• Hi Guest!
    You can help ensure that British Car Forum (BCF) continues to provide a great place to engage in the British car hobby! If you find BCF a beneficial community, please consider supporting our efforts with a subscription.
    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

Spitfire spitfire dash finishing question...

Share this page

frankenstang57

frankenstang57

Jedi Warrior
Offline
Some of you guys may have seen my junkpile spit post, here's the dash I'm going to use;
100_3230.jpg

As you guys can see it's not in the best shape, but useable. I scraped all the peeling varnish off with a razor blade taking care not to gouge the wood;
100_3221.jpg

Question it what to do next? I figured a nice light sanding and restain it. But what to use? Anyone have any suggestions? Thanx! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
Re: spitfrie dash finishing question...

I peeled the top layer off and then sanded the mahogany plywood underneath and then got some nice veener from the local lumber supply place. Glued it on over top then used a router to recut the holes. Worked out pretty good and about 30 bucks for the veener.........
 
Re: spitfrie dash finishing question...

Mine looked just like that before I refinished it.
Now that you have the old varnish off, you are correct. Give the pieces a sanding with a very light grit paper, in the direction of the grain, and use a tack rag to remove all of the dust.

I used a clear polyurethane varnish product and no stain at all. The natural wood grain really pops out. Three coats, with a couple of days between applications will fill the wood pores and create a great patina. Don't be in a hurry, and don't use a cheap brush. Spring for a 1-1/2 inch good quality brush and apply the varnish with brush strokes always in the same direction (horizontally) side-to-side with the wood grain. I did mine in the garage, but immediately moved the pieces inside the house for drying and to keep bugs, hair and dust out of the finish. There's always that fly or other flying varmit that wants to land on the wet stuff you just brushed on. A fan blowing over the work pieces seems to help keep them away too, but it should be running before you start applying the finish. I also hosed the garage floor to keep dust down.

I put the decals on before the second coating so they were encapsulated and don't tend to rub off.

If you wish, you can always apply a final coat of clear epoxy resin, but I didn't want to add that extra gloss to mine.

You have the hard part done already. Good luck now that you're in the home stretch.

John
 
Re: spitfrie dash finishing question...

Depends on what you're looking for. An acrylic finish will give you a big shine, sort of like patent leather shoes. I once was given the task of restoring the wood on a Silver Cloud. Talked to all the city gunshops, clock makers, musical instrument makers and so on. Finally settled on (forgot the name of the stuff) finish gunsmiths use on their stocks. After putting that on, and then smoothing down with 0000 steel wool, I rubbed lemon oil in for hours on end. Result was a depth that went on forever. Suggest you visit some woodworking people in your area to get ideas.
 
Re: spitfrie dash finishing question...

I refinished the rosewood dash in my old 1990 Peterbilt. It was faded and water stained...it originally had a semi-gloss finish.

I sanded off the old finish and applied a light water based stain. Then I gave it about five coats of high gloss polyurethane...looked pretty fancy on an old million mile truck!
 
Re: spitfrie dash finishing question...

Thanx for all the advice. I forgot to mention that this dash wasn't in very good condition to start with, but the best I have around. All three pieces are warped and the outers are water damaged. That being said, I sanded it down with a fine sandind block and put two coats of Minwax Pine Satin on it. I think it came out pretty decent, especially for a first try. Check it out;
100_3281.jpg

BTW, where do you get those decals? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif
 
Re: spitfrie dash finishing question...

Looks good! As for the "decals," I assume you mean the lettering for BRAKE and HAZARD, right? If so, check to see if Art Supply or Graphics Supply stores still sell Letraset. If so, that's what you want. You can pick your favorite font or match the original with (I think) a "Gill" font.
 
Re: spitfrie dash finishing question...

I have not refinished my dash but you could use a 2 part epoxy clear and spray it on with an air gun. I have a teak table thats been on my deck and I sprayed the top over 3 years ago and it has been in the weather that long too and it looks like I sprayed it yesterday
 
Back
Top