Write-Up: BD Trims and Sherwood Dash Kit Installation

Fastenating videos. I like how the process seems to get into all the concave areas..


For years I had wanted to do a woodgrain dash. My thought was that I wanted Rosewood. All of the pictures I had seen with tan, maroon, black and taupe looked really great. However, I have a Midnight Blue Pearl with Medium Blue interior and I had seen other makes of cars with blue/wood that just did not look as good. More recently I posted a photo here of a Gen 1 Riviera with a brushed aluminum dash. This struck a chord with me as I learned to drive in a 63 LeSabre with an interior that looked virtually identical to it. So now I am thinking about the Brushed Aluminum look. I got the idea about 3M film looking on auto-trader where someone had covered the wood on their car (it was a BMW) with a 3M carbon fiber film. I agree that cutting out around the gauges would be problematic. However it may be that if the dash panel was off, you could start by covering the inside with the film. I would probably just paint it flat black like someone here did.

Sherwood Kit http://www.americantorque.com/page/1/1189/

ghpcnm wrote:

Sherwood Kit http://www.americantorque.com/page/1/1189/

That looks good Dave. Our interiors are too bland IMO. Anything you do to break that up is going to be an improvement.

Thanks Larry and I agree with you. I think the Riv has a beautiful dash layout "with a little help"

Interior looks fantastic Dave, particularly the steering wheel wrap.

Thanks for posting the aluminum look.

I need to think about how to get the labels on it. Many years ago, I was an architecture student. We bought labeling sheets of pressure sensitive letters on them. They were available in different sizes, fonts and colors. They might need an overlay which would be OK on wood but probably not so good on metal images.

BMD wrote:

Interior looks fantastic Dave, particularly the steering wheel wrap.

Thanks...good to hear from you Can't believe I took that pic with a dirty carpet

In regards to the Sherwood kit, it says on their website that it is genuine carbon fiber. It's priced like it too! Here is pictures from a guy who installed the kit on his Charger. I think it looks pretty good, but I'm afraid it might be too glossy in the sunlight. Let me know what you think!

http://www.lxforums.com/board/f249/pics-carbon-fiber-interior-273155/

I see they're claiming it's real stuff. At $329 that's really not that bad a price. However, you should look through the first couple pages of this thread and get acquainted with how these kits are applied, and the fit & finish you can expect. Some have not been so happy, since you can see the old dash through the gaps, and since the kits are build to order they don't accept returns.

Has anyone used Mimousa?

I'd be curious to know what the long term durability of these wood dash kits has proven to be.

I've had experience with wood kits with a Miata, and just over a couple years the clearcoat yellowed, scratched easily and the adhesive released at corners and bends. What's the verdict from owners who have had these kits installed for a few years?

I've read through the whole 16 page thread and it seems like the Sherwood kits are the best in this regard, but curious how even they have held up.


Also, a lot of the original posts have lost their image links, and I don't know if any of them were blue interiors. But I'd love to see any examples of Sherwood kits installed in a blue interior to see what color wood would look best.

Thanks,
Al

I installed my Sherwood kit in September of 2009. It still looks as good as the day I installed it.

No problems here with Sherwood

Thanks. Anyone have any photos of a blue interior with a kit?

Al

My Sherwood kit was installed Aug. 2006 & still looks perfect.

al_roethlisberger wrote:

I'd be curious to know what the long term durability of these wood dash kits has proven to be.

I've had experience with wood kits with a Miata, and just over a couple years the clearcoat yellowed, scratched easily and the adhesive released at corners and bends. What's the verdict from owners who have had these kits installed for a few years?

I've read through the whole 16 page thread and it seems like the Sherwood kits are the best in this regard, but curious how even they have held up.


Also, a lot of the original posts have lost their image links, and I don't know if any of them were blue interiors. But I'd love to see any examples of Sherwood kits installed in a blue interior to see what color wood would look best.

Thanks,
Al

I installed my Sherwood kit in 2000 and it still looks good!



I thought I had seen some examples of a Blue interior with a kit but can't remember for sure?

That DOES look good! What color is that??

llamalor2112 wrote:

That DOES look good! What color is that??

Thanks!

It is Dark Burlwood, I thought it would look good with the Black exterior and the light, Platinum Beige, interior. Some dark contrast to the bland design. There are a few more shots of it in my showroon thread.

Looks great! Thanks for the updated photos.

Have any of you installed the "Graphic Color" Sherwood kits that have a faux printed wood grain?

They currently only offer Rosewood and Burl Walnut in genuine wood, but have many other nice faux wood finishes.

So I was wondering if the Sherwood faux wood finishes are as good quality? They are about $60 cheaper and have many more color and grain options.

Thanks
Al

al_roethlisberger wrote:

Have any of you installed the "Graphic Color" Sherwood kits that have a faux printed wood grain?

They currently only offer Rosewood and Burl Walnut in genuine wood, but have many other nice faux wood finishes.

So I was wondering if the Sherwood faux wood finishes are as good quality? They are about $60 cheaper and have many more color and grain options.

Thanks
Al

I paid the higher price for the real wood. I looked at various cars with the fake stuff. The quality of the kits were just as good, I mean why wouldn't they be? To me, there was no comparison in appearance, but everyone has their own taste and preference. One thing is for certain, the Riv's interior begs for a dash kit. It is so bland otherwise. I get a ton of compliments on my interior.

I ordered a sample kit of 4 different sherwood colors. Cost $10 but at least im sure of what i want now.
I would be happy to mail someone the samples if they are looking at getting a kit. Just cover shipping and pass them along to the next member who needs them.
The colors i have are
(AJ) Majestic Burl
(N50) Real Walnut Burl
(CN) Lavishwood
(AZ) Villa Burl

Im liking the real walnut burl the best.
They all looked really different online, and had a redish tint to them in the pictures. but in reality they are all really close in color to each other.


And here they are next to the current wood kit in my car. (Replacing becasue it is starting to discolor in spots from age)

sneek peak

DUDE! Are those wrapped in carbon fiber or MADE out of carbon fiber?