Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi, I have recently received a lot of traveller parts including the rear doors, The wood is in excellent condition, But slightly faded, Would it need a clear varnish or is there a wood stain you can use to bring them back to there original condition, Thanks Paul.

I like the natural weathered look myself, so I woudn't stain it.

As for the treatment, opinion is divided. As far as I can make out, for cars that are kept inside and/or never get wet then varnish is the choice to keep road grime out of the grain. It will crack at the joints eventually, so you need keep an eye out for that. When it cracks water can seep under the varnish and will be trapped there by the impermeable coating.

For cars that are kept outside or used in all weathers a two-pack micro-porous treatment seems to be advised, and is what we have. These allow moisture under the surface to evaporate, but can let road grime get caught in the surface. That's not a problem, just keep it clean
Burgess and Sikkens make suitable products. Ours has Sikkens, applied by the garage we bought it from.

Given the nature of this forum no doubt somebody will be along in a while to disagree

I've been talking to a furniture-restorer friend about this, as my Traveller's wood is quite badly stained. What I think I'm going to do is sand the old varnish off, bleach with Oxalic Acid to get rid of the stains and restore the colour as well as killing off any fungus, then coat it with Danish Oil. The advantage of a wood oil is that although it needs topping up regularly, it never cracks or flakes like varnish can, and it's (apparently) very easy to apply too. Just put some on a rag and rub it onto the bare wood. The first time you do it you need to apply about three coats at roughly 24 hour intervals, then in normal use with a car that's kept outdoors you should apply a new coat every couple of months. That's the theory anyway - I haven't tried it yet. Anyone who's done this before and knows of any pitfalls to be aware of, please speak up!

I have oiled my wooden garden table with oil, that worked really well. Give it a good sanding, then a couple of helpings with oil.

Onne

I tried Danish oil on my traveller years ago, wouldn't use it again- as the wood got dirty and dark looking from traffic dirt within a few months.

I'd go with the Microporous wood stain. The Sikkens on my car still looks good 2 years after applied. Must sand it down and apply another coat soon, though.

I would be careful with the oxalic acid bleach - it will go for any metal (iron) and leave stains!

(most of a Minor is iron - and if I remember correctly, ferric oxalate is dark brown......)

I'd suggest a good sanding - the mouse sanders look ideal - then your treatment of choice!

I'd personally use a "WEST" expoxy resin first, then varnish - but that's based on my sailing dinghy experience - not a Woodie"

Colin

Thanks, I'll be careful with the Oxalic acid. My furniture restorer friend did say to mask all the bodywork carefully with plastic first.

There is another product recommended by a decorator friend made by Rustins.
http://www.rustins.co.uk/product.htm?chgprod=WBLE

That one's peroxide based; my friend did talk about both peroxide bleach and chlorine bleach too, but from what he was saying it sounded like the Oxalic acid bleach was most appropriate for the type of staining on my traveller.

Well I havenet tried the Rustins one yet but Oxalic acid required a few goes to remove some greyness I had and then I had to do the whole section again to get it to match up.

Aye, the impression I got was that peroxide is the strongest of the three, but also the nastiest to work with, and has some other drawbacks too (I forget what exactly he said).

I remember he said the problem with chlorine (ie. ordinary household) bleach is that it won't touch iron stains and isn't all that great on greying either.

Hi, But how do you get rid of the dark/greyness on the doors especially the outer/roadside, looking at the photos of restored travellers the doors have a nice amber look, Would i need to sand then stain and then varnish, Because surely painting varnish over the greyness will not enhance them, Thanks Paul.

You need to sand the old varnish off, then bleach the wood to get rid of the stains before varnishing/oiling to protect it. There are three main bleach types: chlorine bleach, Oxalic acid, and hydrogen peroxide. I've been told by a professional furniture restorer that Oxalic acid is probably the best bleach for this job, but I haven't actually tried it yet.

how do you get rid of the dark/greyness

What you need to check as well is that the wood hasnt gone soft if you can press your thumbnail into the wood it needs a closer inspection and if its not to far gone once its been lightened up its possible to use a wood hardener, if you want some worksheets contact Steve Foreman of Woodies as I believe he still does worksheets on the woodwork.