TR6 Dashboard Recommended finish

[wlivesey]

Hello guys,
I have a 71 TR6 with a dashboard that has a badly cracked surface. The wood below the surface (which I assume is teak - correct??) seems to be in reasonable shape. My plan is to use an oil based stain to give the dash a little more color. It is currently looking a little washed out.

I was surprised to see during my research that there was some concern about using oil based clear polyurethane for the final coats (3-5?). The concerns were slow drying between coats, wrinkling surfaces, yellowing.

I would appreciate if there is anyone out there who could give me some advice based upon their own experience or knowledge on stains and also what to use for the final clear coats.

Thanks a lot
Bill L

 

[Rut]

Bill,
I just finished doing this to 2 TR4a wooded dashes and chose to go with marine spar urethane. I'm going to have 8 coats when I'm finished and so far I'm very pleased. One dash is the original wood and the other is a rotten dash I relaminated and covered with a piece of walnut veneer with a very similar pattern to the original.
Rut

BTW, when you finish your dash be sure to finish the backside and all cutouts to prevent delamination.

 

[dklawson]

On our Spitfire we chose to re-glue the lifting OEM vernier, fill the cracks, then apply a new layer of teak vernier over that. The new vernier was lightly stained and then, like Rut, we applied several coats of marine spar varnish. We did not go for a thick, deep finish with multiple coats. I believe we stopped at three which left the vernier with the appearance of more open grain. The dash has looked good for the past 7 years.

 

[Rut]

BTW,
If anyone want to tackle a re veneer job I have a 5 pound bucket of the plastic resin glue recommended for this job and I'll be happy to send out zip lock bags full. When I first decided to do this I searched the Internet for the best method and modified it for the dash. Clean and fill old dash, sand dash and new veneer with 60 grit sandpaper, mix and apply glue to dash with roller for even coating, apply the trimmed veneer to the dash, pull out your wife's food vacuum and seal one end of a long bag, place the glued assembly in the bag and turn on the vacuum, let cure overnight at 70 degrees +...works like a charm!
Rut

 

[ed_h]

After some research, I chose to use this varnish. It is a true marine varnish apparently popular in wooden boat circles.

The process I used is outlined here: https://bullfire.net/TR6/TR6-45/TR6-45.html

Ed

 

[wlivesey]

Great input guys. Seems like marine spar is frequently used. When I had done my previous search, I came across spar varnish quite often. And Ed, OMG! I loved the visual you provided and the effort you put into your dash. Unfortunately I will never have the same level of patience! Very impressive...
Bill