87 300E Gear Shift Zebrano Wood Panel

[georgehifi]

The wood zebrano panel around the gear shift lever had some cracks and cloudynes in the urethane coating, like so many other 124`s i`ve seen, so i decided to strip the coating off, but now that i`ve done this it seems that MB has stained the pannels before coating them with the urethane, because my stripped/prepared panel seems to be so much lighter than the other ashtray and heater control panels.
Does any one know what colour stain MB used before they
coated all the panels with the urethane. Thanks!

[jeffsr]

Don't know the color, but something in the dark mahogany range will be close. Try Posting in Detailing, see if any of the folks there can get that for you. I doubt the exact stain type will be easily available. I thinky you are going to have to shoot for an eyeball match. BTW, what are you going to use to coat the wood with after staining.

[georgehifi]

1st choice would be two pack polyurethane which i think may have been the original coating, it was a ***** to remove with a fairly strong stripper, i had to do it at least 6 times before it was successfuly removed. Maybe that`s what bleached the wood. Anyone else have any ideas on this. Help greatly appreicated.

[william rogers]

dose any one know a source for zebrano wood itself? I would like to make a new dash and consil panel useing the old cracked ones for a pattern and make it thicker than the ultra thin vennier .I think that MB uses a thick urathane to get that high gloss finish but I bet you could spray clear laquer in mutible coats sanding between coats with ultra fine paper and fine steel wool then polish out the last coats to get a similar finish.would probably have to play around with different stains to get a color match.......
William Rogers........

[georgehifi]

ok here it is for those of you who want to fix up your own Zebrano Wood panels. after stripping the clear coat off which is a ***** cause it`s so thick you`ll be left with a bleached piece of striped wood that does`nt look any thing like the original because all the stain that MB used has come off also, after days of hunting for the right colour, (it can`nt be bought). the paint shop i found had an owner who must be as annal as me and hepled me mix dozens of stains till we got exactly the right match, and here it is 50% Wattle Traditional Cedar and 50% Cabbots Walnut. both of these are oil based stains and will not cause crazing with the spirt based clear coats, now it`s off to the two pack clear coater to finnish the job. i suggest all of you to save this info because just about every MB i`ve seen over 10years old has a cracked gearshift pannel.
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[Jim's500E]

Just purchase a new piece from the dealer...they're under $200...I bought the same one in Burlwood (which is supposedly more expensive than Zebrano) for the 500E and it matches the rest of the wood perfectly. Just my 2 cents. If not then give 'ol Homer Formsby a jingle. For me, the only thing I can stain is my shorts.

[georgehifi]

I think that the clear is that MB uses is very hard and brittle, when the sun hits the gear shift panel the wood heats up and expands and contracts causing the brittle clear coat to crack. btw in Australia the gearshift panel is $500 which is the base average weekly wage to those who need a reference. that gives you an idea why I wanted to recondition it my self.
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