Rubbing the Wood

The center console wood had some pretty bad scratching and swirl marks.

I decided to sand and polish it while I was switching the gearshift bulb.

First, 1500 grit sandpaper:

Then 2000 grit sandpaper:

Finally, a rubbing compound with a semi-hard cloth. Result:

Whole piece done, and waxed. I also re-glued the rubber surround around the gearlever.

The lacquer on it has cracked in several spots, but that obviously cannot be fixed. The only way is to refinish it. Doing that, you'd have to do the whole vehicle, since the result will most likely be kinda "off".

One of these days, I'm going to have to do this same process in a more involved manner.. By removing the switchwork and other trim, I can do a better job of buffing the lacquer.


I put the radio in place since I'm out of time and have to drive the car to places. It's not wired yet, though. I was able to source all connectors, so all that remains as far as wiring, is identifying all the speaker wires and soldering the main power connector to the wires.