Dash wood refinishing

[TerenceD]

I am about to refinish the wood on the dash of my 1970 280sl, but I am uncertain about the finish and color of the original.  There seems to be a lot of variation in the color of the dash wood that I see on cars (based on pictures).  I have seen some that were lightly colored, some that were darkly colored, and I have seen several variations in pictures.

1. are there several finish variations present from the factory for 280sl's ?
2. was the finish on the wood glossy or matte ?
3. if there was only one type of finish, can anybody forward me a clear picture of what the finish should be

[dldubois]

I understand there was both a dark or light finish and both were done in a Matte.

Dana DuBois

1969 280sl auto
blue (906)
Corinth, TX

[TerenceD]

Does anybody know whether my car should have the light or dark finish, or was it an option ?  I have a red 1970 with black interior and black convertible top.

Thanks

[Douglas]

If it's original and unrestored, remove the center wooden console and examine the underside. You want to look at a part of the wood that hasn't been exposed to UV damage. Chances are, it was dark as most were.

Douglas Kim
New York, NY
280 SL #016220

[rwmastel]

quote:Originally posted by Douglas

If it's original and unrestored, remove the center wooden console and examine the underside. You want to look at a part of the wood that hasn't been exposed to UV damage. Chances are, it was dark as most were.

Compare the underside of the wood console to the hard top rear window wood trim.  That's typically less sun damaged then the other wood.  These two surfaces should give you a good idea.

Do a search on wood finish and see what you find.  Lots of members have talked about specific products and techniques to do this.

Rodd
Powell, Ohio, USA
1966 230SL, Euro, Auto, Leather, both  tops
1994 E420

[Dick M]

My wood trim around the hard top rear window seemed to be the original color which was very dark and matt finish.  I opted for a little lighter stain finish

Download Attachment: wood finished.jpg
73.53 KB

Dick M
1970 280SL

[TerenceD]

Thank you very much for your answers and advise, I am going to start to refinish the wood tomorrow.  

Thanks,
Terence

[Vince Canepa]

Some say there were several finishes, but I have never seen that option on any order sheets.  Maybe some cars shown at auto shows were finished different.  Some confusion comes from factory brochures of the era, when color printing techniques often distorted colors.

The original finish was a medium mahogany brown, slightly darker than Dick M's picture, and matte.  It was a lacquer with the stain mixed in, i.e. the stain/lacquer mix was sprayed on.  It was almost like paint, as opposed to staining the wood and then finishing it with clear topcoats.  The grain was hard to see.  Almost nobody does it the factory way when refinishing the wood, because frankly, it looked pretty crappy from the factory.  Only the expensive sedans and coupes of the era had the beautiful clear lacquer over stained wood finish.

Vince Canepa
1967 250SL
113.043-10-001543
568H Signal Red
116 Caviar MB-Tex

[Ben]

Was the 230Sl wood finished differently ? Any 230SL I have ever seen has had lighter wood, sorta honey colour, with a rougher appearance !

Anyone out there with original "unmolested" dash trim ??  

Regards,
Ben in Ireland.
'64 230SL 4sp.

[TR]

Ben -- I recall clearly as a kid seeing a brand new 230SL (red w/black top).  Two things that always stood out in my mind about it; 1) the wood, which was the color Vince just described, and 2) what seemed (at the time) as the car's freakishly wide stance.

BTW, that car was owned by an older kid who was in high-school ... his daddy bought him the 230SL, and then the next year he had a new XKE ... I never liked that guy.  But I sure admired the cars his daddy bought for him.

I've just had new wood installed in my car.  Got it from Mike at Millers.  Because the center box gets so easily dinged/damaged I bought 4.  Went through a couple of sets of the dash pieces before getting them to fit just right.  The color and finish (to my eye at least) of those new pieces (center console box, radio grill, and 2 dash trim pieces) look to be an exact match to the original wooden trim piece, which is in perfect condition, around the rear window of the hardtop.

Tom in Boise
'71 280SL 4-spd, signal red w/lt. tan interior, restored/enhanced

[hands_aus]

Hey Ben

All the wood in my car looks as in the attached picture.

Download Attachment: DashWood_1.jpg
66.04 KB

Bob Smith (Brisbane,Australia)
RHD,1967 early 250 SL, auto

[TerenceD]

Thanks for all the pictures, they really will help me.

Terence
70 280sl

[Ben]

Thanks Bob !

Regards,
Ben in Ireland.
'64 230SL 4sp.

[thelews]

My wood is not original.  The previous owner did not like the MB factory finish, felt the beauty of the wood was lost and took matters into his own hands.  I have to say, I like the product of his efforts. 

[CraigD]

A couple years ago, because of repairs done to the heater core, I had my dash wood out and faced the question of refinishing it.  It wasn't in bad condition, but it had a little deterioration.  I chose to refinish it.  My wood now looks like John's - it's gorgeous. 

I much prefer the look of the glossy wood.  In my opinion, it looks like a Mercedes should.  In my view, the matte finish doesn't do justice to the wood, or the car.

But I know I am now non-original, and I wonder if I did the right thing.  The rest of my car is mostly original... so this is the one thing that's not as it "should be".  Would I do it again?  I think so... but it's a close call.

[ja17]

Hello,

The wood was originally finished in a matt brown (Hearshey Chocolate Color). It was never polished and sanded smooth. The grain of the wood was barley visable but the finshed showed the grain in the surface.

Recently I installed some new W113 wood ordered  from Mercedes-Benz  in a W113. The new wood from the factory was high gloss and a lighter color. Obviously the new wood was not New Old Stock but more modern factory made using current modern wood finishing materials and techniques. We had to order more wood so everything would match.

[Andres G]

Joe,

Would you mind scaring us by telling how much the wood cost?

I too did the complete refinish of the wood in our car. It was about 2 weeks of work including sanding, drying times and multiple coats, but the result was superb! I went with the original Chocolate color stain and matte finish.

Thanks,
Andres G

[Allenh]

When I restored my old 40 plus year old wood, I found that attempting to stain and then apply a sealer or gloss coat wasn't going to work.  The "wood" wasn't all real wood.  It would not accecpt the stain uniformly. 

I opted to mix the appropriate mahogany stain with a satin urethane and sprayed (misted) light coats with a detail gun until I reached the desired results.  I sprayed maybe 10 very light coats over about a day and a half.  If you apply too much per coat, gravity will pull it into pools and ruin the uniform look.  This is particularly important if you are going for a light look.  One might apply six misting coats before your true color becomes apparent.

Take your time and its easy.

[ja17]

Hello Andres,

The wood was nearly $400.00 per half for the dash top wood.  I got a 30% discount so it was not too bad with that. It may be more now with the Euro value on the rise.

[mdsalemi]

On the topic of wood for our cars, keep in mind the following:

1)  There are several aftermarket suppliers, so check around if you are into replacement.  I believe that some of these reproductions are solid mahogany or similar as opposed to veneer.
2)  The original wood was an extremely thin veneer, so thin that it didn't take well to much sanding in a refinishing process.
3)  There are several refinishers of Mercedes wood that advertise in the Star and in other publications.   They make a specialty in automotive wood refinishing and I believe they come with excellent references.  Heritage Woodworks is one that comes to mind immediately.

If you opt to do it "locally", there are generally many fine furniture refinishers that can handle the project.  Make some phone calls and the good ones will rise to the top of your list quickly.  I had mine done locally years ago, and while not up to "new" quality or that of Heritage, the work done was quite nice and a fraction of the cost of "Mercedes" refinishers--perfect if you are on a budget.

If you live in a large metropolitan area, and want to have it done, seek out a piano rebuilder.  What you say?  A Piano rebuilder?  Yes--the folks that rebuild pianos have unparalleled skill in the fine art of finishing and refinishing, with all kinds of veneers, finishes, toned varnish (that's what Alan H refers to) etc.  Many work on furniture and fine wood too, if the piano business is slow.  I've seen what amounts to firewood restored to original glory in a piano restoration facility, so it's worth a shot.

[Shvegel]

Hi,
I found that spray can Minwax polyurethane in semi gloss was a dead on match for gloss. I ended up stripping it and just clearing it the first time then after a couple of years I decided to stain it the correct chocolate brown. It was tough to get the Minwax off but it did finally brek down with stripper. Be CAREFULL about how much you sand the veneer is very thin.