Who said 'no!' to wood trim?

[DarrenK]

I've been wanting to try this ever since I had my old '79 245, but it just didn't have the dash for it. So the past few weeks while driving my 242 ('81+ dash) I've been thinking about what would and wouldn't be possible to 'wood', in regards to the dash trim.

For my experiment I used wood effect adhesive vinyl. Most of the dash trim in the 240s is textured, so I felt quite limited. The vinyl I was using isn't very 'comply', so trying to apply it to anything other than a flat service required a bit of working-with.

Here's the outcome;




Perhaps I went a little over the top with the ashtray, shifter knob and handbrake, but I wanted to see how far I could go. The shifter knob needs some 'R,1,2,3,4' letters, I know. The ashtray I only covered whilst considering the flat surface of the heater controls, which I plan to do eventually. The handbrake is the best I could do with this type of vinyl.

I'm really happy with the outcome, impressed even, if I may say so myself! Next time I would love to do this on an 240 with a cream interior - the 'wood' would have a much better contrast and look more luxurious.

Conclusion? It is possible to 'wood' a 240 interior and make it look pretty good, too.

[Blue 8]

Ok first off, its looks like you have done a good job of this, but personally I think its bloody horrid , I'm not a person that dislikes wood in a car in fact the OE wood dash`s look nice in some motors even some after market kits look good, but that just looks so cheap very low cost 70`s MFI sorry bud but certainly not a thumps up from me but each to there own.

[jetronic63]

I think it looks great - you've done a fantastic job. The dash looks like it came from the factory like that. It reminds me of my dad's Granada Ghia in 1978 so you've definitely got a 70s look there !

[bornagain]

Love the handbrake!

[john h]

That's not my cup of tea at all, but you've done a nice job.

For my taste, I would like to see what a good quality brushed aluminium effect vinyl looks like, on the dashboard/instruments area only.

John

[Richard_TD]

I like it, apart from the bits you admitted yourself were going a bit far. Not sure about the mirror levers either.

I prefer this to the highly polished real wood you get in "luxury" cars, it doesn't jar so much with the remaining black plastic.

[chrisnjulie]

I can appreciate all the work you put into it, but the finished result?

There are a couple of bits of wood trim on our XC90 and they look bluddy awful - I wish they'd just stuck to the brushed alloy effect all round, looks much better IMO.

[PTJS]

From the photo's it looks a neat job and an interesting exercise to show how this type of treatment looks but afraid its not for me. There must be other variations in adhesive laminates that would give different appearances so anyone else out there who is so inclined could give it a shot too! Presumably you can always take it off if the end result is not what was wanted. As my father used to say 'It wouldn't do if we all liked the same thing'.

Cheers

Phil

[Richard_TD]

It reminds me of the Fablon wood strip the old SAAB 99s used to have, maybe that's why I like it.

[yragyrag90]

Please please please do th outside too.
I was toying with the idea of 'wood panelling' my old 240 that dies in a crash.
Just one side to see what it would look like.
I don;t have the skill to get a good result, but I'd love to see it done.