I am getting ready to start refinishing the wood on the dash of my 1972 250C. The wood appears to be in fair shape, but the finish (varnish?) is crumbling off.

My plan is to remove the wood from the dash and glovebox, sand the wood smooth, and then apply some type of varnish and stain. I took a lunch time trip to Home Depot, but none of the finishes looked like what I was after.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what type of finish to use?

I redid my dash wood on my 1970 250c about a year ago. I stripped the old finish off with spray paint remover and then lightly sanded with 220 grit and then 360 grit to get a smooth finish. The vaneer is extremely thin be careful. I tried several different spray finishes but was not happy with the outcome. I wound up restripping and taking them to one of my daughters friends father who has a cabinet refinishing shop. He used a catalyzed polyurethane after spraying with several coats of sanding sealer. They look great. The materials are very expensive unless you can buy in bulk. I would look for a local cabinet/furniture refinisher who can spray them for you.

Rick,

Is there any chance you could send me a picture of the dash? I'd like to see about what it should look like.

I usually use stripper to get the finish all the way down the wood. I don't sand the zebrano, the grains appear to be at different heights and I don't want to dull them. I don't use a stain either, I like it natural. For the main finish, I prefer catalysed urethane. In short, regular automotive clearcoat, available whereever your local body shop buys their paint from. I only use a spray gun to apply, spray cans are always 1k and I've never tried using a brush on it.

I have used {deft} it is a lacquer base.Yet it is water prof. 3-coats,wet sand 240 {tint if desired} in next 3-coats,wet sand 600,3-coat.This does not look plastic.You can buy any color you want.doing this way,you always have,real wood under neath.

I followed the advice of a site devoted to this issue & it worked:
DO NOT USE SAND PAPER. Use steel wool 000 0r 0000 after stripping the old finish w/Jasco or something similar. This may take 3 applications. DO NOT USE SANDPAPER. To restain use Minwax Red Mahogany or plain Mahogany. After achieving the desired color tone, smooth w/steel wool. DO NOT USE SANDPAPER. Then use minwax clear, a couple of coats, and lightly smooth w/steel wool. DO NOT USE SANDPAPER.

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Don't Chrome them; polish them

Can you direct me to the site for more information? I will be at this point eventually on my 3.5 coupe and am considering different options for refinishing.
Tkanks.

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Tony H
W111 280SE 3.5 Coupe
Manual transmission

Past cars:
Porsche 914 2.0
'64 Jaguar XKE Roadster
'57 Oval Window VW
'71 Toyota Hilux Pickup Truck-Dad bought new
'73 Toyota Celica GT

I will try to post some pictures of the dash this weekend. The guy who finished my dash is named Mark Spraque. His company name is California Finish and he can be reached at 909 579 0258 or california_finish@verizone.net . I'm sure he would be happy to either suggest the materials or even quote you a price.

here is a picture of the dash. I guess I need to do the wheel next.

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So You Don't Recomend using SANDPAPER !!

Maska, absolutely not. The venier is much too thin for sandpaper. Also, after seeing thorsen's photo, the wood looks great. Now just a little smoothing of the texture w/ 000 or 0000 steel wool will make it look original. Nice job!

__________________

Don't Chrome them; polish them

Interior: Wood Trim Repair/Replace/Refinish link thread
Interior: Wood Trim Repair/Replace/Refinish link thread

I use either tung oil or Danish oil. Just give it a quick swipe with a fresh rag every 6 months or so. The beauty of using an oil finish is if it needs to be removed, a wipe down with denatured alcohol does the trick.

Thanks for the help everyone. I was able to refinish the wood this weekend and I am quite pleased with the outcome.

I build guitars as a hobby and have a 30 year professional background in engineered wood products. I’ve refinished the wood in multiple Mercedes I’ve owned over the years, including re-veneering using a vacuum bag to compression mold the veneer to the 3-D shapes.

I typically use lacquer thinner and steel wool to remove the old finish and after it’s removed I very carefully sand down to 220 grit prior to applying the new finish. The best finish I’ve found is a professional grade clear coat that’s meant to go over automotive exterior paint.

I use several coats of varnish as a sealer first, which gives a great clear base to spray over and also gives the wood that slightly yellowed vintage look. I sand the sealer and top clear coat with 220 between coats, being careful not to sand through to the wood below.

The reason I recommend an exterior clear coat finish is that it’s designed for high temperatures and is flexible. Wood will expand and contract with climactic changes and without a finish that can move with the expansion and contraction it will crack and check.

Also, consider that a cars painted exterior surface can reach temperatures in excess of 300F. The interior of the car can also reach these temperatures as well and without a finish that can withstand this kind of constant abuse, it will fail.

You can get a very wet look with lots of depth to it with clear coat depending on how many coats you apply, which in many of my restorations has been 8 to 10 coats. Once the finish is cured I wet sand it down to 1200 grit and polish it with a 3-M professional cleaner and wax.

A professional automotive paint supply can sell you clear coat in an aerosol can and you’ll achieve an extremely durable, long lasting professional finish that’s better in appearance and durability that the original, with minimal investment in materials and some elbow grease.

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