Pagoda SL Group
W113 Pagoda SL Group => Body, interior, paint, chrome, and cosmetic items => Topic started by: pagodapete on September 18, 2024, 17:11:36
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Hi All. My local wood restorer has retired. Can you all weigh in on the current "Pagoda-experienced" wood refinishing vendors? There is Madera Concepts for one. Is Heritage Woodworks still in business? When I search that a furniture company comes up. Any others out there? We Don't want to buy new wood but need someone skillful and has the equipment to re-veneer a damage set. Thanks, Brian
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Heritage has been gone a few years now. I used Madera and not sure who else is around.
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Heritage has been gone a few years now. I used Madera and not sure who else is around.
Yes, Drew Tibkan (sp) from Heritage passed away a few years ago and the business closed.
Madera is still around and doing exceptional work, high end, and high price.
For those wanting another alternative, I'd seek out in your locale piano rebuilders. Aside from the musical rebuilding component, there's a fine furniture component and it's worth investigating. They know all about fine veneers and fine finishes. There are a LOT of piano rebuilders around tucked in various corners of the USA. Just have to look or contact a couple of local piano dealers and ask who does it locally for you.
My hardtop wood was not replaced, but rather, refinished by a piano guy.
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With the looks of the water damage, might want to consider replacing with new.
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i ended up buying a new / repro set for half the cost of having madera fix the original.
i saved the original set in case i ever sell the car and the new owner wants it.
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i ended up buying a new / repro set for half the cost of having madera fix the original.
i saved the original set in case i ever sell the car and the new owner wants it.
After taking a look at Brian’s photos in the first post in this thread, there’s more than veneer damage here.
I bought my replacement wood from Authentic Classics and have been exceedingly pleased with it. Beautifully executed and finished. I did this about 3 years ago.
My original wood had been refinished 25 years ago, but not to the quality level of Madera Concepts. However, after all this time, it needed it again. It wasn’t a long analysis to realize that I needed to replace the wood, not refinish it. Replaced and sold my original wood on eBay.
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May I ask a question here?
My car had a tonneau cover fitted way back when and,as a result,has press-studs placed around the car..these have now been removed but ,the wood veneer has been left with holes in..any ideas on how to disguise these without removing the pieces themselves which,I believe is an almost impossible task…
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Wood button caps that are used in furniture making. They come in multiple sizes. Then stain them with the closest matching stain. They just press into the holes.
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Alternative would be to get some 'liquid wood' available in different stains/wood types. You press it in then it dries/hardens after wich it can be sanded and stained to match.
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Thank you
Looking that up right now…
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Whether you plug the holes with plugs or plastic wood or putty, the project will be harder than it looks, AND considerably harder if done “in situ”.
“Harder than it looks” if the goal is to make it look like nothing was done or nearly so.
Watch a couple of YouTube videos on using wood plugs to see how they are fit and finished and you’ll see what I mean.
Any finishing that requires sanding, remember there’s that paper thin veneer which is so easy to damage!
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Thank you .. as always.. invaluable advice.. yes, I realise the removal is the best option.. but,as said ,a nightmare of a job.. I've ordered some wax crayons to experiment with.. I shall practice and see how that develops… I’ve never seen a Pagoda with a tonneau.. I wish I had tried it at least once before removing the studs.. just for photographic memories.. my car was almost totally resprayed just to remove eight studs .. and it didn’t need it.. paint was perfect..
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Here is one brief video…
Key takeaways are the size of the hole and the size of the plug are critical.
Note the various finishing efforts after the plug is installed. Chisels, razor blades, etc. are needed to smooth the plug before you can start sanding.
Trying to do all this while the wood is still installed would have me simply ordering a new set of wood.
https://youtube.com/shorts/xZdUkRBE2FY?si=JisQymqyXUcxxnWs
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I agree with Michael, ordering new set of wood to me, sure beats repairing holes while wood pieces are still in place. BTW, it is not that hard to get under dash and unscrew wood pieces. The nuts are called “thumb nuts”, they are blue plastic nuts that you use your thumb and forefinger to unscrew. So all you got to do is get your hand under dash. Passenger side, take out glove box, drivers side if tach and speedo stay in place, just got to work around them. Also reason for plastic thumb nuts is so you don’t tighten them too much to pull the bolt shaft out of the wood. As Michael said these are veneer and are very fragile.
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I think I mentioned it earlier in the same thread quite some time ago, but I replaced all my wood with wood from Authentic Classics. Exceedingly pleased.
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Thank you all…
Maybe a job for a future date… such a big relief to get the studs off the body.. now I’ve just got to look at the hole in the veneer until the motivation kicks in.. there is a chap nearby who specialises in veneering car parts… he is a genius… just have to remember how to find him..
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I had very weathered parts with missing veneer and took them to a friendly Guitar maker and he did a fabulous job.
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I don't know what the original wood is/was, nor what the veneer wood is/was.
However you use veneer when you are trying to save money, or when the structural part of your project requires one wood, and the finish part another. A guitar or piano is a great example. They use one kind of wood for the case of the guitar and inlay decorative veneers. On a piano, the case is generally laminated maple, while if it is to be finished with wood, then a veneer is applied. If painted black, no need for a veneer.
However in the case of our wood, there really was no reason to veneer it except to save money. Today, the best wood as a replacement isn't a veneer. Even the costliest exotic wood you might think of to use, well, there's not that much of it to worry about the cost. In fact in the reproduction process, you still have to shape it, so why bother to veneer? It's another step and another cost.
The Authentic Classic reproduction (and I would guess many others) are not veneered, but solid wood. It was less costly than a professional re-veneering and restoration on my original parts.
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Just to add my 2 cents Igor has done great work for me on various w126 wood he was in San Diego but moved to the Carolinas last year. He has much better pricing than Madura. His site is
Restoredinusa.com