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I've had the opportunity to see this process being done. It is truly a craft and work of art. Some of the panels may have an appearance of being plastic, but the wood is sealed up this way to ensure durability. Land Rover and Rolls-Royce use similar practices when creating their wood trim panels.
Are you sure that wheel didn't come out of a sc430 or an rx? They have the same exact wheels but with different wood options I believe.
Also the door and console pieces probably have a thin veneer or wood. Yakuza may know more since he re-wrapped those pieces but I know the ashtray I bought had thin veneer. I sanded through it The wheel is the real deal because I sanded and re-colored that.
The ashtray I bought was out of a gs430 and it was darker than my 99 wood, that's why I tried to re-color it.
How did you recolor your wheel? Just like any wood? Sand the varnish off and restain, then more varnish/clear? Curious because I'm about yo try and do mine in the min wax black stain to match the black woodgrain trim. Thanks.
I never realized how uncommon the wood grain wheels were. I’ve checked every GS that’s hit the local junkyard over the past 3 years and haven’t seen one in a GS. The few I’ve seen in RX’s and ES’ were pretty nasty. The wood wheel looks so much better.
I never realized how uncommon the wood grain wheels were. I’ve checked every GS that’s hit the local junkyard over the past 3 years and haven’t seen one in a GS. The few I’ve seen in RX’s and ES’ were pretty nasty. The wood wheel looks so much better.
The wood steering wheels came standard on all 01 and newer gs's.
Comparison of GS and RX wheels as a contribution to the thread (RX is on the right)
But since I don't own my car from day 1- I can't be sure that the one I replaced has not also come from RX
And yeah, both of them are off comparing to the rest of wood trims (RX looks even tiny bit better)
Don't mind thicker leather, that was custom made during reupholstering
I never realized how uncommon the wood grain wheels were. I’ve checked every GS that’s hit the local junkyard over the past 3 years and haven’t seen one in a GS. The few I’ve seen in RX’s and ES’ were pretty nasty. The wood wheel looks so much better.
I've never really checked. This wheel may not be the original wheel. But compared to my factory trim its a complete different color. The reason I bought the black grain trim and was gonna redo my wheel. Personally never been a fan of the orange colored wood grain. Look over the missing peices I was polishing the scratched lenses.
I've never really checked. This wheel may not be the original wheel. But compared to my factory trim its a complete different color. The reason I bought the black grain trim and was gonna redo my wheel. Personally never been a fan of the orange colored wood grain. Look over the missing peices I was polishing the scratched lenses.
Whoa, I didn't know that was a color option for the seats.
The red or orange looking woodgrain inside our cars makes the interior look dated. So I decided to hydro dip all the woodgrain in my GS to give it a more unique but modern feel to it.
When I removed the OEM Nav/Stereo/HVAC controller system, and installed a modern double-din head unit, I found a stand-alone HVAC controller (other option for the 2000 2GS) that was plug and play. This controller DID come with a simulated wood grain puffy sticker that was a bit faded.
The plastic double-din head unit mounting kit was also not up to Lexus standards, so I splashed off the plastic parts to make carbon fiber mount plates:
Plastic head unit mounting brackets were flimsy Splashed off them to create carbon fiber brackets Carbon fiber brackets are very stiff!
I also made custom burled walnut bezels for the HVAC controller and double-din head unit, using real burled walnut veneer, and stiffening the HVAC bezel with a backing of carbon fiber:
laminating the burled walnut to the front of the plastic bezel on the head unit. After the epoxy cured, I trimmed the burled walnut to the frame. Flood coated with laminating epoxy (with UV blocker!) really pops the grain! After the burled walnut veneer (real wood!) was bonded to the carbon fiber backing, and sanded, it was flood coated with laminating epoxy. Machined to size on a CNC router.
Here's an OK photo of the bezels installed, taken at night. The bezels look amazing in the daytime! They're darker, and not as red, as factory wood trim, however I don't mind, since I made them, and since they look so delicious. I'll redo the other wood trim the same way, if I have time one day. You can also see the burled walnut panel that holds the voltage controller for the 200A alternator, and the switch for the twin exhaust cut outs (for stealth mode! And to respect my neighbors):
The block box with the **** is the Tein EDFC controller that dynamically changes the damping in the coilover shocks. The black **** at the bottom of the photo is the dual channel controller for the JL Audio VXi amplifiers.
03-01-14, 05:54 PM
The wheel is the real deal because I sanded and re-colored that.
