Wooden veneer facia

[peterg]

Having taken the facia panels off for other reasons (you know which) I've found them to be in fairly poor condition.

Have you any advice on cleaning them up, sticking the laminated surface back down where they are pealing, and whether they should be lacquered or polished?

[UK6]

Peter,
I am not sure if the following applies to your situation.
My late father's 400 dash was broken into multiple pieces. The old fellow took the the broken parts to an outfit who had a CNC router and he commissioned the shop to make a new dash in the timber of his choice - in this case, good quality Western Australian "Jarrah". If the timber is good enough to make railway sleepers, it is mechanically strong enough for dash boards!
My dad noted that the 400s have particularly thin timber in the 400 dash and the Aussie sun really punishes the wood of course.

Father stained the timber to match the matching reclaimed wooden trim.
He also also used "Araldite" (wood to metal glue) to glue a 1.00mm aluminium backing plate onto the wooden dash in a bid to keep the thin replacement dash board wood straight. I figure that the replacement dash should last another 60 years or so.

B.

[mikesay]

Had my 401 dash completely renovated with correct matching walnut veneer beautiful. it was not cheap but well worth it - if you need info for further investigation contact me off forum. Mike Say
PS AsnI recall there was a very good article posted on the best approach to renovating wooden dashboards.

[mikesay]

PPS I forgot to mention that the article was posted on an earlier variant of the Members Forum.