Morris Minor Owners Club

Not planning on a real major refit but want to tidy up best I can. Any small repairs Dennis has already offered to advise when back from MOT In the mean time I'm going to do some preparation and if anyone has any handy hints, tips, dos or don't I would be grateful.

First job - heat gun and scraper (although some might suggest just sandpaper?)
Once done treat all wood liberally with cuprinol - sand it again?
Then two coats of Sikkens Cetol HLS
Then two or three coats of Sikkens Cetol Filter 7
Think this will need to be rubbed down between coats with fine wire wool.

That's it - I think

Was advised against Burgess - opinion was that I would find it easier with the oil based product Sikkens.

As I said if any of you have any good tips or things I should be looking out for that would be just great.

i would be tempted to use wood bleach after scraping down the wood to insure that the wood is a uniform colour all over before you start varnishing etc.

Cheers - I'll add that to the list. Do I assume this would be before treating with cuprinol?

Yes it would and as I'm sure Dennis will confirm, lemon juice is as effective as wood bleach and does not effect the structure quite as much.
The Cuprinol is Cuprinol 5 star I presume.
I'd only add that you should make sure that the wood is dry before applying any sealers (provisor re waterbased products)

Thanks Jonathon, Once all the varnish is off I intend waiting at least a week or so or even longer to let the wood dry as naturally as possible. Sikkens is oil based so I'm not quite sure what your last comment means?

Some of the Burgess products are waterbased. and my drying comment might not be totally relevant

ok - I understand using a heat gun is the best way to get rid of the existing varnish rather than just sandpaper - what do you think?

It really depends on what is on the wood to start with. We normally scrape with a blade to remove the flakey/ loose material then depending on the state of the wood start with 120grit production paper through to 240 grit. Occasionally wire wool is a good method of cleaning, just don't leave any remnants in the wood or drain holes .
We do not use the Sikkens products totally as we prefer to use gloss varnish to give our desired finish as we have found this to be the most satisfactory over the past 15 years. Others will obviously have their own preferances.

I understand from Steve that the wood was originally Burgess. It may have had a light coat of varnish on since then but it seems very easy to get back to the wood. I've got myself a small scraper with tungston blades and that seems to work very well. Maybe I'll only use heat if I need it. I take it that the sandpaper you mention is just normal stuff for wood. Thanks for your advice - will be fun to do it, may not be a professional job but I'm sure it will certainly spruce it up a bit

The sandpaper is general bodyshop paper usefull on a wealth of products, quite cheap too.
Just to add we find it best to remove some of the Dum Dum between the ally panel and wood (say 5mm) then mask up the panelwork with at least 4 layers of 2" masking tape (use 3M products) once the wood is sanded down use an airline to clear off the remaining dust on the surface and in the groove you will have created in removing the Dum Dum. Make sure that the Cuprinol and other products go into this groove. Once dry remove the masking tape and re apply fresh Dum Dum into the groove, force this in with a plastic filler spreader and use the same tool to cut it back to a 'nice' edge. If any Dum Dum marks the wood simply wipe off with a clean cloth with white spirit on.

I've added this sandpaper, Dum Dum and a bag of lemons to the list! Just out of interest is there a good tool for taking out some of the Dum Dum? My scraper is triangular and I think will be a bit .awkward. Incidentally what is the ally panel? Not in my new Minor dictionary

The panel work attatched to the wooden frame is made from aluminum (hence ally). You can use a cut down filler spreader to ease out the Dum Dum or if you are carefull a thin flat screwdriver.

Doh! It's obvious when you think about it - Thanks