wood dash..... diy????

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Jul 2, 2003 | 04:11 PM

BigghookUp

Thread Starter

Pole Position

Joined: Aug 2002

Posts: 226

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From: Massachusetts

wood dash..... diy????

Hey everyone, i am getting ready to completely upgrade the whole car from stock to the ****. I was wondering if i could do a wood grain setup by myself. Does anybody have any experience on this topic?

If so, what kind of wood works best. if its possible what is the wood used in the lexus es300 models. because i want it to match.

Also after i get the right wood, what do i do to it to make it the same as the rest of the car. Is it clear coats...? I have no idea. Any leads and help would be very much accepted thanks..

Josh

Jul 3, 2003 | 06:16 AM

retrodrive

Search Function Inc.

Joined: Jul 2001

Posts: 4,819

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From: California

Do not do it unless you have good expirence with' at least, laying carbon fiber. They use Epoxy Resin on top to make it shiny and pretty.

Jul 4, 2003 | 09:50 PM

squarehat

Lexus Test Driver

Joined: May 2002

Posts: 1,472

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From: Ohio, USA

I had some bird's eye maple veneer lying around after a furniture project. I was going to try to make some trim pieces SC430-style, but soon gave up. The veneer was close to impossible to precision cut--I tried a X-acto knife, a small band saw, and a Dremel. If I had been able to cut the pieces to my satisfaction, getting an even coat of varnish would have been my next challenge--I was set to buy marine varnish had the cuts worked. I believe 1Loudlex made a custom bezel for his aftermarket head unit using walnut, you could try searching the ES forum. That was a trapezoidal piece with a rectangular cut out for the stereo. I was attempting some complicated curves (door panels) and gave up.

Edit: Retrodrive is absolutely right, the commercial kits (and probably the factory wood) use a special epoxy resin with a UV inhibitor. Not sure where a hobbyist can pick this stuff up, though.

Last edited by squarehat; Jul 4, 2003 at 09:51 PM.