Veneer on dash panels on my '81

[rjkoop]

Have a few days of nice weather and was getting the itch to do a bit of work on the car. Considering veneering my dash/shifter cover 'wood' pieces. Never liked the original look. Some nice posts on how to do this.

http://www.fiatspider.com/f15/viewtopic ... +dash+wood

http://www.fiatspider.com/f15/viewtopic ... er#p269641

I have this steering wheel which I got from Allison's automotive.



I'd like to try to match the wood look/color but not sure how to determine what would match best. I assume I should look for a veneer that is similar in color. Maybe the classic mahogany in this pic.



I have some of the West system epoxy and was hoping to apply the veneer to the existing wood pieces (using the procedures in the links above) and then applying the epoxy to give it a nice shine. There are some posts on here that indicate it might be the way to go.

http://www.fiatspider.com/f15/viewtopic ... em#p219602

Any thoughts our comments would be much appreciated.

Richard

[ideashappen]

It looks like mahogany.
Mine was mahogany and I redid my dash with mahogany laminate. It turned out beautiful.
It only cost me 100$ for the guy to supply the laminate, hydraulically press glue , cut out the holes and sand it down. I have a 1980 so I did the cluster panel, little panel beside it, and the glove compartment on both sides. I did in it in Montreal. I did the semi gloss lacquer myself. If you want I could both post some pics and send you the information for the guy who did it. This year , time willing, will do the shifter plate and the radio portion.

[rjkoop]

It looks like mahogany.
Mine was mahogany and I redid my dash with mahogany laminate. It turned out beautiful.
It only cost me 100$ for the guy to supply the laminate, hydraulically press glue , cut out the holes and sand it down. I have a 1980 so I did the cluster panel, little panel beside it, and the glove compartment on both sides. I did in it in Montreal. I did the semi gloss lacquer myself. If you want I could both post some pics and send you the information for the guy who did it. This year , time willing, will do the shifter plate and the radio portion.

I'd love to see a new pics if you have them.

Went to Lee Valley Tools, looked at all the pieces of veneer and it matched the mahogany best. So I bought that.

Going to do it myself I think. I'll do a test piece, try with epoxy but will probably go with lacquer since I was told the epoxy will fade with UV rays so either cover the epoxy with lacquer or just do lacquer. If the color doesn't quite match the steering wheel I'll stain it before applying the lacquer.

Thanks for the info.

Richard

[ideashappen]

Ok cool...... When I get home on Monday night I'll Pull up the pics and post them for you.

[aj81spider]

I used spar varnish to finish my dash. I thought it came out as good as laquer and it is a marine grade that will hold up to the elements better.

[davery]

I did mine last summer.

[spider2081]

I like it Don great choice of colors and grain.

[RRoller123]

I used spar varnish to finish my dash. I thought it came out as good as laquer and it is a marine grade that will hold up to the elements better.

Agreed, spar varnish will hold up to the environment, and you can get a pretty good shine with some wax, after it has had plenty of time to stabilize. (But it will never get as reflective as those lacquer finishes!) It never fully cures to a hard surface. That is the beauty of it, stays a little flexible to allow for movement without cracking.

Pete

[rjkoop]

Made good progress. Used contact cement (veneer manufacturers recommendation), let it sit for 15 mins and then carefully stuck veneer to scuffed up dash pieces, rolled to ensure it was even and then sandwitched between 2 MDF boards and clamped it down for 30 mins. Worked great and was easy to trim off the edges and gauge holes with a sharp exacto knife.

Next going to do apply epoxy and/or lacquer on a test piece and see how the color comes out. Gut feel is that I'll need a stain followed by lacquer to match the beautiful color/shine on the steering wheel.

I'll post some pictures soon and of course of the final product.

[rjkoop]

I did mine last summer.

Nice. Pics from others who have done this are definitely inspiring.

[rjkoop]

I used spar varnish to finish my dash. I thought it came out as good as laquer and it is a marine grade that will hold up to the elements better.

I'll take a look at that spar varnish. Looks like it may be the right thing to use.

[rjkoop]

So far so good...





And I tested the color change with some varnish I had lying around. Pretty good match.

[RRoller123]

That is gunna look wickhud pissah!

[pwilliam]

yeah guy, whickud!

[rjkoop]

1st coat of varnish on. It's amazing how it brings out the grain of the mahogany.