Series II Wood

Terry, I have done the wood on two cars -- neither a series II. I suggest you get a Haynes manual which should show you how to remove the wood from the dash. On the first set of wood, the finish was badly "bubbled" and "granular" from years of exposure to the sun. I took 000 steel wool and lacquer thinner and GENTLY rubbed the finish down to a smooth texture. YOU MUST BE GENTLE or you will go through the veneer and nor even know it. The grain of the original veneer still contained the original varnish. I then took Marine Spar varnish, put in a CLEAN container and then placed it in a pan with water. I heated the pan to boiling so that the water heated the varnish. Do not heat the varnish directly as it is HIGHLY combustible. People will argue with you all day long about spar varnish, but I consulted a bunch of professional wood restorers and they all recommended this route because of the UV. Once the varnish is heated it is extremely thin and will flow onto the wood with an excellent consistency. Also because it is so thin, you do not get that "High School GYM FLOOR" look that is so common on re-done wood.

The other car I did had veneer that had pulled off the backing and splintered. You can buy original "birds-eye" veneer from a number of sources, but I went to my local wood working store and bought panels of Walnut veneer. They also carry an adhesive that works to apply the veneer -- although Elmer's woodworking glue will work in a pinch. I soaked the veneer in water to make it more pliable and clamped it to the base panel. Because of the pliable nature of the wet wood, it was easy to cut and bend over the veneer to fit into the gauge holes. Once it was done, I dried the veneer for a few days glued it to the panels and then sanded and varnished as above.

While I would have liked the bird's eye better, the dash now has consistent grain pattern from door to door which I like as well. Total cost to do all the wood in the car: $50 and LOTS of time and patience.

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I hear you. It sounds like the way to go. Thanks.

Also, did you replace any of the gauges, and if so, from where did you purchase them?

Terry, No, I did not replace any gauges. You can get gauges for a reasonable price used off Ebay all the time or from any of the usual Jag parts suppliers around the country.

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