17prospective buyer

Doing some research on the forums digging up threads about interior trim options, i began to notice people were saying that the vinyl "wood grain" pre cut wrapping kits looked good from outside the cabin but when inside looked cheap and somewhat tacky.

So far i have made new center console kick panels out of particle board which i then covered in real mahogany wood veneer, i gave the back side a couple coats of polyurethane and clear coated the wood veneer side. They turned out well, i wish i could post pics but i don't have a photo hosting site account.

So, i wanted to go along and do other pieces with the same grain/color wood (shifter surround, door inserts) and i began to discover that doing the shifter surround (or any item with sharp curves) in vinyl wrap would not match the true wood veneer of the console kick panels.

I began to look up the possibilty of wrapping wood veneer around sharp bends, i think doing it via soaking in hot water then forming it around curves and making cuts (like traditional wrapping techniques) would be possible but it may be hard to get it to conform and look good without warping or splitting. My door inserts will be cut out of 1/4" solid mahogany plywood (sold at a local boat building place).

Then i discovered vacuum forming.

http://www.protranserv.com/therealdeal.html

I think vacuum forming is how it was done on old school Jags/Triumphs back in the day. The vacuum forming technique also impregnates the veneer with adhesive/epoxy (whatever you use) so that the durability/fit and finish is there. This is hard to achieve with trying to form veneer by hand, and almost impossible to apply even clamping force to a piece like the shifter surround with tight bends.

So in conclusion, i think using real wood veneer is the best way to go if you want an authentic wood trim look.

https://rennlist.com/forums/928-foru...with-pics.html

This guy made new inserts out of solid oak, so it will give you an idea of how it looks inside. I know he is still active on the forums so maybe he will post here. Mike, if you do post here, did you try to complete the look by wrapping other pieces in wood veneer or vinyl? If so do you have pics?

FLYVMO

You can post pictures right here, just use the advanced button in the "post reply". There you can upload pictures directly from your computer.

Cheers!
Carl

17prospective buyer

Really?? I thought you had to be a member this whole time.

FLYVMO

Mmm, yes I guess you need a membership...well worth it I think.

17prospective buyer

Well i became a member finally. Reason why i didn't do it earlier is because i didn't have a credit card. Now i can buy parts from Rog too and start putting the motor back together. Well since i never showed you all my S4 here are some pics. There is a pic of the center console kick panels i made, but i took it on my iPod so the resolution is not high enough to represent how they actually look.