Maintaining varnished engine panels.

bcooke · Post by **bcooke** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 7:47 pm

This is a very nice engine panel installation (Thanks Nathan!)

I would like to copy the design (from Dasein... hehe) more or less. What I am wondering is... how well is the varnish holding up on the interior where the actual instruments are mounted?

I don't have a fancy panel, just lots of individual guages, and I am worried that I will be removing the guages every year to touch up the varnish. My option is a painted back panel or colored plastic or something to mimic the standard Yanmar panel that Nathan has.

Varnishing the frame every year is okay with me, I just don't want to have to disassemble the thing too.

-Britton

Figment · Post by **Figment** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 7:50 pm

(psssst. woodgrain laminate. who'll know?)

bcooke · Post by **bcooke** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 8:04 pm

Oh, you are a sneaky one Mike! Privately I like the idea but let's not let this get around :-)

-Britton

Post by **dasein668** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 8:12 pm

It seems to be holding up quite nicely. It's a vertical surface, down in the cockpit well, with a piece of lexan over it. (Is lexan a UV retardant at all?). I actually don't think I'll need to touch up the exterior of it this year. Probably an every other year sort of thing.

Post by **Tim** » Thu Mar 30, 2006 8:12 am

That area gets little UV exposure, and the I have found the varnish holds up extremely well. It probably would only need a touch up coat every few years, so I wouldn't worry about the difficulty. And even then, we're talking mostly about the outer frame; the inner portion would last even longer. Or you could certainly paint that part if you preferred, though a paint finish would also require some maintenance.

I am pretty sure that mine will go another couple years before it needs any more varnish. That's after 2 seasons' use already.

Post by **Tim** » Thu Mar 30, 2006 8:13 am

Figment wrote:(psssst. woodgrain laminate. who'll know?)

Everyone, once that stuff fades out the way it tends to do...

Duncan · Post by **Duncan** » Thu Mar 30, 2006 8:43 am

Here's another solution a friend of mine (who had an extra portlight) came up with. It's more "utilitarian", but very solid, practical, and low-maintenance? You could use a bronze one if you wanted to up the aesthetics a bit, I guess.

Post by **dasein668** » Thu Mar 30, 2006 8:46 am

If ou wanted black, I'd just go with black starboard or other plastic. It might fade, but no more than the plastic bevels on the instruments themselves, I wouldn't think.