Ozzzzy

I sanded down the two vent pieces and if anybody is going to try this, be forewarned, the finish on these pieces is much thinner than the others. I went through the veneer in a small spot in no time. Go slow on these pieces

jayclapp

I just don't think you can sand these pieces down. Use varnish remover with fine steel wool.

Kobeone

iTrader: (1)

I put 3m di noc over mine

MooJohn

Varnish remover will not work as the factory coating is not varnish.

Paint stripper should remove the factory clear urethane with no trouble -- and little effort.

1JZPWRD

iTrader: (59)

What does the final product look like?

Ozzzzy

As to the comment about not being able to sand these down, the pieces in the above picture are the sanded pieces I've done so far.
The comment about the varnish remover working is doubtful. This is my second post about these pieces and someone stated that they tryed varnish remover and it didn't touch them. After working on sanding these down, I have no doubt. The finish is THICK on some of these things and hard! I had to get some serious grit to get the finish off.
The final product will be posted when done. I'm still in the process and posting my progress to those interested.
I've run into a problem. In this picture, it shows cracks in the two of pieces, one in my car and one I pulled from a car at a pick a part place. In my searching, I saw this many times. I assumed it was the finish cracking seeing as how the purpose of this was to correct bad finishes. As you can see, after sanding down through the finish, I discovered it was actually the wood veneer that's cracking. I just came back from a pick a part place and found good pieces. Back to work!

Ozzzzy

All righty then! Here are all the pieces sanded down ready for finishing. I took most of the old finish off with 150 FINE grit. took out the micro scratches from the 150 with 400 grit and then "polished" with 1000 grit. Now, what to finish it with in order to get that thick, rich, and shiny look?
Any wood finish experts reading this?

Ozzzzy

OK. Instead of waiting for any responces, I just went to Home Depot and bought Minwax Polycrylic Clear Gloss finish. This is after the first coat. I'll be putting on an additional coat each night after work. Not having any experince in wood finishing, am I suppose to fine sand between coats?

lilSCsteve

iTrader: (71)

That's one way of doing it? lol

Ozzzzy

??????????

lilSCsteve

iTrader: (71)

Hey bro, I didn't mean that in a bad way. Sorry, if it sounded as such. What I meant was it was an interesting way of refinishing the wood. I've seen and done several paint projects over time, I've also seen some variety of D.I.Y. projects...good job, and much respect for doing this yourself.

steve

SC400slide

iTrader: (11)

Sure looks better than when you first started.

jayclapp

I'd suggest that you use the very finest steel wool to buff between the coats. It's plyable, and will prevent any possible breakthrough that might occur with sandpaper. Specifically, look for any small specs or imperfections after the coat is applies. Then buff until those imperfections are no longer there. Then apply new coat. Make sure that when you spray, that there are no other pieces adjacent to the area that might get light overspray. Otherwise, looks like you are making good progress. As long as you are happy with the results, that's all that really is required.

Not wanting to beat a dead horse, but I was told by the Lexus factory rep in Torrance (in response to my inquiry in 1992) that the finish was polyeurthene in my 1992 SC400.

thm8d

iTrader: (3)

Looks great! I wouldn't have the patience to sand by hand though, haha

Ozzzzy

No problem LilSC. As for the spraying comment, I'm using a brush(I know, rookie move) But I discovered that of course the brush leaves lines as seen in the picture, but I also discovered that if you put on a thick coat, gravity will smooth out the lines as you can see in the following picture.