Hey guys, I finally got to do some work on my CS this week. I started by pulling everything out from the front end to do a complete rebuild. Including bushing, ball joints, tie rods and brakes. In the meantime, I've been working on preserving the factory wood grain and repainting the surrounds. After I get the front end back together, I'm going to roll it into the paint booth to shoot the whole car in a satin clear to preserve the original paint and the patina.
Great car. My dad bought a new 69 LTD four-door hardtop, so I know the model well..the 70 was just a facelift of the 69 and carried over the cut away passenger side dash. IMHO, I like the 70 grille better. Also...nerd fact: the body side moldings had vinyl inserts as opposed to the 69's all metal.
Trying to preserve the factory wood grain was the biggest issue. I thought hard about replacing it, but my goal was to preserve the car just the way it is. Here is the before and after....
No, after some trial and error I ended up rubbing the original wood grain drown with Minnwax wood stain. The dark colored urethane worked into the old vinyl brought out all the original detail. I then sealed that with a satin clear. The "wood" still has it's original/old look but looks a lot better without all the chalky oxidation.
Excellent job on the woodgrain. From the pics, it looks almost brand new. I was going to recommend Pledge, which does a surprisingly good job, but it doesn't seem to work nearly as well as your minnwax. I'll have to remember that. Correct me if I'm wrong if anyone knows better, but I don't think the original dinoc panels are replaceable. It's always been my understanding that no one in the country makes them.
www.stripeman.com A very nice reproduction that looks almost identical to the original. They sel small swatches that you can stick on the original for comparison. phil
Really excellent job on the woodgrain. I think it's important if you can, to restore and keep the original woodgrain. The Country Squire was a one of a kind with the black lines in the design of the woodgrain. The satin clear should help protect the wood grain from further oxidation.
Lost Cause? Probably not much would help the woodgrain on this wagon look like new again. I'm working on getting this vehicle home where I can get a better look at the rest of the car. Phil
I suppose it is a good sign that the car didn't fold in half when supported in the middle of the frame like that.
Woodgrain is looking great! The previous owner of my '77 LTD Squire had done the same thing. I might try this with my '76 Montego. My woodgrain has a good bit of cracking though.
