1750GTV Timber Veneer

[lhodgo]

Hi Everyone,

The timber veneer on my 105 has bubbled and the timber veneer is too small. The last owner tried to do it himself and it doesn't stack up. I've made a decision to follow in his footsteps (minus the lack luster result). Can anyone give some advice on type of timber, varnish ect?

Thanks,

Lhodgo

[Barry Edmunds]

Lhodgo

I am not up to date on veneer options for dashboards but when I started on my resto some years ago I was quoted telephone like figures for veneer so looked for cheaper alternatives.
I found a plastic material with a dark walnut wood grain finish for my Giulia Super. This plastic material is close to the same thickness as the original veneer but unlike the wood-based veneer materials the plastic material is not likely to be affected by the weather/water/etc like the veneer is. The plastic material can also be cut, sawn, drilled with ease and is therefore much easier to work with.

[branko.gt]

the top layer veneer timber is mahogany,  marine poly is good choice of varnish that is likely to survive well

[Paul Gulliver]

This might sound a bit dodgy , but i have seen it done and it's comes up well. That is a wood grained or mahogany laminex. These products have come a long way from what you may have in mind. In addition it is already pre finished. Use your old timber as a template and away you go.

Cheers

Paul

[lhodgo]

I will check out these options thanks.

Do you know if I have to remove the whole dash, centre console ect or can I do it insitu?

Thanks

[Barry Edmunds]

Ihodgo
Doubt if you could do the job properly with dash in situ. The dash is easy to remove from car anyway. Colin Byrne has been fiddling with a console recently and his results looked great.
Barry

[Davidm1600]

Ahm one better than most of these posts.  You can actually buy from Classic Alfa/alfaholics etc the correct timber inserts for your 105 GTVs. I can't recall the prices but check their respective websites out for details.

The alternative is to do as I did for my Giulia Super.  You can readily buy veneer from timber specialist outlets and cut to shape, seal (both sides) with a good epoxy, rubbing down between each coat (for the front) until you get the desired result.  I had mine made out of fiddleback blackwood.  The mahogony used by Alfa was pretty ordinary quality and by now most are stuffed in our heat/UV.  I recall one guy here in Tassie when restoring his Giulia Super using birds eye Huon Pine!

If you wished to be really fussy you could always french polish and bees wax polish  but I would have some concerns over heat affecting the finish.  The problem with marine varnishes are that they are thick and generally stain the timber pretty dark. 

n order to get the perfect finish, your sealing coats really need to be sprayed (therefore thinned down).  Another option could be to use something like Feast Watson's tung oil/polyurethane, thinned down with some turps and sprayed.  You would need to use multiple coats.  The real issue though is that most of the epoxy/eurathane finishes are that they give a plastic appearance finish.  Wood really needs a natural finish to get the best out of it and for it to last.  Cheers Dave. 

[jantar]

I stripped back my 105's wooden steering wheel over Christmas.

I used International Schooner tropical varnish on it . Goes on very well and easy to sand back and reapply another coat if you do get a run. Its quite a high gloss finish which might not be to everyones taste but I liked it and will use it on all the wood in the future

A little surprised at all the good things available at yacht suppliers.

http://www.yachtpaint.com/australia/default.asp


Chris

[Barry Edmunds]

I guess it might be considered cheating but when I restored my Giulia Super I used a plastic material the same thickness (1.6mm) as the original veneer in the dashboard. It has a dark walnut woodgrain finish and is really easy to work with as it can be drilled, cut with a box cutter blade and then snaps clean, filed etc and is less likely to be affected by weather condiitions or water leaks from the heater than wood-based materials. The other factor behind my decision to use the plastic material was that it was a whole lot cheaper and easier than trying to get the same result from a wood-based material. I did get one quote for $1200, admitedly that was from a Jagur expert ($$$) to produce the required four pieces of material which was the final turn off to using the 'real' thing. The cost of the wood was the cheapest part of the whole exercise. I purchased a piece of African walnut but then discovered how difficult and costly it would be to actually get it cut to size.
Barry

[cjheath]

If someone has a bandsaw that can cut planks down to 2-3 millimetres (this takes some adjustment and a quality blade), I have a thickness sander that can turn that into high-quality veneer down to 0.5-1mm. I'm in Melbourne.