I have a problem with the veneer Zebrano curling away from the aluminum backing for it in the Heater control panel in the dash.
What is the best way of flattening the veneer and re-attaching it?
I have tried searching, but "reattaching Zebrano" does not work and I am stumped to find a search term which does work.
Regards,
Tony

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Tony from West Oz.
Fatmobile 3 84 300D 295kkm Silver grey/Blue int. 2 tank WVO - Recipient of TurboDesel engine.
Josephine '82 300D 390kkm White/Palamino int.
Elizabeth '81 280E, sporting a '79 300D engine.
Lucille '87 W124 300D non-turbo 6 cylinder OM603, Pearl Grey with light grey interior


Various parts cars including 280E, 230C & 300D in various states of disassembly.

I have since searched on wood and found a lot of info, especially on refinishing the wood and reattaching it, but nothing on flattening the "curl" in the veneer.

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Tony from West Oz.
Fatmobile 3 84 300D 295kkm Silver grey/Blue int. 2 tank WVO - Recipient of TurboDesel engine.
Josephine '82 300D 390kkm White/Palamino int.
Elizabeth '81 280E, sporting a '79 300D engine.
Lucille '87 W124 300D non-turbo 6 cylinder OM603, Pearl Grey with light grey interior


Various parts cars including 280E, 230C & 300D in various states of disassembly.

Tony,

This is what I did. It lessened the curl, but didn't cure it completely. I tried this without complete success.

Soak piece in water for about 20 minutes
Place on towl wood side down on hard flat surface
Place piece of thin styrofoam on back (to allow the pins to stick up)
Cover with several heavy objects. (I used about 10 large books)
Let sit for a couple of days


There is less curling, but its not gone completely. Perhaps stripping it first might have helped. Or maybe leaving it in the water longer. I think the glue on the back and the veneer kept the water from really getting in there. Mine needs to be refinished so I haven't messed with it anymore.

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'84 300CD Turbo 132k (Anthracite Grey) - WVO - My daily driver - Recently named coo-coo-coupe by my daughter.
'84 300D Turbo 240k (Anthracite Grey) - Garage Queen
'83 300D Turbo 220k (Orient Red) - WVO - Wifes daily driver

I'm not a certified mechanic, but I did stay at a HolidayInn Express last night.

It's best to glue it back together, but JamesStein's method first might help. whatever you do, be careful with the wood as it doesn't take much to crack it.

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85 300CD
83 300TD
78 240D (daughter)

I agree that it needs to be glued back, but I am open to more suggestions on how to remove the "curl" (flatten it) before glueing, as I feel that it will "curl" again unless it is straightened first.

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Tony from West Oz.
Fatmobile 3 84 300D 295kkm Silver grey/Blue int. 2 tank WVO - Recipient of TurboDesel engine.
Josephine '82 300D 390kkm White/Palamino int.
Elizabeth '81 280E, sporting a '79 300D engine.
Lucille '87 W124 300D non-turbo 6 cylinder OM603, Pearl Grey with light grey interior


Various parts cars including 280E, 230C & 300D in various states of disassembly.

I have the same problem and hope to address it soon. My thought is to rough up the aluminum underneath first, then apply some polyurethane glue. I'll fashion something to hold it in place (like a stick) and do 1 section at a time. The polyurethane glue available these days is just amazing.

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'82 300SD - 361K mi - "Blue"

"Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement."

listen, look, .........and duck.

Does the polyurethane glue require moisture in the parts being bonded or am I thinking of something else?

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Rob M
Norwich, VT USA
1980 240D Euro delivery 4 speed manual silver/blue
~160K miles

No, you want it dry. I think it works better with porous surfaces, (wood is perfect) but it also sticks to clean metal very well. A cautionary note though - if you glue it in place, cover the carpet or anything else it can get on. Use less than you were planning on, it doesn't take much. It will not come off, and that includes your hands. You remove it from your skin by waiting for that skin layer to be exfoliated.

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'82 300SD - 361K mi - "Blue"

"Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement."

listen, look, .........and duck.

stayalert asked the question:
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Does the polyurethane glue require moisture in the parts being bonded or am I thinking of something else?
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It's my understanding that the cure reaction in polyurethanes is catalyzed by water. The water will come from water vapor in the air. If it is really dry where you are, a little moist air may help the cure process along. At work I was using a polyurethane caulk to attach two parts. A weekend of sitting on a benchtop was not enough to allow the stuff to set up. I saturated a paper towel, wrung it dry, and put it in a plastic bag with the part and it cured up overnight.

Moisture and sustained, gentle pressure should help to push the curled edge back into position. Be patient. It may take you several iterations of wetting the wood, applying uniform pressure, and allowing it to dry. I like the styrofoam idea. Something softer still may be even better. You may first want to consider lightly scuffing the adhesive beneath the curled-up wood with fine sandpaper and wetting that area repeatedly to see if the original glue will be softened by the water. No sense in making the damage worse. Steam is also a possibility to think about. The combination of heat and moisture will soften the wood better than moisture alone.

I reattached the wood veneer to my glove box trim using 5-minute epoxy. It was stuck tight on the radiused edge on the top, but was loose from there down. I did not know what kind of adhesive the factory used on the veneer and I could not envision a practical was to remove the existing adhesive and keep solvent off the varnish. It's probably some type of contact cement. Regardless, the epoxy seems to have adhered well. I cracked a bit when I clamped it. Only time will tell how permanent a fix this will be.

There is a carpenters glue on the market called Gorilla Glue. It is a polyurethane. I think it can be used on wet wood. You may want to look at it.

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1985 300SD, 203,000 miles, dark blue

Lil Sarah says: "Poor old Grandma Blue Car...She's sad."

Pete, Ray is correct on this. The polyurethane glues (Gorilla Glue and others) need a bit of moisture to setup. Once they do, however, they are unbelievably strong. I made a set of window frames with this glue and no screw fastener could possibly match the strength of this glue. Like a proper weld, the wood framing members would snap before the joint will fail. I did have the benefit of 2 square inches of surface area, however.

Thanks guys, just like me to miss something like that. I ASSumed that since it's always set up pretty fast for me with "dry" wood, that it did so magically somehow. Of course, the only "dry" wood in CT is the type you can find burning in my wood stove, i.e., it's already ignited!

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'82 300SD - 361K mi - "Blue"

"Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement."

listen, look, .........and duck.

I tried the soak in water suggestion. As heat was mentioned along the way, I used hot water. I found an old mirror, placed a tea towel on it then the trim, folded the tea towel over the aluminum backing and then placed 2 solid housing bricks on top.
After 2 days, there is a slight lessening of the curl, but the glue has let go of the aluminum backing for 2/3 of the trim.

Are there any more suggestions?
I have thought of using a steam iron, but am cautious that this may cause irreparable damage to this trim, and I do want my Zebrano to look good.

Tony

I tried the soak in water suggestion. As heat was mentioned along the way, I used hot water. I found an old mirror, placed a tea towel on it then the trim, folded the tea towel over the aluminum backing and then placed 2 solid housing bricks on top.
After 2 days, there is a slight lessening of the curl, but the glue has let go of the aluminum backing for 2/3 of the trim.

Are there any more suggestions?
I have thought of using a steam iron, but am cautious that this may cause irreparable damage to this trim, and I do want my Zebrano to look good.

Tony

Tony, did you try the polyurethane glue? If you can get this glue between the aluminum and the wood and properly clamp it for a few hours, there is no way that it will come apart.

You don't need to eliminate the curl prior to setting the clamps for the glue.

Since I absolutely hate the look of zebrano, I was going to try re-veneering some pieces of trim.

I've been collecting trim pieces with bad wood on eBay just to get the backing parts. A variety of veneers are available on eBay quite inexpensively, including some paper backed varieties that are very thin - so would mold well to curves.

I have a vacuum sealing thing for food, you take a special type of bag and the machine evacuates it and then heat seals the end. I was thinking I might try using it for the flat trim pieces to hold everything together as the glue sets.

All of this is very low priority, so I haven't really done much more than just think about it so far.

Kevin

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'85 300SD