[charles bledsoe]

I had asked this question over in the interior section, but not getting any replies. Thought i would ask over here, since most of you guys have the wooden dashes i am asking about.

I'm trying to clean up the old varnish on my dash on the 66 GTO. My dash has light cracking of the varnish and when I applied a coat of liquid gold it took most of it away. There are a few light cracks in the varnish left around the gauge pods. I'm wondering if I could lightly sand these areas with fine steel wool and apply a second coat of the liquid gold? I have noticed that my dash seems to be a darker shade than those which I have seen either in person or in magazines. I believe mine is original to the car, but it seems to be a dark walnut shade and not the lighter shade dashes I see. Were the original wood veneer dashes on these cars dark in color, or light like what i see being reproduced today and sold thru the various venders?
Thanks!!

[GT182]

Original that I had was darker... no reproductions back in 1970. You had to get a prelacement from a Pontiac dealer. The only repo that I've seen with the color as close to an original is from PY. I have one on the shelf in the garage. But it doesn't have the shine my original did back in 70. The one in my 66 GTO I have now... is an original. Looks like crap... cracked all over.... but it's dark has a nice shine to it.

[1966geeto]

Don't mean to jack your thread but do they use poly on the veneer?

[GT182]

Originally Posted by 1966geeto

do they use poly on the veneer?

I'm not sure on the original veneer what it would be. Looks like it could be something other than polyurethane. I don't think there was any polyurethane back in '66.

Tho I can't remember if there was or not. Hey, I was only 16 and I was stuck using lead based oil paint back then. Mom made me paint stuff with it. That's why I hate painting anything around the house today.

[smac8876]

I just ordered one of the wood vaneer dashes from Ames that they actually stain themselves before shipping and it is definitely a dark walnut. Looks really good though. I also just stained and finished a wood steering wheel and used the special walnut stain and it matched the dash insert almost perfect. Finished with a wipe on satin poly finish. Looks really nice with the dash.

[arbys]

I hope that you got one with the aluminum backing.

[1966geeto]

I have the setup from Ames also with the aluminum backer had to do allot of tweaking to get it to fit held my breath a few times was thinking about tonge oil what do you mean by special stain mine was a stained piece dark walnut.

[smac8876]

Originally Posted by 1966geeto

I have the setup from Ames also with the aluminum backer had to do allot of tweaking to get it to fit held my breath a few times was thinking about tonge oil what do you mean by special stain mine was a stained piece dark walnut.

Sorry, I didn't mean to confuse you I used a stain on my steering wheel by miniwax called "Special Walnut". That stain matched the stain of wood vaneer from Ames with the aluminum backing perfectly. I actually never got to handle my dash insert because I got the one with factory A/C by mistake so I only looked at it through the plastic and sent it back the other day. I'm wondering if it has a poly coating on it? If not, I wonder if it would look good with a little poly satin finish?

[GT182]

Originally Posted by smac8876

I wonder if it would look good with a little poly satin finish?

Don't take my word for it but it should look pretty descent. I use the poly satin finish on my wood Grant steering wheel and it's a pretty close match to my original dash veneer. Special Walnut stain also on the Grant wheel.

[charles bledsoe]

Originally Posted by smac8876

Sorry, I didn't mean to confuse you I used a stain on my steering wheel by miniwax called "Special Walnut". That stain matched the stain of wood vaneer from Ames with the aluminum backing perfectly. I actually never got to handle my dash insert because I got the one with factory A/C by mistake so I only looked at it through the plastic and sent it back the other day. I'm wondering if it has a poly coating on it? If not, I wonder if it would look good with a little poly satin finish?

Hi smac8876-

Would you mind describing how you refinished your steering wheel? Is your wheel the Pontiac sport wood wheel, which is actually plastic? I need to redo mine as it is now a tan color. Do I just wipe the miniwax "Special Walnut" on the wheel? Or do you have to sand it first?
Thanks!

[smac8876]

Originally Posted by GT182

Don't take my word for it but it should look pretty descent. I use the poly satin finish on my wood Grant steering wheel and it's a pretty close match to my original dash veneer. Special Walnut stain also on the Grant wheel.

If you try it on the dash, let us know how it turns out. I think it will look nice, with just a little shine.

[smac8876]

Originally Posted by charles bledsoe

Hi smac8876-

Would you mind describing how you refinished your steering wheel? Is your wheel the Pontiac sport wood wheel, which is actually plastic? I need to redo mine as it is now a tan color. Do I just wipe the miniwax "Special Walnut" on the wheel? Or do you have to sand it first?
Thanks!

Sure. First I purchased a Grant steering wheel off of Ebay. This one.....
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1967-68-PONT...e37644&vxp=mtr

When I got it, it looked much lighter in person than the picture on Ebay. See below. The picture really doesn't look that light, but I'm telling you, it clashes big time with the console.


So instead of returning it and shopping around for one that matched my console and dash better I decided to just color match it myself. The wheel comes with a top coating on it already, so I used real fine steel wool (Autozone) and Acetone to remove the coating and prepare the wood to accept the stain. Make sure you clean it really good and you've removed all the coating. After you've removed all the original coating, remember to run the wheel under water and clean really well to get rid of any debris left from the steel wool. If you see any areas on the wheel that water just rolls off of then you've missed a spot.


After testing several different stains and Poly coatings I decided on "Special Walnut" from Minimax. It matched the dash from Ames perfect and is close enough to the console also. I applied the stain by brush and let sit for about 15-20 seconds and then wiped off. One application should be enough, but you can ad multiple coats to get the color you want. Just apply and wipe off quickly. the longer it sits, the deeper it goes and the darker it gets, and there's no going back. I really think one application should do it.


Let it dry over night and then applied a coat of the Satin Polyurethane finish by hand. I put on about three coats of the Poly coating, using a real fine wool between coats. The pictures probably won't truly capture it, but it turned out really nice and will match my interior perfectly. I used a lot of poly to give it a really smooth finish and a little more shine. If you don't want a shiny finish, just put one light coat on and you'll be fine.

[1966geeto]

So after looking at the finish I tried several different coatings on the unused pieces I like the satin poly look the best 2 coats steel wool in between and then minwax for protection looks great would post some pics but wife has the camera also going to do my wheel same process have the Grant classic will post a pick when all done .I used spray on satin poly and the same stain had some leftovers for a house project.

[charles bledsoe]

Can this process be done on the Pontiac wood (plastic) wheel?

[GT182]

No it can't. Reason being; it's plastic not wood. You could try but the stain wouldn't be absorbed by the plastic. It would be a real mess and look like crap. And Hell to clean off too. You can try but fair warning was given.

[SR-71]

Originally probably had shellac on the wood veneer since that was the standard protective finish on wood back then. Everything from wooden boats to floors. That would give you a sheen.

[Old Blue 66]

Originally Posted by charles bledsoe

Can this process be done on the Pontiac wood (plastic) wheel?

Agree with Gary on this. Yuk.