Technical Staining wood ideas Ford Model A

Okie46chevy · Sep 16, 2025

Looking for ideas on best stain to use and sealer with UV protection on wood kit for my 30 model A coupe. Wood will stay exposed sun. Tried a couple stains and poly samples but the poly doesn’t have UV protection. If you have stained wood and left it exposed, please share a pic and process you used.

Bandit Billy · Sep 16, 2025

I stained and top coated exposed wood on my PU bed using automotive clear. UV resistant.

ClarkH · Sep 16, 2025

Polyurethane does not have UV protection. But SPAR Polyurethane does. It's for boats, after all, which see a lot of sun. I used it on my truck's top wood.

SS327 · Sep 17, 2025

Used motor oil makes a pretty good stain.

5window · Sep 17, 2025

From a Woodworking website-I prefer MinWax Spar Varnish-but try a marine shop
Best UV Protection for Wood

Best for Reviving Front Door- Howard SWAX16 SunShield UV Protection

Best Outdoor Wood Preservative – WALRUS OIL – Wood Wax

Best UV Protective Wood Finish – MESSMER’s NAT INC MC-500-5 5GAL UV

Best UV Protective Wood Sealer – Guardsman 460700 Clean & Polish -Silicone Free

Best UV Resistant Polyurethane – TotalBoat-520605 Halcyon Marine Varnish

Best Exterior Wood Oil with UV Protection – Bamboogle Food Grade Mineral Oil

Best UV Resistant Clear Coat for Wood – Sundeck CWF UV 5Oil Clear Wood Finish

-Brent- · Sep 17, 2025

Here's what I did:

-Brent- said: ↑

Chopped Model A Wood Kit (Part 4) Sealing the Wood:

Do we need to seal the wood? Probably not. This car won't ever see the weather that the original wood kit saw in the last 91 years and that wood was still mostly intact when I got the body... hahaha.

But, there's been a lot of time and attention put into fitting the kit, so why not continue on?

My only real concern was that water would get in through the windows and into the wood and I wanted some protection. Here's the thing, though, sometimes I forget that I live in the desert and no longer in the humid northeast. And, originally, I was thinking to go overkill and seal it with a waterproofing sealant. That's just not needed.

Thanks to some HAMBers, I got pointed in a good, traditional direction. From there, some searching lead me to some great information on the how-to of using pure tung oil and such.

Here's the HAMB thread with the wood painting/sealing discussion for anyone interested.

All that said, here is where I'm at, so far:

I started by ordering some pure tung oil. I couldn't find any available, locally, certainly not at the big box stores. Those stores, I'v learned, do have products called "Tung Oil" but it doesn't much resemble the pure stuff, there are driers and other chemicals. The amount of actual tung oil is low.

View attachment 5171320

Everything was already prepped, so I mixed the first coat 50/50. Tung oil is thick and it dries slowly. To get it to penetrate well on the first coat, it's recommended to thin it. There are a few options folks use, I decided to try turpentine, which is also something not as commonly found these days. Home Depot didn't have it but the hardware store did.

I mixed a half-cup of each and I assumed that might have been too much but the wood soaked it right up. Something I saw repeatedly as I was reading/watching/learning about the stuff is that you repeatedly apply the mixture as the wood absorbs it. That it's not so much as coats as it is one longer application.

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I continued to apply until the wood remained shiny and wet for a period of time. Once there, I let it sit for 30 minutes and touched up here and there (especially the end grain). It's crazy how much it soaked up.

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I wiped off whatever residue was left and that was the end of the first coat.

I check it this morning and there wasn't all that much seeping but it wasn't dry to the touch. I know this because I touched a piece of wood and instantly touched my nose and I could smell turpentine for half the day. But, boy-oh-boy did it look pretty. Especially the pieces above the doors, they had this really nice brownish honey color.

Tung oil dries way slow, the drip pan (it's new, I figured I could use it afterward) is still wet more than 24 hours later. I read where some people's projects took more than 10 days to dry!

Anyway, I cracked a window in the shop and went about my day.

Also, side note, this stuff is flammable, so take proper care of your rags and materials. They can spontaneously combust. My friend's parents' business burned down to the slab due to improperly stored chemical rags. Even @Ryan had a scary situation in his shop.

When I came back to the shop the wood felt much drier.

Some woodworkers work their way to straight pure tung oil but mixing less thinner into the tung oil, something like 50/50, 70/30, 80/20 and then straight. Others start with 50/50 and then move onto the straight tung oil. I'm not finishing floors or picture frames, here, hell it isn't even going to be seen or thought of once there's an interior. So, we're going straight next.

View attachment 5171329

First, I went over everything with 0000 steel wool. It was recommended to lightly sand in between coats. Speaking of coats, that's one of the downsides of this process. It needs a few coats/applications. I've got a few things that I'm waiting on, which leaves me time to mess around with this stuff.

I poured a half cup into my measuring cup and used nearly all of it. There was probably a tablespoon left.

View attachment 5171325 View attachment 5171326 View attachment 5171327

Here's what's interesting. After it's applied, you let it sit for 30 mins or so. While waiting, I went around again and touched up little spots, nowhere near as much as last night but the end-grain still soaked it up. It still looked nearly as wet as when I first brushed it on but there wasn't much on the towel afterward - hardly anything. I guess I'm easily impressed. Hahaha.

After I had sanded/prepped the wood for sealing, I wrote a little blessing that will be hidden away eventually. This is something we did back when I was framing when I was a kid and it just stuck with me. I still sneak blessings into every build, remodel or renovation project.

View attachment 5171324

Here it is after being wiped down after the second application. It has a little deeper color. I'm eager to see what it looks like tomorrow.

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Click to expand...

And a HAMB post:

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/sealing-or-painting-a-new-model-a-wood-kit.1055928/

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Technical Staining wood ideas Ford Model A

Okie46chevy
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from Edmond

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Bandit Billy
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from SW Washington

ClarkH
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from Seattle, WA

SS327

5window
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from central Pennsylvania

-Brent-
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from Salt Lake City

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Technical Staining wood ideas Ford Model A

Okie46chevy Member from Edmond

Attached Files:

IMG_2585.jpeg

IMG_2657.jpeg

Bandit Billy ALLIANCE MEMBER from SW Washington

ClarkH ALLIANCE MEMBER from Seattle, WA

SS327

5window Member from central Pennsylvania

-Brent- Member from Salt Lake City

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Okie46chevy
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from Edmond

Bandit Billy
ALLIANCE MEMBER

from SW Washington

ClarkH
ALLIANCE MEMBER

from Seattle, WA

5window
Member

from central Pennsylvania

-Brent-
Member

from Salt Lake City