I'm experimenting with an extra rear pull-down tray I have to see if it is easy to refinish and make it come out nice.

step 1: try to strip the varnish (or whatever the cracked plastic looking stuff is) off with whatever random paint strippers I happen to have in the garage. That's not working too well. Nothing that I've tried seems to cut through the finish.

Anyone have a recommendation on how to chemically strip this stuff?

Also, what do folks recommend as a finish to put back on? I'm thinking tongue oil or Polyurethane.

any advice would be appreciated.
Bob

Well, what you need to do is join a wood working forum. That's number one. Number two is it's much easier to buy the new, or slightly used wood from eBay or another source. I'm not sure anyone here may know too much about working the wood (I could be wrong). You may just be better off going to Homedepot or Lowes, and asking someone in the paint department. They are normally pretty helpful.
I've been looking into refinishing the wood in my 1989 xj40, but I'm putting it off because I've been told the amount of time and money I need to spend.

Hi Bob, If you want to chemically strip the wood it will take " Aircraft " stripper" and plastic scrapper. Be very careful with the stripper as it will burn you. once the finish has been removed a sanding block and fine sandpaper must be used to dress the surface. Do not attempt to hand sand the veneer or it will come out rippled. Wipe the surface down with a damp lint free rag and let dry thoroughly. Lightly sand one more time. Using Lac-o-French "French Lacquer establish a base sealer coat to the veneer. Using 400 grit or more lightly sand till smooth apply about six coats of this sanding each coat with a finer grade paper ending u with 1000 grit.. The final finish should be a high quality Polyurethane varnish water sanded and similarly finished then topped off with a polish.

This considers only the case where the existing veneer is good. Lotsa work!-Fwiw-Keoke

1) Stripping: The finish is most likely polyurethane which is a pain to remove but there are a number of companies making strippers for just this purpose. Try email 3M / DuPont / PPG or one of the main players customer service line and see what they suggest.
Mechanical stripping (sand paper , scraping etc) can go right through the veneer before you know it. It is very thin stuff.

2 Refinishing: Tung oil (and any other oil for that matter) will give a lustre but you need to keep applying it over the life of the item. That said it is not a good choice for car woodwork due to UV and temperature and humidity extremes.
Poly is a better option which is why it is on there in the first place.
Decide what finish you want and go from there.
Personally I like semi gloss and spray poly is available in that finish straight from the makers.
Some use marine spar varnish which also works well and is designed for outdoor use but it is too "glassy" for my taste.
If that appeals you can cut back the gloss with powdered pumice or talcum powder and still have a durable finish.

By the way I was a French Polisher in a previous life if you are wondering.
These days I am a therapeutic massage practitioner specialising in back muscles.

Good luck.

Cheers , Pete.

I just did all the wood in my Mark Two.

I got some super-dooper stripper that is supposed to be safe for veneers (ask).
I used fine steel wool (lots of it), as my dash sections anyway had original varnish and 2-3 layers of shellac!

I smoothed it with 1000 grit.

Sprayed polyurethane spar varnish with Preval Sprayers, about 4-5 coats.

I did discover that the birch door top pieces are an interesting surface texture (not modified).

TOC, I don't mean to be nosey, but how much did that venture cost you. The main reason I'm putting my refinishing off is because of the price that I've been told, $400 being cheap, and I can get a new factory set of wood from another company for my car.

Oh, my son bought the stripper on-line, so no idea.
The varnish was what, $10 or $15 for the quart (still have a bunch left).
Steel wool was about $5 for the bag.
Sandpaper I had.

WEEKS of work.

The biggest expense was the vertical piece on the RR door, which was basically non-salvageable (altho I am still "working" on it).
I think it was $20 or so for a used piece, semi-stripped, needed a couple of spots re-glued.
So, what, $25 to $50 for all supplies to do it?
I am guessing your wood is not toast.

If you need to re-glue any veneer, I used yellow wood glue, blocks of wood, clamps, and old zip-lock bags to keep the wood blocks from adhering.

It worked, and worked well.

I have one spot on the dash cap to fix, where a piece had been re-glued not-quite-on, but I can soak that off.

BTW, I had a spare dash set of wood, did that first, so the time down was just the time to swap it out.
Did the passenger side first, then driver's side, then the filler piece under the parcel shelf.

The door wood had been off for a while, did not affect the ability to drive it, so, as I finished the sections, on they went.

One clarification of my post above...
The finish coat is auto spray clear finish.
This is used by car makers to finish the paint on body panels and gives a clear finish which does not yellow and is UV stabilised.

Pete.

wow, thanks for all the guidance.

So, to net it out:

1: Use an aircraft paint stripper to get the clearcoat off.
--> Does anyone have a recommended brand? There seems to be many when I google it.

2: Clean up with lots of steal wool and 1000 grit sand paper (maybe 400 grit, but be careful, it is thin veneer)

3: Put a coat of French Lacquer to establish a base coat. Then 1/2 dozen more coats with sanding in between.
--> Does this give a reasonably close "stain" to look like the original?

4: OR - Put several coats (4 to 6) of Poly on (probably with a spray version). Sand with 1000 grit between.
--> Is a stain used prior to Poly with this approach?
--> What do you guys think about this Poly approach vs. French Lacquer (Pete, you were a French Polisher, but suggested the poly - so I'm guessing you have an opinion)?

Again, thanks for all the great input. I'll give a report after I do the work. Although, I have a few projects to tackle before I get to it.
Bpob

Sort of.
I re-stained a couple of pieces, LIGHTLY, to match.
If you don't go too deep, no need to re-stain, at least in my experience.
I started on the back of the glovebox door to see what would happen.

The French Lacquer is required to seal the veneer and establish a base for the final finish . Some people use shellac but it can get you into trouble if it contains wax. Air Craft Stripper is the brand name it is not made by different vendors. A stain is not generally required. However, tinting can be done by controlling the lacquer--Keoke

Call this guy. This wood is a real pain to try to refinish, you'll get better results if your toss your stuff and buy new.
This guy did my steering wheel and it's AMAZING! His prices were good too.

http://www.britishautowood.com/

--> What do you guys think about this Poly approach vs. French Lacquer (Pete, you were a French Polisher, but suggested the poly - so I'm guessing you have an opinion)?

Bpob [/quote]

Bob,
Sorry for the delay. I needed to make an interstate strip.

To your question.
French polishing is great if the item is staying in a temperature stable environment away from direct sunlight which sadly most car interiors do not hence the suggestion for a poly finish.

In other words a good choice for a coffee table in a hallway indoors but not for a car dash or door cappings etc.

The ultra violet (UV) light is what does the damage to the materials and poly finishes are formulated to be UV resistant.

Any stain is suitable so long as it is compatible with the overcoating material and poly is pretty safe in that regard.

Just one point on the surface finishing before staining or finish coating: I have always avoided using steel wool of any sort since getting the finest particles of steel wool out (which is essential by the way) is sometime impossible.

My choice is wet and dry sandpaper starting about 600 grit and going up to 1200 or so depending on the finish requested.
The finer grades give an excellent surface but take longer of course.
Any auto body shop will be able to help you with these materials.

Hope that is of some help.

Good luck with it all.

Cheers , Pete.