sprusing up old wood grain (Ford Dash)

Hey guys I bought a 40 dash today and it's an old wood grain. I was wondering if there was any type of cleaning agent that could make the old woodgrain vibrant again (or better than it is now). I don't want the dash to be greasy or look like it's been sprayed with armorall but...maybe there is something that can spruse it up.

May not be possible but just wondering.

May also get an emphatic "DON"T TOUCH YOU IDIOT" but just wanted to know.

Not going to lie...I'm pretty excited about the dash find. Thanks for the help Need a nice gauge cluster if anyone has one!

 

i don't think any `40 Ford dash...standard or deluxe... came from the factory with woodgrain

 

Why not just go ahead and have it woodgrained ...



It is NOT all that expensive and there are even a few HAMBERs that do it.
Mine was done by BoB Kennedy ... Whittier California.

 

Sweet!!

 

I didn't know that 40 Ford's didn't have wood graining on the dash. I would love to have it done again but will probably just run it as is.....

 

I had a 46 Ford Woody and it had a wood gained dash. I don't know about a 40. The 46 was done in a blond wood pattern. The guy I bought it from sent it out and had it done. It was a beautiful piece. Yours sure looks like it came from the factory with it.

I don't think you can do much but wax it for a little shine. I see lots of scratches. Professionals get good money to redo one but it is impressive when it's done.

 

I know for sure that DeLuxe dashes were not woodgrained. Not sure about Standards.

 

good info. it does have a lot of small scratches in it. I might try a little wax on a corner to see what it does. The guy I bought it from today said "it's been hanging in my shop for the last 25 years and came out of my sedan delivery"...still doesn't make the wood grain original though. None the less I think it will look good in a car.

 

I'd suggest that you get a good, basic woodworking book before you do anything. The stain appears faded and scratched off in some places meaning the protective finish is gone so while some waxes might bring out whatever color is left, most won't do much at all and they only offer a bare minimum of protection. You'll probably end up stripping off whatever is left of the finish so there isn't any point in adding more material that you'll end up taking off. From what I can see, the damage is superficial and you should be able to refinish it nicely if you have average painting skills. Good luck with the project, I'd love to have that dash.

 

<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; ch****t=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Do***ent"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 9"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 9"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:/DO***E%7E1/Ted/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/msoclip1/01/clip_filelist.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDo***ent> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <woNotOptimizeForBrowser/> </w:WordDo***ent> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style>[FONT=&quot]Here is a dip process that looks like real wood great for metal and is durable.[/FONT]

 

Well...it's paint, so to preserve it, clean it, or maintain it, you have to treat it just like paint. Try the most conservative approach first, just wax, and then if that doesn't work, go to something a bit more agressive...maybe a very fine liquid polish ( like Meguire's #2).
If that doesn't do the trick, then a very fine compound would be next, but most likely will remove some paint. So if it's already thin, unless you want to thin it even more, it's a candidate for restoration. Jdee here on the HAMB works for woodgraining.com, who still use the original methods of painting grain on antique cars. AND has the original wood patterns for the correct look...I sent him a 41 Ford dash out of one of my cars for him to grain and display.

 

Is is a painted woodgrain on a metal dash? Maybe a bakelite panel?

 

Check you tube . There a at least a couple shows that do the woodgraining. It is fairly simple, do it your self. Not that it make any differance 1939 was the last woodgrained dash and window garnish for Fords. If you like the look on your 40, do it its a hot rod. I'm going to do the dash on my 37 cabriolet.

 

I just painted my '40 dash in factory colors..no wood grain.

 

Looks pretty far gone to me , I'd just redo the whole thing . Did this for a friend of mine .

 

Shoot some clear on it.