Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi All,
I am about to embark on the complete replacement of all the wood on my wife's traveller so I bought some second hand new wood from ebay for the sides and then new doors and rear lower panel from CW.
So, the new parts look fantastic and are ready for staining and varnishing but the older new sides are somewhat darker due to age & hanging around.
How do I get the sides up to the same standard as the new doors so I can stain them equally?

Did someone once mention lemons???????
ideally something that won't interact with the stain and varnish!
;)
cheers,
Spence

If the wood has darkened, you will have to sand all the varnish/ wood stain off, then bleach it to remove the darkening. Then clear cuprinol 5*, and your finish of choice.

It takes a lot of work to strip the wood back and get it lighter. Not a quick job , but worth it in the end. A Detail sander, starting with 80 grit, then 120-160, then 240 to finish will speed some of the work along.

Hi John,
The wood is new, not been touched but it is old stock so slightly darkened.
I have been searching through all the threads and some people have mentioned wood bleach?
is this a special bleach?

Hi Spence the wood bleach comes in 2 parts `A` & `B` and is available from people like Rustins but it can be quite harsh and then needs to be washed of with vinegar to neutralize it and then washed off with water, using fresh Lemon juice is much kinder and doesn't need neutralizing. As the wood is new without markings I would try sanding as john suggests to see if this will lighten it to match the new doors and if it needs further lightening try the Lemon Juice (it may take a few applications) and as you have the wood off the car give it a good few coats of the cuprinol as this will give it the long term protection it needs.
If you have the room and space you can do what one of our branch members did which was to use a childs paddling pool (one of the square frame types) and submerge the timber one section at a time in the cuprinol for a day and then turn it over to ensure complete coverage and then leave it to drip dry for a few days before finishing with the treatment of your choice. If you decide to use a varnish make sure its UV resistant and make the first coat 50/50 with white spirit to act as a primer coat.

Hi Kevin, John,
I have bought Burgess Marine woodsealer and Gloss as per someone elses forum messages, do I use the Cuprinol aswell as this?
Is the Cuprinol clear?
Sorry for the questions but I want to get it right first time or the wife won't let it drop...

Sorry for the questions but I want to get it right first time

Quite right too especially as its a bit time consuming, yes you use the cuprinol 5 star (which is clear) to soak into and protect the wood long term before you finish the woodwork with the Burgess, apparently thats what was used originally when the cars were new which was why the original wood lasted so well.
http://www.cuprinol.co.uk/products/5_st ... rview.html
By the way if you use Lemon juice make sure its from fresh Lemons as the squezy/bottled stuff for pancakes tends to leave a sticky residue.

Wonder how many people consider neautralising the surplus soaked in lemon juice once its done its job?

I have found plain water is fine and because its a natural substance evaporation takes care of most of it, and afterwoods I use cuprinol before finishing and I have never had a reaction although I do allow it to dry properlybetween treatments.

Darkening is likely to be no more than UV surface shading. A few sweeps with a Skarskin scraper will shift most of it. Then bleach with fresh lemon juice, or Oxcilic Acid (which is fairly brutal stuff.) Only my opinion, but I would skip the Cuprinol stage, and substitute Burgess Marine Wood Sealer, 5 coats that can be applied wet on wet. Then finish with Burgess Marine Top Gloss Varnish. This is a micro-porous finish that lets the wood breath. Cuprinol is good stuff, but I find that if you use the same product range for each step, there is less chance of getting an adverse reaction between products, such as peeling cracking or lifting.

Hi All,
Thanks for your comments....
Well, my son and I spent Saturday with a handful of lemons and rubbed the wood down, yes, it cleaned up the stains fine!
then seeing it was a nice day I then clear cuprinoled the lot.
Now, the sides were very weathered (although new, not sure how old the new wood was) in my opinion and now they do look considerably darker than the rear doors so my thoughts are, to get a mild stain and apply it to the wood section below the doors (also brand new) to try and get the correct colour to match the sides.
Then apply that to the doors.
The last thing I want is it looking pants...
I don't mind too much what shade the wood is, as long as it is all close in colour and solid!

I will try and take pictures but I am on the road the next 2 days with work.

Remember that the cuprinol will take around 3 days to dry out fully in good weather conditions how many coats have you put on, you can then try the Lemon Juice again to see if it will lighten it some more.
As you are going to use the Burgess Woodsealer treatment I think that darkens the wood slightly you could try some on another piece of new timber and do a comparison with one of the hidden internal edges to see how they compare.

Burgess Woodsealer does indeed make the wood darker (a honey colour). The more coats you apply (wet on wet) the darker it gets.