Staining or Window Tinting Wood Trim?
Pole Position
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 211
Likes: 5
From: Quebec, Canada
Mines are plastic and paint was pealing off them. Just for info!
What do you mean by "it's super thin".. the quantity of clear apply originally to the wood panel or the wood panel themself?
What do you mean by "it's super thin".. the quantity of clear apply originally to the wood panel or the wood panel themself?
From personal experience, the staining method will not work. I sanded down a couple pieces before and when you get to the "wood", you find it is almost a piece of paper with wood print on it that is stuck to some metal, with cheap wood on the back which you can see if you look on the backside. It does not stain well, if at all, and just did not work for me.
An alternative is to use vinyl however the only vinyl I found had a cheap look to it and was essentially black vinyl with wood grain texture on it. It would look pretty cool if it had a thick coat of resin on it that was properly polished. However, it does not obtain the look of true blackwood. I had a sports design 2GS steering wheel and shift **** at one point and gave up trying to match it. A good alternative would be to paint it piano black as you posted in those pics. An example of a member who did the vinyl is cleansc4 if you check his history. I believe a few others did it as well.
If you want to do it the right way, you would need to do it like ScottURnot who have hydroprinting done (check his massive thread for interior pics). I scrapped the idea a while back because I received an estimate of near $500 but this was at least 4 years ago so prices may have come down considerably.
Oh also, I tried spray tinting the wood with VHT by roughing up the clear and spraying it. It kind of worked but did not impress me so I didn't bother going with it.
An alternative is to use vinyl however the only vinyl I found had a cheap look to it and was essentially black vinyl with wood grain texture on it. It would look pretty cool if it had a thick coat of resin on it that was properly polished. However, it does not obtain the look of true blackwood. I had a sports design 2GS steering wheel and shift **** at one point and gave up trying to match it. A good alternative would be to paint it piano black as you posted in those pics. An example of a member who did the vinyl is cleansc4 if you check his history. I believe a few others did it as well.
If you want to do it the right way, you would need to do it like ScottURnot who have hydroprinting done (check his massive thread for interior pics). I scrapped the idea a while back because I received an estimate of near $500 but this was at least 4 years ago so prices may have come down considerably.
Oh also, I tried spray tinting the wood with VHT by roughing up the clear and spraying it. It kind of worked but did not impress me so I didn't bother going with it.
From personal experience, the staining method will not work. I sanded down a couple pieces before and when you get to the "wood", you find it is almost a piece of paper with wood print on it that is stuck to some metal, with cheap wood on the back which you can see if you look on the backside. It does not stain well, if at all, and just did not work for me.
An alternative is to use vinyl however the only vinyl I found had a cheap look to it and was essentially black vinyl with wood grain texture on it. It would look pretty cool if it had a thick coat of resin on it that was properly polished. However, it does not obtain the look of true blackwood. I had a sports design 2GS steering wheel and shift **** at one point and gave up trying to match it. A good alternative would be to paint it piano black as you posted in those pics. An example of a member who did the vinyl is cleansc4 if you check his history. I believe a few others did it as well.
If you want to do it the right way, you would need to do it like ScottURnot who have hydroprinting done (check his massive thread for interior pics). I scrapped the idea a while back because I received an estimate of near $500 but this was at least 4 years ago so prices may have come down considerably.
Oh also, I tried spray tinting the wood with VHT by roughing up the clear and spraying it. It kind of worked but did not impress me so I didn't bother going with it.
An alternative is to use vinyl however the only vinyl I found had a cheap look to it and was essentially black vinyl with wood grain texture on it. It would look pretty cool if it had a thick coat of resin on it that was properly polished. However, it does not obtain the look of true blackwood. I had a sports design 2GS steering wheel and shift **** at one point and gave up trying to match it. A good alternative would be to paint it piano black as you posted in those pics. An example of a member who did the vinyl is cleansc4 if you check his history. I believe a few others did it as well.
If you want to do it the right way, you would need to do it like ScottURnot who have hydroprinting done (check his massive thread for interior pics). I scrapped the idea a while back because I received an estimate of near $500 but this was at least 4 years ago so prices may have come down considerably.
Oh also, I tried spray tinting the wood with VHT by roughing up the clear and spraying it. It kind of worked but did not impress me so I didn't bother going with it.
Lexus Champion
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 2,489
Likes: 107
From: AZ
The wood is very thin for a reason. It has to bend to fit the compound curves. It is finished with a varnish. You can only stain the wood after all of the varnish is removed. Consequently, your chances of trying to sand the varnish off without sanding thru the wood is slim to none. Using a liquid varnish remover might work. Even so, you would need to be able to then sand it to a fine surface. The wood should then be bleached to remove the old finish. Only then can the wood be re-stained successfully. Any lack of success in this process will result in the wood being destroyed. The only option left to use the wood would then be to paint or cover it.
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