wood stering wheel and wood dash piece/speaker grill restoration

[Michaelg]

I have a beautiful wood steering wheel in my 1970 280 sl as well as a dash piece of wood and speaker grill that need to be re done. or replaced??
I am very handi and have refinished teak in my boat, albeit still a novice, but capable. Have any of you taken on this project. need some guidence.
Sorry for posting in wrong place!!
Happy new year.
Cheers.
Michaelg

[perry113]

What is the condition of the veneer on your 2 dash pieces and how is the speaker.
Can you post pictures of your pieces so I can better advise you?
Regards
Peter

[Michaelg]

here are pics of the grill. The wood dash piece is in good shape. just needs a refinish.

[Michaelg]

second grill photo

[Michaelg]

what kind of finish did this wood have from the factory? glosss is on both the grill and the dash piece as you can see. Is the dash piece glued onto the dash? Should i gently pry it off?

[kampala]

Don't pry the wood -- unless you want to buy new, of course.

Pretty decent write-up in our Tech Manual on how to remove and thoughts on correct finish.


http://www.sl113.org/wiki/Interior/Wood

[perry113]

It looks like the veneer is peeling and has broken off in a few areas. It also looks like there is some kind of finish that is on it that has also failed. If all of the flacking is in fact the veneer than I wood say its pretty rough.
You would have to carefully glue and clamp the failed veneer on the backing first.
You can use a variety of small putty knives or smaller dull screw drivers to carefully knock of the loss failed finish coat on the wood without damaging the veneer. You can then use 1000-1500 grit wet sand paper to prep however it is so tedious and time consuming. If you have the time and patience then go for it.
If time is an issue then it might make more sense to replace. I recently purchased a new on from Vintage Euro Parts and was pleased with the product.
See here:
http://vintageeuroparts.com/100411.html
I hope this helps.

[perry113]

I just finished up the final clear coat on a new dash for my father's Morgan. My next set of wood projects are the original center consoles on the 65 and 66 230sl's. I am leaning on doing them like the Morgan Dash which went through 3 separate rounds in the paint booth with Omni clear. Its a a lot of work doing it this way but the results are worth it.

[Pinder]

the morgan dash looks great. I think these old 113s have a almost semi gloss finish. sort of hand rubbed with grain showing. Not sure how to achieve it but will get to mine at some point. For now I used minwax stain and left it at that.

[perry113]

the morgan dash looks great. I think these old 113s have a almost semi gloss finish. sort of hand rubbed with grain showing. Not sure how to achieve it but will get to mine at some point. For now I used minwax stain and left it at that.

I may in fact do the semi gloss finish on the 113 pieces. It is done the same way except you use a semigloss clear or use a flattening agent. The main key is ever so gently prepping the wood without damaging. One of my consoles has some type of old finish on it that will have to be removed. I will post more info as I make progress.

[Pinder]

Great, I will definitely look out for the progress you make and gets some tips from you.