I previously tried to refinish the wood on my ashtray, climate control, and shifter console. I used Epifanes Spar Varnish and I did a pretty good job of it doing several coats to build it up, but I didn't do a great job. It had ripples in the finish and what looked like little specs of stuff in it.

Any recommendations of where I can take these pieces to so they'll look nice?

1991 300d 220k

Madera Concepts in Goleta, CA (near Santa Barbara). They have a web site.

If all you do is coat it and walk away, you’ll get that. A proper finish job needs to be rubbed out for flatness and clarity, and to get rid of dust nibs!

There’s a person from CA on eBay that sells refinished wood, and will refinish pieces sent to them. Not cheap...

It seems to me that the console wood is the one that always needs help, no matter how great of shape the car and the dash is.

Not sure how poor of a match it would be to only refinish that.

__________________
Current Diesels:
1981 240D (73K)
1982 300CD (169k)
1985 190D (169k)
1991 350SD (116k)
1991 350SD (206k)
1991 300D (228k)
2008 ML320 CDI (199k)
1996 Dodge Ram CTD (442k)
1996 Dodge Ram CTD (267k)

Past Diesels:
1983 300D (228K), 1985 300D (233K), 1993 300D 2.5T (338k), 1993 300SD (291k)

What would you rub that out with to get a smooth finish and the little dust looking things out of there? (and it's not dust because I put the pieces in a big covered plastic container after I put the varnish on).

https://www.woodworkersjournal.com/rubbing-great-finish-satin-gloss/

__________________
Current Diesels:
1981 240D (73K)
1982 300CD (169k)
1985 190D (169k)
1991 350SD (116k)
1991 350SD (206k)
1991 300D (228k)
2008 ML320 CDI (199k)
1996 Dodge Ram CTD (442k)
1996 Dodge Ram CTD (267k)

Past Diesels:
1983 300D (228K), 1985 300D (233K), 1993 300D 2.5T (338k), 1993 300SD (291k)

No need to mail it out. Look for a guy in your town that refinishes furniture and bring it to him. He'll be able to do it right for cheap.

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-Typos courtesy of my mobile phone.

Possibly small air bubbles. There is a laquer out there that they add a hardener to just before you buy it. Shelf life is measured in weeks. I use it to spray kitchen cabinets with. You tell the retailer what gloss level or number you want.

You may know the product as it is used on wooden kitchen and dining room tables but only at about a number five gloss level out of ten. About the same as I use on those kitchen cabinets.

This stuff is tough and will not yellow with time. Or go gummy. The top gloss level might dry like glass and require no surface working. If you do not get any orange peel effect. It is the toughest finish out there today that can give you a very high gloss. You pretty much have to spray it.

In the day they just put many coats of straight laquer on and polished it out once it dried. It was famous for cracking and checking after a time and not really very durable. Normal laquer has no gloss until you work the dry surface. Spar varnish cannot reach the levels of surface gloss of the laquers.

There are extra gloss hardners for clear coats but clear coats are not that tough either.

The guy on ebay sells the console/shifter surround for about $150, iirc. I wonder if Madera is any cheaper (or more expensive).

jbach36... I'm curious as to how you removed the old finish? I keep going back and forth between just coughing up the $$ to get it fixed or do it myself. I think I could refinish it fine if I thought removing the old finish was within my skillset.

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1991 300D 2.5 "Rocinante"
2002 Golf TDI "Teen Spirit"
--------------------
1984 300D
1966 Mustang I6 3sp
1985 Mazda RX-7 GSLSE
1982 Toyota Supra
1977 Datsun 280z
1971 Datsun 240z

Removal of the old finish carefully with paint strippers. It is best to wash the residue off with laquer thinner. Then assess what you have.

One set I did I did not allow enough time for it to dry out after. So after re finishing I got some wood substrate shrinkage. The old wood cells took up some moisture and expanded. Although being old wood it was not a lot. So you want to dry them down as far as practical before refinishing. Once you apply this finish moisture cannot get back in through it. Plus the other side is metal backed. On that set I did not use this product. It was on a 114 sedan I owned. I think it was that long ago.

The local furniture refinisher was not a bad ideal as otherwise this tends to be very expensive. At the same time you have to make sure that person has had experience at getting the high gloss results you want. If you do not intend to keep the car forever cheap laquer might be your best and cheapest solution. You want to decide if you want to sand the thin veneer or not. This disturbs any patina that has developed over the years.

I have actually been looking for things to keep some of the extended members of my family working. This is one thing I had thought about. Producing decent but not show winning results fairly economically. Simply because many people just do not have the equipment and experience needed to get decent results.

There is a tendency out there today to really overcharge unfortuantly. This applies to a lot of specialty services. The first problem is to apply the finish I think is right today. It is the only product my local furniture refinisher uses as a clear coat for many years now. That is how I came to know this product and where to access it. Picking the right looking stain when needed is more an art than anything else. In most cases because of fading over the years it will be needed as well.

I buy the product in gallons. It has to be made available in quart sizes because of the short shelf life. To do car wood. Activation is only allowed at the products retailers. Plus being a restricted product it is not available to all. It dries fast and you do not want to make misteaks as paint strippers do not work easily on it. Still to me this product is amazing. In comparison to any thing else I have seen or used.

If you should see a really glossy new piece of real wood veneer or solid wood furniture today. This is probably the product you are seeing. In most cases. Spray it on and you will be done. You can buff it but since I have not used the maximum gloss available.I have a feeling it will not be required.

What I do know is that kitchen cupboards I have done even years ago now. Still look like I finished them yesterday. The finish retains a fresh look. With no oxidation indicating a product color shift. Tough as nails as well so no wear evident.

By the time you buy everything needed you may have exceeded the cost of having a person like me do it. You are stuck with buying far too large a quantity of products. That you will have too much unused product left over when finished. .

I'd suggest you buy a rubber sponge from an auto paint supply store and sand the parts with a 200g, then 500g, then 800g then 1200g or 1500g then buff it with rubbing compound then buff with a good auto finishing wax.

I have my entire set of wood trim in the 500g stage after spraying five coats of two part clear on it. I'll proceed as I suggested to you then strap my dual action buffer pad side up on my table and handle each piece while I use the rubbing compound, then change the pad on the buffer and do the polishing stage.

I'll wax them by hand just before installing them.

Even spraying them with a good trim HPLV gun won't make the finish lay down right. It must be cut and buffed just like an auto with a new clear coat.

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84 300SD
85 380SE
83 528e
95 318ic

Thinning the poly will take most of them out but, you know, cut and buff.

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84 300SD
85 380SE
83 528e
95 318ic

Many people have recommended Igor. 6-8 weeks turnaround time, but they say his work is outstanding.

Mercedes Auto Wood Trim Restoration for San Diego Los Angeles California Florida Nevada Arizona Texas Washington New York | I specialized in restoring vintage auto wood trim for Mercedes All models W107, W108, W109, W111, W113, W100, W123, W124, W126

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'81 MB 300SD, '82 MB 300D Turbo (sold/RIP), '04 Lincoln Town Car Ultimate

Sooner or later every car falls apart, ours does it later!
-German Narrator in a MB Promotion Film about the then brand new W123.

I have never sprayed the maximum gloss product. I do agree it may need further buffing. At the same time it appears to flow out so nicely in most of our cases at around half gloss. It looked much better than anything else I had ever used. Nice wet coats of course.

Actually the proper sequence is to remove the original finish totally. Stain the wood, Spray a coat of sealer over it to sand. Then hit it with the final clear coats. The sealer I believe is designed for sanding more so than the final coating. Plus it might act as an adhesion enhancement between the stained wood and the final finish. I would not use a water based stain either.

Anyways, whatever gives you the results you are happy with is what you want.

Madera will probably charge more than $150 for W124 shifter/console surround. That's about what it was for the W201 part which is a bit smaller. BUT the work is excellent and the turnaround was quick.

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Watch him go!!! link

#dontdealwithkahlil

This is the same guy that sells refurbed trim on eBay. Username is restoredinusa. Once I get some other issues sorted out, I may just bite the bullet and buy one of his restored consoles. I think I could spend a lot of money and time on doing it myself and not be happy with the result.

__________________
1991 300D 2.5 "Rocinante"
2002 Golf TDI "Teen Spirit"
--------------------
1984 300D
1966 Mustang I6 3sp
1985 Mazda RX-7 GSLSE
1982 Toyota Supra
1977 Datsun 280z
1971 Datsun 240z