Stripping wood

[W123.153]

What is the best way to remove the factory urethane on the wood trim?

I am aware that the veneer is thin, so you can't sand, and rather use steel wool after the urethane is off.

But how do you best get rid of the bulk of the urethane?

My wood is in good shape, except that the finish is cracked, and peeling off in some areas (1983 300CD).

Thanks for help.

Hans

[kilgor]

I've used a paint stripper called "Dad's" with awesome success in the past. It's very easy to use and water neutralizes it.
I'd use it to take off most of it, then use a steel wool for the residual.

I've used other paint strippers, but for me, this worked the best.

Also, use a plastic paint scraper on wood. Never use metal.

[cth350]

The heavy stuff they started using after 1972 is usually not worth stripping. Usually, its easier to just buy new wood. The older stuff is simply treated with a great deal of care.

The archives here and at www.mbz.org should have the info. -CTH

[deanyel]

It's alway easier to just go buy the new part, except that for older cars the price is often higher than the market value of the car. You don't have to strip it all off, you can sand it down with maybe 220, then 400, re-clear it and the cracks won't show. If you sand too far and get into the veneer you''re in trouble. I'm not opposed to a stripper, just never found one that works - Dad's sound worth a try.

The BEST way I found to strip and refinish the wood in my 450SL was to locate someone who specializes in refinishing vintage Mercedes wood. I found Drew Tibcken at Heritage Woodworks. He refinished the cracked and delaminating wood console in my car 6 years ago, and it still looks great! Better than new because it's the original wood. Drew did an excellent job at a reasonable price. Check out www.heritagewoodworks.com or call them at 888-255-3523. Everybody I've recommended him to has been more than happy with the final results.

[R Leo]

Go here for some advice on wood resto:

http://207.210.95.34/~boostd/Wood/

[JMyers]

That refinishing link was very interesting and detailed. I am in the middle of cleaning up / replacing the wood in an 81 - 280CE (W123) and it has been a challenge. First tried the DIY approach and made a mess. Nothing I tried would remove the finish. Next I gave it to my furniture refinishers who do all our antique pieces. Their stuff didn't work either. Research after the fact revealed that the original finish is a polyester, and the only thing that would remove it is "Klean Strip - Aircraft Remover", available at Auto Zone. Sounds like it is related to the Klean Strip product in the link. I passed this on to the refinishers and it seems to work. I saw the pieces today, all stripped.

To complicate things, the 81 had Zebrano, but I just happened to have a 79 - 280CE sitting around and it had burl, which I thought looked much richer. Only problem is that the A/C controls changed from 79 to 81 so two pieces did not match the template. These guys ordered some burl veneer and they are going to match the other burl pieces. Total cost will be around $300, but I had priced new wood kits and Zebrano was $900 and burl was $1400.

All I want to do is get the wood looking nice so I can sell this car... I've got $20K in a $5K car and I'm going to try to get $10K out of it.

[Hatterasguy]

How do you apply the new wood finish on the wood? I was told by a person with a lot of wood working experiance that it would have to be sprayed on to get the same quality of finish it left the factory with. I'm asking this because I want to refinish my wood, the clear coat is becoming milky colored.

[cth350]

Definitely spray.

I just paid 10$ or so for a little disposable sprayer from home depot. It comes with enough propellant for 8oz of material. I'll be testing it with some POR-15 soon (no, not on the wood). -CTH

[JMyers]

Hatterasguy - Did you look at the link that R Leo provided about two posts up? Near the end he talks about the new finish. If your finish is getting cloudy, you will have to go through all the steps in the link to get the old finish off, before applying any new finish. Here is the link again:
http://207.210.95.34/~boostd/Wood/