stubborn spots. I wanted to let the stripper do the work so I did not damage the wood.

One hour:



Over Night:

 

After some spot stripping, a very light sanding with 800 grit and cleaning I was ready for the finishing.

I debated on either spraying a urethane or pouring an epoxy. I decided to try spraying the urethane. I went with the General Finish product, it seems to get good reviews for spraying, and it was expensive. so If it is expensive, it has to be good, right??

 

I have now done 4 coats and I am not yet happy with the depth or even the top finish. I sand in between each coat. It is a 4-hour dry time. The grain of the wood is still making itself apparent in the finish. I will go up to maybe 10 coats and see how it goes. If I don't like it I may strip it and try a pour-over epoxy. I took these pictures trying to give the worst possible look at it, in person, it looks better.

 

Good luck. Let us know how it turns out. Check out Mhminich thread https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...rround-230821/
if you haven't already. His turned out really nice.

 

a couple more 4 coat pics.

 

Good luck with this, and thanks for providing pictures with the stripper. For my test refinishing task with polyurethane, it took me about 10-11 coats to look deepish and good (first coats were thinned to provide 'sanding sealer' and grain filling). Mhminich found that he needed to rebuff after the car had been in the heat for a while since the coating receded into the grain, so you might want to set it in heat (maybe in in the back of an outside car) to 'precondition' it for a while before installing.

I've moved to the solarez polyester coating (and the solarez sanding sealer) which is much less time consuming for this and should be less susceptible to heat slumping.

 

What paint stripper did you use? If I recall, before you, no one had figured out how to remove the old finish using chemicals. Mhminich used a heat gun and a putty knife to get his off. Of course that method risks singing the wood.

 

Has anyone tried the 2 part epoxy finish. I have used it on several projects with good results. Just requires patience, and a butane lighter.
I have tried stripping the driver's door window/lock surround. SO far I am not getting the varnish to soften with the sripper I am using. Maybe it is the 2 part epoxy??

 

I used Goof Off but my understanding this is hard to get now. I had an old jug. It also took much longer than 30 minutes, but that was not a big deal since it is a one off project. I get nervous about the heat method damaging the wood.

 

I would really like to see someone try a 2 part epoxy, i have used it for some other types of work and you would think it would work great for these parts.

 

Years ago, I refinished every piece of wood in the interior of my Mark IX. I had great results using Homer Formby's Furniture Refinisher to remove the old finish. Much cleaner than paint remover and it left a nice surface with minimal preparation needed for the recoating. To recoat, I used marine grade spar varnish applied with a foam brush. I tried spraying it on, but it left orange peel. Even a good quality paint brush left brush marks. Using the foam brush resulted in a perfect high-gloss finish. Good luck with your project!

Vince

 

One of the problems with any finish on wood is getting the finish produce into the wood grain. Spraying is wonderful for the final 7 or 10 coats sanding between a few, but to get it in the grain, a sponge brush can be used to push it in, and even then it will take a couple of tries. Use a small circular motion on the brush to catch the edges of the grain, helps fill them up faster. That's where the smooth will come into the picture. Different than painting a car, no grain in the metal to cover up, but once smooth and filled, the same applies, even to the fine grit and buffing out. Takes forever, but like others rewarding.
Don't get excited about putting it on so thick, more coats and light sanding will do it. A run is your major enemy, so just keep dragging the poly or what ever you use off the edge

 

I could not get it perfect so I am going to try a I will let you know how it goes.

 

Done properly, this stuff(any 2 part) works very well. Sometimes small bubbles develope, Go over very lightly with a propane torch held 12" or so away. Clears bubbles. You can also lean in and breath hot air(some of us better at this than others) on the surface. Just don't do both together.......

 

I think I am going to use a hot air gun. The propane torch makes me a bit nervous about possibly damaging the wood. But the torch is more fun....

 

I got pretty good results with the epoxy. I think with practice i could have gotten it close to factory. I am much happier with it than with the poly. The depth and gloss is perfect. A few small air bubbles I did not get out and on the small edges, I did not get perfect coats.

It is not good enough for me to do the front pieces, I have one with a small hairline crack the bothers me, but I am not confident enough to do them all.

 

From the pictures I think it looks really good.

 

Nice job!

 

I have professionally refinished many guitars. As a tip, a dark color grain filler will fill in all the open pores and grain lines , and save you several coats to get to a mirror finish.

 

Starting with the wood around the shifter is a great idea – a smart way to test the waters and gain confidence. The fact that you're open to experimenting and learning from any potential mishaps shows your growth mindset.