Anyone know what the finish covering the mahogany maple wood inlay on the dash? I accidentally scratched it and so it has some minor scuff on the finish rather than the wood. Don't want to misindentify it. Could run a test with acetone but rather have it confirmed prior to fixing it.

Woollymitts said:

Anyone know what the finish covering the mahogany maple wood inlay on the dash? I accidentally scratched it and so it has some minor scuff on the finish rather than the wood. Don't want to misindentify it. Could run a test with acetone but rather have it confirmed prior to fixing it.

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Easy with the acetone, it'll devour anything in terms of finish. Presumably the 'wood' is just plastic with some sort of lacquer on it so not easily sorted I would have thought, you might well make it worse so be careful

I'm sure experts will be along shortly, but clear nail polish will work if nobody has a better suggestion. Although I do remember somebody mentioned self-levelling clear substance- I can't think of the name though...

It's actually veneer glued onto the plastic plastic dash panel,
I work in a fiat garage and took the dash apart to see as I was curious if it was plastic

simon_16vpunto said:

It's actually veneer glued onto the plastic plastic dash panel,

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In which case, I'd suggest you search out a reputable french polisher. They can do some amazing work, and will likely know what type of factory finish has been used.

This is furniture restoration, not car mechanics.

I'd imagine Fiat's price for an OEM replacement panel will be something ridiculous, even if one can be sourced.

If u pm me your reg no I'll ask in work tomorrow how much a replacement is? Is it the main dash or the bit to the right of he steering wheel

Thanks for the advice. I decided to use a magic t cut pen and then softened the t cut residue with chipex blending solution and then polished it out with the solutions I had from touching up the paint on another car. The pen acted like a clear nail varnish and sorted the white scuffs. The only thing I'd do differently next time is apply the t cut pen with the tiny hobbyist cotton bud things. Little goes a long way.