Replacing faux wood veneer with real... problems with the veneer lifting!

[tomcat27]

so my son wants to replace all of the faux wood veneer in the Cougar with real burled walnut. ok. sounded simple at first. I have alot of woodworking experience but none with veneers. tried yellow glue to glue the veneer to plywood backer. looked good until he polyurethaned it with oil-based poly. the veneer lifted and bubbled. I'm guessing that the solvent attacked the glue. fine. tried again. contact cement and water-based poly. same thing, although not as bad. grrrrr!

ideas?

 

[AuthorEditor]

I have no experience working with wood in a car, but on boats epoxy is your friend. I've used West System and System 3 and they are both good. West is generally easier to find at places like West Marine. Just be sure it is aligned right or you will never get it off! A very thin coat of epoxy is a great sealer before you varnish and will save many coats. Epoxy is pretty resistant to most chemicals, so the poly will do nothing to it.