Removing marks from Zebrano wood trim.

[doversole]

Hi all and an early Happy New Year to everyone.

I got bored today, so I removed some of the wood trim pieces from the '202 and set about giving them a polish up.
I'd been narked by the scratches and marks on them for some time, so this appeared the ideal opportunity.

I'm pretty pleased with the result, so i'm posting the method I used. Get some T-cut and water it down with a little Methylated Spirit.
Gently blend out the offending marks in the lacquer and finish off with some beeswax furniture polish.
The resulting finish looks fantastic and is well worth the effort.

I've done the oddment tray cover and the transmission/switch panel as well as the dash panel.

DoverSole

 

[television]

I love doing that type of thing,,very rewarding

 

[doversole]

I love doing that type of thing,,very rewarding

You are right there, Malcolm.

I have to say results exceeded expectations.
Just remember not to use too much T-cut/Meths or it will seep behind the switches. I masked up mine first.
T-cut on its own is a bit too harsh and the Meths helps it to evaporate.
The parts look like brand new.

DoverSole

 

[television]

You are right there, Malcolm.

I have to say results exceeded expectations.
Just remember not to use too much T-cut/Meths or it will seep behind the switches. I masked up mine first.
T-cut on its own is a bit too harsh and the Meths helps it to evaporate.
The parts look like brand new.

DoverSole

One can use other cleaners and polishes like a perspex or plastic polish by Mothers, 3m do one, another is Autosol

 

[doversole]

One can use other cleaners and polishes like a perspex or plastic polish by Mothers, 3m do one, another is Autosol

Yes, these are fine - along with Bluebell, especially for refinishing plastic parts.
I refurb and polish marks out of watch crystals with the latter.

A French Polisher pal of mine once told me the lacquer finish on these wooden parts is very hard and resistant to marking,
but does age in the sunlight, gradually over time. I've seen burr walnut after he's treated it and it looks superb.

I'm also pleased to note several '202 parts are 'Genuine tree wood' and not the synthetic stuff i've seen on other quality marques.

IMO, it's always worth a try and a very satisfying do-it-yourself job. You can see your face in the bits i've done.

DoverSole

 

[television]

Just for anyone reading the post,,where water has got under the cellulose finished lacquers and seen as a white milky effect, these can be striped off and re lacquered very easily, most 124 gearbox surrounds are formica, though I use a spray plant, a very good job can be done with an aerosol and flatted, then polished

 

[ecossebev]

What mix of M.S. and T-cut are you using. 50/50? This could prove useful. Could you use it on plastic rear convertible windows, or can someone recommend something better to remove the many scratches preventing rear view vision?

 

[roofless]

tooth paste

 

[television]

What mix of M.S. and T-cut are you using. 50/50? This could prove useful. Could you use it on plastic rear convertible windows, or can someone recommend something better to remove the many scratches preventing rear view vision?

Mothers make a plastic window cleaner and polish, it is brilliant and works wonders on soft top windows, it took all of the yellow look away, and left a very nice finish

http://www.motorgeek.co.uk/mothers-plastic-polish-p-200.html

 

[doversole]

What mix of M.S. and T-cut are you using. 50/50? This could prove useful ..............

Hi, I used roughly 50/50 yes, it just helped to blend out marks in the lacquer, although I don't think this will help the RVW problem.

As I recall these semi-flexible types of windscreen are particularly difficult to refurb once scratched, T-cut is too harsh.
'Malcolm's mums' stuff sounds promising, though. Haven't tried toothpaste as in Roofless' post.

DoverSole

 

[roofless]

Hi, I used roughly 50/50 yes, it just helped to blend out marks in the lacquer, although I don't think this will help the RVW problem.

As I recall these semi-flexible types of windscreen are particularly difficult to refurb once scratched.
Malcolm stuff sounds promising, though. Haven't tried toothpaste as in Roofless' post.

DoverSole

if it dont work it will still smell fresh

 

[doversole]

if it dont work it will still smell fresh

And help keep your window free from tartar build up.

Seriously though, the Zebrano has never looked smarter.

DoverSole

 

[ecossebev]

Thanks guys. I will keep an eye out for Mothers.

 

[jberks]

Nice job.
Even if it doesn't need that level of TLC I find a quick blast with furniture polish brings the woodwork up a treat every now and again. It's amazing how many times I've sat in a merc or similar and see dull wood with the marks where they've been wiped with a damp cloth.

It's like the bonnet star, 2 mins with a bit of polish makes a massive difference but people just don't seem to do it.

 

[doversole]

It's like the bonnet star, 2 mins with a bit of polish makes a massive difference but people just don't seem to do it.

I'm with you jberks,

I give my star the occasional buff with Autosol now and then, keeps it pristine and shiny.
Although the other half says it will attract the vandals. Can't win can you?

DoverSole

 

[Jetset]

I'd just like to revisit this topic for a moment.

Whilst removing the centre console from my '97 W129 320SL I inflicted some damage along the top edge of the burr walnut facia panel which had to be professionally repaired. It's been done very well but the repairer didn't remove the scratches from the rest of the panel as I'd asked him to so that's my next job.

As mentioned above T-Cut is too abrasive and dulls the surface, so is the T-Cut + meths (50:50) method still the best way to go? Is the lacquer finish on my centre console likely to be the same as your later '99 W202 doversole?

You mentioned a French Polisher pal who did a great job on a burr walnut finish, which method did he use - T-Cut/meths, 3M, Bluebell, or Mothers?

 

[WDB124066]

I've just used Mothers Plastic Polish on Burl in a 124 Cabriolet. It will not leave scratches you can see with the naked eye. But use a clean cloth, scratches can come from a dirty cloth!! If anything Mothers Plastic Polish is too fine for removing deepish scratches. Better to hit them with 2000 grit wet and dry sand paper and sand them flat. MPP will only open out the scratch, in effect smearing it open rather than removing it. Best not to start smearing a deep scratch otherwise you end up with a much less than flat localised area which does not look particularly appealing. Sandpaper helps to stop that.

After the wet & dry I use 3M Perfect It III Rubbing Compound. Removes the scratches from the W&D. You can use the finish from the 3M but it leaves the surface slightly milky because of very fine scratches, this is where the Mothers PP comes in. Leaves the surface like a mirror.

Two queries I have.

The standard MB clear coat on the wood is not that hard really, and scratches easily even with a small paint brush that I use to keep the dust off. The bristles scratch the finish. I have a 40,000 year old kauri timber piece as a back board for a clock that has been coated with a clear coat of similar thickness to that of the MB wood, and it does not scratch easily at all.

The wood is still very dark even after the polish treatment above. I thought maybe the clear coat ages dark due to UV and that with a polish I could remove the affected clear coat giving me a lighter finish. But this has not been to case so far. I wonder if the clear coat is affected throughout its thickness by the UV or, if after a long period it reacts somehow with the wood to make it go dark. Does anybody really understand what is going on here??

 

[television]

This does depend on the type of finish, remember that any lacquer is not very strong without pigment. Re the darkening of the wood,, hard wood goes lighter in the sun and soft wood goes darker.

Yes Mothers plastic polish is very good for this work, the picture below is my wood that was walnut and I sprayed it black and put on 2 coats of 2 pack plastic coating, this dries in 2 mins but takes 3 days for the thing to cure fully (no smell)

 

[WDB124066]

Thanks for that, looks very smooth. Do you honestly think I could put on a harder clear coat right over the top of the MB clear coat to stop the ease of scratching? Might need to do a trial on a crappy piece form a breaker.

Is Burl Walnut a hard wood or soft wood, can you expect it to go light or dark ex factory. Maybe I need to have the cars out in the sun a little more??

 

[television]

Yes if you flat the original down with a 1000 paper you could apply two coats on plastic clear, rubbed down with 1500 between and after, next T cut then mothers polish.

Bur Walnut is the hardest wood of all when it comes to bonding it, any form of impact glue is useless as it will move around, it is a very soft wood in parts, but not all.

Yes using a scrap piece is a good idea, another important thing is that a block must be used when rubbing down right up to the final finish. Some parts of the cars are often formica, often used around the gear shift,,this can be seen when it cracks into lines.

If you want to change or darken the colour, then you can give it a thin coat of black cellulose, thinned right down. just practice on some old parts

I even did my steering wheel, yes I do get tiny scratches
on it but one wipe with mothers and they are off.