Thanks to all of you (Michael, Graham, Mike, Philip, John, Scott, Sujit, Tom,
Steph, Greg - God, there's a lot of you helpful guys out there!) who have
advised me on how to improve my dash.
I reckon the veneer is OK, it is just the lacquer that is dodgy. So, combining
the best of all advice, my plan is -
1 - Try and remove the old lacquer with a heat gun (only because I have one, so
it is cheaper than buying stripper!)
2 - If that fails, remove the old laquer with chemical stripper
3 - Lightly sand (by hand, not machine, going along the grain) with 320 grit
just to smooth the surface - being careful not to go through the veneer
4 - Coat the back and sides with teak oil
5 - Apply 4-5 coats of water-based polyurethane - someone advised that it dried
quicker than oil-based, so I can do more than one coat in an evening - using a
foam brush.
I have seen some advice suggesting sanding with wet wet'n'dry paper (1600-2000
grit) between each coat. Since Daffy is a long way from perfect inside anyway
(torn, stained seats, door trims not too well attatched, foam poking out of
the arm-rest) I am not attempting perfection, just an improvement that will
cost me very little, so would the wet'n'dry make a lot of difference? If not,
I probably won't bother, life is too short!
Does this plan seem sound to everyone? If so, I'll go ahead and get back to
you in a week with the results!
Richard and Daffy
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