Dewoodification begins

[olllllo]

I really love the "woody" part of having a Grand Wag. However, my wood was in about as bad shape as any I have seen. It had little spiderweb cracks throughout it and in some place you couldn't even tell it was supposed to be wood grain. I thought about replacing the sun bleached trim and vinyl, but by the time I am that deep in, I could be a pretty good distance towards a new paint job. So... here is the plan:

I am going to dewoodify it, and get a semi-decent paint job done in a metallic gray. I am going to then use black bedliner on that lower line of the Jeep that passes over the fenders, along the rockers and out the back. I am also planning on acquiring a rhino for the front.

I have read a lot of people's ideas on removing the wood grain, and the concensus seems to be that if the vinyl is in decent shape, a heat gun and a plastic putty knife is a good approach. Well, apparently my vinyl isn't in decent shape, because that approach was worthless! :) I read that you can get any remainder (after heat/putty knife) off with a pinstripe eraser. I looked on Amazon last week and found this wheel (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000JPKXUI) and ordered it. That, my friends, was the ticket!

After pulling the trim off (which was easier than I imagined it would be), I just started working from the outside in using that pinstripe eraser wheel and in 1.5 hours, my tailgate went from this:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3214/2488548004_13c953b6eb.jpg

to this....
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3111/2836483920_8ba3da8c77.jpg

So, for my particular set of circumstances, the pinstripe eraser is the magic bullet. The only downside that I didn't realize is that like an eraser, it gets notably worn away as you use it. I should have ordrered about 5 of them!

I will add some pics to this thead as I make progress.

[jaber]

Went through the same thing on mine. The bad part is that the clear coat underneath was also checked. :banghead: D@mn Az. sun.

[letank]

Looks good.

Same here on the 85 project... i used 3M 08907 woodgrain and stripe remover.... $27 for 24 ounce can at the local paint shop.... which did the tailgate only. Now i need 3M 08907 to remove the glue residue....

I cut off the rivets by sanding them w a dremel cutting wheel.... don't try to slice the rivet, your wheel will get the paint around it. The 85 being a project, I will not paint the whole thing.

[Ronson]

Zylene or Zylol does a pretty good job of removing the sticky stuff and it helps soften the vinyl as well. I've never used the stuff you mentioned so I can't compare them. A gallon of Zylene was like $7 at my local hardware store.

[olllllo]

Using the pinstripe eraser chucked up in the drill, there is actually no residue left behind and the paint is fine. For 9 bucks per wheel, that seems like the way to go for me even if I use 5 or 6 of them by the time I am done.

[GWDriver]

Any pics of the pinstripe remover wheel? Where did you get it??

[olllllo]

I actually linked it in the first post on the text 'this wheel', but links aren't overly obvious on here. Here it is:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000JPKXUI

[letank]

Zylene or Zylol does a pretty good job of removing the sticky stuff and it helps soften the vinyl as well. I've never used the stuff you mentioned so I can't compare them. A gallon of Zylene was like $7 at my local hardware store.

Thanks for the savings.

[starlifter]

I just got thru playing around with the shops 3000 PSI pressure washer (with steam). Within an hour I had ALL the fake wood and molding off to include all the glue residue! Nice purdy brown metalic paint underneath.:thumbsup:

[olllllo]

Just a little update... I finished dewoodifying the passenger side today. Total of almost 7 hours in so far with the tailgate and passenger side finished. Going to tackle the drivers side next weekend.

Here are some pics of this weekend's work:
http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/101948/wagoneer/dewoody/resized_to_800/dewoody-front-right1.jpg

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/101948/wagoneer/dewoody/resized_to_800/dewoody-right-rear.jpg

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/101948/wagoneer/dewoody/resized_to_800/dewoody-side-cassidy.jpg

[FSJ Guy]

That REALLY looks nice. I might have to consider that. Mine is pretty gross at the moment and it's not going to get better.

[krek]

That's looking frickin' sweet. :thumbsup:

[olllllo]

Thanks guys... I am pretty pumped.

As for the rivets in the trim, I just took a Dremel cut-off wheel, cut off the end and pushed them through. I am trying to figure out what I am going to use to fill those holes. At this point, I am kind of considering just filling with JB Weld and sanding them down smooth. Anyone ever tried that?

[1983 j10]

plastic body filler would be a lot better than jb weld.

[olllllo]

I could have sworn I remembered someone saying not use bondo as it could rattle out of those holes, so I was thinking JB Weld. I have never bondo'd anything in my life, so I have no idea. Could I do that with good results without having the holes welded/sanded first?