Barn find 69 Jensen FF

[BKBridges]

Where did you get the veneer? I need to do the same to the interior of my Riviera.

I bought the walnut burl veneer at a local shop that has since gone out of business. You can get just about any type of wood veneer on line these days at http://www.veneersupplies.com/ . My pictures aren't all that descriptive, but the basics are:
1. Take pictures of the old veneer as it sits on the backing panel.
2. Strip off the old veneer and any glue with a scraping tool and solvent
3. Make sure the panel is completely rust free and flat! The temp and vent controls on the FF were getting sticky and through use they had started to warp the backing panel.
4. Prep the panel to bare metal with 180 grit paper and paint the back side (black in the case of the FF)
5. Pick out a nice piece of veneer that comes close to matching the original piece, or, go nuts with whatever your fondest dreams are... Bubinga with Carpathian elm burl? Flamed maple (my other Jensen) etc. Make sure that you choose the exact piece wisely to avoid seams and etc. I try to start with 2-3 times the veneer IM actually going to use to help get a best look out of it. You can see in the pic below that I left a seamed piece of maple veneer right at the window switches, and its bugged me for the past 15 years now...The veneer I used on the FF dash had a seam that I wanted to miss so I did waste a lot of it...
6. Use a good contact cement (weldwood etc.) and coat both the back of the veneer and the metal backer. I use a small weinie roller to do this. let it dry for about 5-8 min, then assemble the veneer to the backer using a roller/ rolling pin. Put the assembly into a press (3 intake manifolds sitting on a piece of pine shelving in my case) and leave it there for a while (overnight?). If the veneer has been applied to a curved or complex piece, pre planning your press configuration is critical. Cloth bags filled with sand can be handy in this case
7. Use an Exacto style knife to trim the holes and slots from the back side. If it seems to be getting dull, get a new blade out, don't hack away at it.
8. Sand gently with 220 grit paper, making sure not to sand through the veneer...
9. Mix up a small amount of your favorite automotive clear coat with a tiny amount of the correct flow enhancer and spray a light coat on the veneer. Wait 5 min and apply 3 heavy coats.
10. After drying overnight, block sand gently with 220 grit paper using water. Cleanliness is critical to avoid contaminating the clear coat. Don't sand through to the veneer if you can help it. If you dot get all of the low spots, don't worry too much, but the goal is to eventually get a nice flat surface for the final coats.
11. Apply three more thick coats to the panel after wiping it with di water and a lintless rag. I don't use tack cloths but I guess you could.
12. Wetsand with 220 grit and a soft block , clean with di water etc.
13 Apply 3 more thick coats of clear. At this point, if all is well and your part was reasonably flat when started you could be done. For older cars looking for a more OEM style refinish
you don't want too thick of a clear coat or it wont look period. For customs, etc. the more the clear coat, the more depth and flatness you can impart on the finished look, so you can keep blocking with 220 and re-spraying until its exactly what you want it to look like. In my case the final coats came out near flawless, so I didn't even need to color sand and buff. If you end up with orange peel, roughness etc. color sanding and buffing is the final step, just like any automotive paint finish. The FF was a pretty simple job!

[DanStokes]

That seam in last picture is horrible. I know it must be Hell to live with that. Send me your address and I'll come and take that eyesore off your hands - don't worry. being the humanitarian I am I'll cover my own expenses. I'll try to ignore that mess but perhaps I can learn to live with it.

Dan

[Deaf Bob]

Beautiful wood!

[CTX-SLPR]

I bought the walnut burl veneer at a local shop that has since gone out of business. You can get just about any type of wood veneer on line these days at http://www.veneersupplies.com/ . My pictures aren't all that descriptive, but the basics are:
1. Take pictures of the old veneer as it sits on the backing panel.
2. Strip off the old veneer and any glue with a scraping tool and solvent
3. Make sure the panel is completely rust free and flat! The temp and vent controls on the FF were getting sticky and through use they had started to warp the backing panel.
4. Prep the panel to bare metal with 180 grit paper and paint the back side (black in the case of the FF)
5. Pick out a nice piece of veneer that comes close to matching the original piece, or, go nuts with whatever your fondest dreams are... Bubinga with Carpathian elm burl? Flamed maple (my other Jensen) etc. Make sure that you choose the exact piece wisely to avoid seams and etc. I try to start with 2-3 times the veneer IM actually going to use to help get a best look out of it. You can see in the pic below that I left a seamed piece of maple veneer right at the window switches, and its bugged me for the past 15 years now...The veneer I used on the FF dash had a seam that I wanted to miss so I did waste a lot of it...
6. Use a good contact cement (weldwood etc.) and coat both the back of the veneer and the metal backer. I use a small weinie roller to do this. let it dry for about 5-8 min, then assemble the veneer to the backer using a roller/ rolling pin. Put the assembly into a press (3 intake manifolds sitting on a piece of pine shelving in my case) and leave it there for a while (overnight?). If the veneer has been applied to a curved or complex piece, pre planning your press configuration is critical. Cloth bags filled with sand can be handy in this case
7. Use an Exacto style knife to trim the holes and slots from the back side. If it seems to be getting dull, get a new blade out, don't hack away at it.
8. Sand gently with 220 grit paper, making sure not to sand through the veneer...
9. Mix up a small amount of your favorite automotive clear coat with a tiny amount of the correct flow enhancer and spray a light coat on the veneer. Wait 5 min and apply 3 heavy coats.
10. After drying overnight, block sand gently with 220 grit paper using water. Cleanliness is critical to avoid contaminating the clear coat. Don't sand through to the veneer if you can help it. If you dot get all of the low spots, don't worry too much, but the goal is to eventually get a nice flat surface for the final coats.
11. Apply three more thick coats to the panel after wiping it with di water and a lintless rag. I don't use tack cloths but I guess you could.
12. Wetsand with 220 grit and a soft block , clean with di water etc.
13 Apply 3 more thick coats of clear. At this point, if all is well and your part was reasonably flat when started you could be done. For older cars looking for a more OEM style refinish
you don't want too thick of a clear coat or it wont look period. For customs, etc. the more the clear coat, the more depth and flatness you can impart on the finished look, so you can keep blocking with 220 and re-spraying until its exactly what you want it to look like. In my case the final coats came out near flawless, so I didn't even need to color sand and buff. If you end up with orange peel, roughness etc. color sanding and buffing is the final step, just like any automotive paint finish. The FF was a pretty simple job!
[ATTACH=CONFIG]n995180[/ATTACH]

Thanks man! I'm saving this in a Word Doc in my stash of DIY How Too's!