I was working out back on my 1963 Bambi in the hot sun when I made the sighting. I ran and got my camera and snaped this image of the UFO. I have included the picture so you can see what hard work will get you.
I am working on refinishing the wood work on the inside of my Bambi. My goal is to match the original finish. I have included 3 photo samples of the finish. This area was found under the mirror near the door. So I believe this is as close to the original finish that I can find. The large grain of the wood is still open in these examples. It appears that a greenish gray stain was applies first then a semi-gloss clear was sprayed over the stain. I don't think any wood grain filler was used in the original process. However I am not sure. Any information you can add would be appreciated.
The large grain strands of the panels reminds me of swamp ash or oak plywood. However, it is hard to tell from a photo. My 1963 Overlander's interior wood was so terribly decomposed, that it was impossible to identify what it actually was. Other than toothpicks...
Swamp Ash used to be easily available in the 60's, was light weight, durable and inexpensive. Oak is heavier, but was also widely used.
A finish this old is difficult to diagnose. It might be just a natural oil finish, than has aged to a certain patina. They had many finishes back then that are now illegal to use due to environmental concerns. Mostly the nitrocellulose lacquer finishes are the ones that got outlawed.
Uwe, thanks for the reply on my refinish question. I have done some resurch on line with your suggestions. I believe my wood is Oak for two reasons. 1. There are small grain lines inside the larger growth ring patterns. I did not see these grain lines in the Swamp Ash. Also after sanding the existing paint layer off I found the wood to be a warm yellowish gold color. I believe this to be an Oak color. See the Oak sample attached.
There were black wood stains in the bottom edges of the inside wood where water had come in contact with the wood when water lines had broken sometime in the past. Also black stains were around nail holes. In reading about stain removal from wood. I found the following suggestions. In Oak and Redwood black stains are caused by the combination of Tannin in the wood (sp) and Iron in water. Oxalic Acid will remove these stains. Here are some before and after pictures to demonstrate this cleaning practice.
I wish I could get pics posted without tearing my hair out....
Anyways, Looks like you got a handle on things. Great.
I am amidst applying finish to my new interior parts for the 1963, and found that polymerized tung oil does a wonderful job of giving good protection, but without killing the character of the wood, like many other products will do. It still looks like wood, not plastic..
It is also very easy to apply, but does require the wood to be stripped and sanded thoroughly.
I plan on applying a coat of Carnauba wax over the oil finish.
Uwe, Do you have a section with photos of your work and progress? I would like to see what you have done. Others ideas have been a great help in my project. I use Adobe Photoshop CS and Adobe ImageReady to reduce and edit the pictures from my Kodak digital camera. I could send you more details if you have the programs and would like to give it a try. It has taken me several tries and experiments to come up with a combination where I like the results. Thanks for the complement on the photos.
Don
Sand Blasting is not the most exciting job in restoration. However, I thaught I'd share the progress with youall. I'm going to need some reinforcement in places. I'll send some pictures later is someone is interested.
norcal, i'd say that i'm 99% sure that is oak, as you have figured. is it 1/2" or 3/4"?
i like the pix of the sandblasting process. did you rent that machine? i'm in the process of looking for a 60's caravel and plan on doing a complete restoration so sandblasting will be a must do.
Uwe, Do you have a section with photos of your work and progress? I would like to see what you have done. Others ideas have been a great help in my project. I use Adobe Photoshop CS and Adobe ImageReady to reduce and edit the pictures from my Kodak digital camera. I could send you more details if you have the programs and would like to give it a try. It has taken me several tries and experiments to come up with a combination where I like the results. Thanks for the complement on the photos.
Don
Don,
I started a thread when I first bought the project trailer. It is called "A 63 for me" and has become huge by now. Grab a beverage of choice and peruse it, it has all the steps that I have done in it, more or less complete.
My issue with posting the photos is not the processing, I do have photoshop etc. It is the forum software, or my ISP, or maybe even my computer. For some reason I have a hard time posting photos, getting error messages and inconsistent results. It's the same at home or when I try and do it from the office computer.
Sand Blasting is not the most exciting job in restoration. However, I thaught I'd share the progress with youall. I'm going to need some reinforcement in places. I'll send some pictures later is someone is interested.
i used a similar machine on my frame. it's amazing how quickly that thing cut through rust... and blew out metal i THOUGHT was solid. quite noisy, too. when i got home, i had a couple of ounces of sand in each shoe, pockets, hair, etc. my friend had one of those hooded breathers, and i STILL got covered. i painted mine with black epoxy. i'm leaving the chassis black. the contrast is nice, next to the aluminum.
Jordon, The sand blaster has been doing a great job. I have used 10 bags of sand and will probably use anothe 4 or 5 before I'm done. I have two places on the frame that I will have to reenforce. Small spots of daylight showing through. You didn't mention sand in the ears. It seems to get everywhere! I plan to treat my frame with Eastman Rust Incapsulator. It has great reviews. Anyone out there use it? It's been raining here the last two days so I am working on the wood work for the Bambi. I will include some pictures probably tomarrow.
urbanfood, I purchased the sand blaster at Harbor Freight. If I remember right it was aroulnd $70. on sale. You do need a pretty good size air compressor to push it however. If you you think you might buy on check out what size compressor you will need before you buy. It is nice to use and watch great chunks of rust disappear before you eyes.
NorCal Bambi
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