My center console wood is cracking, and full 1 inch pieces have peeled up. Can I scrape off the pieces and then refinish the wood, or does this pull off an under laminate piece that would not look good if finishing the wood underneath?

If finishing is not going to work, do I have any other options such as spraypainting the wood, or laminate stickers, like carbon fiber?

Thanks!

I think you are saying the "finish" (Varnish/polyurethane)is cracking and peeling?

Do not scrape the finish off.You will damage the veneer.

RAHULIO1989300E has an excellent tutorial with pictures.

file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Owner/My%20Documents/refinish%20wood.htm

Can you fix that link, I'd like to see it also.

well my understanding is there is only 2 layers:

Top layer = finish
Bottom layer = the wood itself

My car has the finish peeling off. I dont need to scrape it off, it just snaps off, like a plate of nachos haha

So what im going to do, if it works, is to just snap off all of the cracked finish pieces and then refinish the wood, unless there is some type of laminate sticker or something that is between the wood and the finish.

That finish is so thick it looks almost like fiberglass resin poured on top of the wood. I think that might be why it is so prone to cracking. It can't stand the expansion and contraction that occurs naturally in the wood.

I wonder if anybody here has ever tried refinishing the wood in these cars as they would a piece of household furniture. That would tend to stand up better to the stresses put on the finish by the wood. I'm sure Carleton must have an opinion about this, since he seems to to a lot of furniture refinishing.

__________________
" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

Ok that better answers my question. I was not sure if it was a finish, then laminate of some sort, then the wood - because its so thick.

I can crack off all of the top finish without doing any damage to the wood. I just have to snap it off. Then I can just refinish? Sounds like it would work?

I am in the final stages of refinishing the shifter console , ashtray and climate control wood from my 79 300sd.
Most of the finish on the console just popped off. On the ashtray and climate control wood I had to use a chemical stripper.
You have to be very gentle with the wood,, the venier is extremly thin.
I used minwax mahogany stain for the color, and minwax polyurethane for the finish.. It looks alot better now..
Do a search with the keywords wood refinish there are some great threads out there..
One suggestion on the stripper,, use the thick jell kind that you apply with a brush.. You have more control of where the stripper is applied with a brush.
The spraycan stripper will work but I think it is too thin and the need to repeat the applications can cause the laminate to unglue. I had to glue mine back in a couple of spots.
Buy the heavy duty stripper, Lowes has a good selection, the finish MB used is really thick and tough to strip.

__________________
Second owner 1979 300SD 250K miles.
1995 Ford Lightning
66 Mustang
87 5.0 Mustang
08 Ford Edge
46 Willys Jeep
89 Transalp
97 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins..

i was able to stip the wood on the shifter console by heating it up with a heat gun

nothing seems to work on the other pieces... this is for a 1988 260e

the poly seemed very thick on the shifter console.. it doesn't seem to be as thick on the other pieces....

i am in a quandry...and am now thinking about doing the wood in a matte black color.

__________________
1989 300ce 129k
( facelifted front,updated tail lights, lowered suspension,bilstein sports, lorinser front spoiler, MOMO steering wheel, remus exhaust,stainless steel brake lines). (Gone)

1997 s320 154k (what a ride). Sold with 179k miles. Replaced with Hyundai Equus

1994 e320 Cabriolet 108k



1972 280se 4.5 153k Owned for 12 yrs, sorry I sold it


[/SIGPIC]

Has anybody tried the citrus-based stripper?

__________________
" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

If you do yours black, let me know how it goes I am curious as to how it would look with black. Im not a huge fan of wood in my car - even though it is original. Black or carbon fiber are the two options ive been thinking about.

If I strip again , I am going to try a heat gun.. Hey,,, Heat Gun , can be my stripper stage name..

The finish was so thick on my ashtray I had to soften it with the stripper , then CAREFULLY scrape it off with a sharp blade, to give the next coat of stripper something to work on. It took about 4 days of off and on work to get the wood stripped..

Use a blade scraper at your own risk.

__________________
Second owner 1979 300SD 250K miles.
1995 Ford Lightning
66 Mustang
87 5.0 Mustang
08 Ford Edge
46 Willys Jeep
89 Transalp
97 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins..

There was someone in Canada making these out of carbon fiber who posted a while back. If you haven't seen that thread, you should check it out. It looked pretty good if you're not concerned about staying with the stock appearance.

__________________
" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

I went with black, except for the shifter/ window button wood.

I was able to heat gun that wood and get the finish off. i then stained it and did gloss poly.

the rest of the wood on the console, i sprayed matte black, then put matte, then gloss poly on it.. i don't like the gloss poly on the black...

i will give it satin poly tonight and install it..

if the shifter console wood doesn't look right , it will go black..

the matte black with satin finish looks right, because the dash is matte black, not glossy black.

__________________
1989 300ce 129k
( facelifted front,updated tail lights, lowered suspension,bilstein sports, lorinser front spoiler, MOMO steering wheel, remus exhaust,stainless steel brake lines). (Gone)

1997 s320 154k (what a ride). Sold with 179k miles. Replaced with Hyundai Equus

1994 e320 Cabriolet 108k



1972 280se 4.5 153k Owned for 12 yrs, sorry I sold it


[/SIGPIC]

Constantine's in Bronx, NY had a serious veneer stock last time I was up there. Nice burls and even a rare piece of Tiger Maple (on a mid 70's Champagne 450 with a Fawn top and the medium tan Coach Bag look upholstry it would look sweet).

Any Google Constantine's and they way have it on line. You can request a free sample if you ask the right person.

Yeah, Constantine's is great. I've bought veneers from them before.

__________________
" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles