|
"wood" dash inserts
I found myself scratching my head last night when I went to look at my car's original dash insert;
My original dash insert started peeling a couple years back, and I had assumed up to this point that it was a fake veneer of some sort. When I was looking at the dash insert (which is very removed from the car) and studying the layer of clear which has peeled off from below and around the wiper switch, it looked to me like what was lifting was honestly just a layer of clear coat ontop of a thin wood veneer; It felt like belwo the clear was honest to goodness wood!? I recently read mention in Smoke Signals about the tree touted as being used for 1973 Pontiacs, but I had long since thought that the "woodgrain" in at least the 1970-1972 Firebirds was totally phony. Are these dash inserts actually made using real wood? |
The dash bezel in my 1973 Formula is not real wood. It is a fake veneer. However, the 1973 Grand Prix and Grand Ams DID use a genuine African Crossfire wood veneer. They were used in 1973 only due to the wood veneer falling off from the plastic bezel. They did not have a great adhesive in 1973 that would do the job.
|
Thank you for speaking up :)
I never thought for a moment that the 1975+ dash inserts were anything other than a vinyl overlay; I have a 1975 dash insert that I pulled from an unmodified Esprit roughly 25 years ago - as I recall it has an un-natural orange tinge to it... I have long thought that the 1973/1974 (which look the same as far as I can recall) were fake, but the Smoke Signals article made me wonder what vehicles the wood was used on - thanks for clarifying! Even though there is little written on them, my first had experience around unmolested 70-72 models has always impressed upon me that each year was different; add to that the fact that the 1970-1972 non-TA dash inserts were unique in construction from the 1973+ counterparts, so I was wondering now if a part of that unique construction was actually using a real wood veneer!? At the chance of being repetitious, this is roughly how I have long differed or described the difference; 1972 = the darkest of the years; a deep chocolaty brown, not "dark" chocolate, but a deep brown milk chocolate hue. 1970 = the next darkest; a nice soft brown, but not near a "chocolaty" complexion 1971 = this one has an almost bleached look to it and can have touches of grey |
'70 has very light grain wood, raised ring and thin trim rings.
https://i240.photobucket.com/albums/...psgasuu0tt.jpg https://i240.photobucket.com/albums/...psdg518dqj.jpg https://i240.photobucket.com/albums/...ps513e9tp7.jpg https://i240.photobucket.com/albums/...psm5m5wecz.jpg |
Quote:
|
The small tight curves are probably too sharp for actual wood also.
|
/\/\ that was my initial thought...
I will see if I am able to get a decent photo of what I am seeing on my original dash insert in the next while. |
| All times are GMT -4. The time now is 09:16 AM. |