[Healeys] Instrument panel refinishing

[Ghess4]

Hi Steve,
I'm always impressed by the fine help and guidance that can be gotten from 
this List and I thank you, Steve, and the many others that responded.  I was 
guided to John Sims website and the excellent article on this subject that 
includes your suggestions about refinishing your panel years ago and  leaves 
little to the imagination about how to do the job.  I must find out about 
the availability of Envirotex.

Steve, the car that you took a short ride in a few years ago is now back in 
a rolling chassis condition and I estimate that I will complete everything 
in a couple of months.  It has undergone a restore with a new Jule Chassis 
and complete rebuild of running gear and all nuts and bolts replaced. 
Thanks to a lot of help and advice starting with Marion Brantley and You and 
the hundreds who post to this list I think that I am close to having the car 
that I think it should be.

Thanks again to everyone for taking your time to respond to my question.
Gale Hess
BJ8/35887
San Diego
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "BJ8Healeys" <sbyers at ec.rr.com>
To: "'Ghess4'" <ghess4 at cox.net>
Sent: Monday, March 30, 2009 4:05 PM
Subject: RE: [Healeys] Instrument panel refinishing


> Hi, Gale -
> I refinished my wood dash many years ago and also found that the original
> finish seemed to be impervious to all strippers, including aircraft
> stripper.  I ended up chipping off the old finish very laboriously with an
> X-acto knife.   Not a process I would recommend, but it worked.  After
> applying a walnut stain, I refinished with umpty-ump coats of spray 
> lacquer.
> That lasted only about 5 years before it started to crack again.
> When I refinished it the second time, I used something called
> Envirotex-Lite.  It's a pourable coating that produces a beautiful finish,
> and after about 10 years mine is still perfect.  If you're interested, I 
> can
> dig up more information on Envirotex-Lite.
>
> Happy Healeying!
> Steve Byers
> HBJ8L/36666
> BJ8 Registry
> Havelock, NC
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: healeys-bounces at autox.team.net 
> [mailto:healeys-bounces at autox.team.net]
> On Behalf Of Ghess4
> Sent: Monday, March 30, 2009 6:36 PM
> To: healeys at autox.team.net
> Subject: [Healeys] Instrument panel refinishing
>
> Greetings,
> Has anyone done a refinish of the Instrument panel on their BJ8?  I 
> believe
> that mine are original and appear to have a very heavy epoxy like polished
> appearance however there are a couple of cracks in the finish coating.  I
> have
> found nothing that will soften the finish so that it can be scraped off 
> and
> at
> this point I am afraid to start sanding since it would be difficult to 
> tell
> when the veneer is exposed.  Any comments will be greatly appreciated.
>
> Gale Hess