Wood dash kits, steering wheel cover,...

[scottm]

Yes, Junk, I searched.

My wife is serious about selling her 80 for a lease or minivan. I brought up prices for assumed leases and used vehicles, I think she's over it for now. Just to make sure, I need to fix her ugly steering wheel and dash soon, maybe new mats, fix that suspension clunk. And thanks for the thread on stereo upgrades. This could be more $ than an ARB bumper.

So who's done the dash and what'd you think? I've looked at a few of the thousands of places making dash kits, nice. They have more pieces than mine came with. The center vent/clock piece is curved, do the kits stay on there well?

Her steering wheel looks worn in a couple spots. I'd trade with mine, but the airbag thing is a concern. How hard would it be? I've never seen any covers that looked good, not even my brother's fuzzy pink one. Any good steering wheel covers out there?

 

[cruiserdan]

Is it a leather-wrapped wheel?

If so, you could remove the leather cover, there is a plain steering wheel under it. You could also try re-dying it.


As far as the wood goes, you could remove it or replace it with an aftermarket kit. The OEM wood is discontinued, but it was too expensive any way and it stll de-laminated :whoops:

 

[offroadkid]

Scott,

My wood kit too was ugly and peeling. I removed it, and I like it alot better. My steering wheel is also ugly and coming off in my hand. I've been looking at getting a cofver like this: http://www.man-a-fre.com/pa/wheelskin2tonesteeringwheelcover.htm

I never heard of peeling the leather off like Dan said. I didn;t know you could?

 

[jjbodean1970]

kill the wood crap - it's just plain fugly

 

[concretejungle]

https://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=25012

That link should have you set for your steering wheel.

I also took my woodgrain crap off the dash. It just didn't look right and was delaminating. I have no idea about how the aftermarket ones stick. I think there is a woodgrain kit on SOR's clearance right now for the 80.

 

[best4x4xfar]

https://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=25012
I also took my woodgrain crap off the dash. It just didn't look right and was delaminating.

How difficult was the wood trim to remove, and what kind of condition does it leave the black plastic underneath? Thanx..

 

[jjbodean1970]

it depends - usually if it's in really crappy condition it's easier to pull off. i've seen them peel right off and i've seen you need to use a heat gun to soften the adhesive - it's hit and miss.

be careful not to gouge the plastic underneath, though, it's easy to do

 

[NorCalDoug]

Where's Derek Lee? He picked up a nice wook kit from somewhere -- real wood. Looks very nice.
If he doesn't comment soon, I'll get the info from him...

 

[scottm]

The leather covers don't usually hold up well, as noted in previous threads. I'm wondering if anyone's looked into getting it professionally sewn on, spokes and all. If I have to take it off to get it done I'll just swap hers with mine.

Yeah I'll probably take mine off and leave it black, but this is my wife's truck. If she's not happy with it I could end up maintaining an Envoy.

 

[Cube Dweller]

Peeled the wood off mine at stoplights. Used a plastic putty knife for the tough pieces(round the edge w/ a file or sandpaper if your extra cautious). Any remaining adhesive was removed w/ goof off. Looks way better. My wife(primary driver) agrees.

 

[concretejungle]

The leather covers don't usually hold up well, as noted in previous threads.
QUOTE]

I just don't see how. Just wipe it every oil change with some leather conditioner as you would your seats and that's it.

 

[dclee]

Doug -

Saw your reference on the `94 vs. `95 thread.

Anyway, yes, mine had crappy aftermarket wood when I got it, which was starting to delaminate, crack, and fade. I tried to pull it off, was very meticulous, using a heat gun, razor blades, etc., and sacrificing my poor fingers, but the PO had not only used the adhesive backing, but had used glue as well, so my plastic underneath was pretty damaged and ugly. So I wanted to cover up this damage. And I knew I didn't want one of the mass-produced cheesy kits that everyone sells.

After some research, I found a kit made by Madera Concepts in Goleta, CA. They do restoration stuff for Jaguars, Mercedes, MGs, etc. But their kit was around $600! However, some of those cheapie kits out there sell for almost as much, and the quality on the Madera kit was clearly superior. They use real hand-selected woods, hand polished and varnished, and best of all, the panels screw on with very small finishing screws, so NO glue or double-sided tape required! That alone made it worth it to me. But then I saw SOR had a kit on sale for half that price, and I grabbed it (it was the last one, sorry guys).

Madera uses various types of wood, but I find the Rosewood looks best in a gray interior, and their Burl Walnut would probably be my choice in an Oak interior. However, for the `95-`97 dash I think (but not sure) that their kit covers up the small cupholder in front of the shift lever. If I get a chance I'll post some pics next week (going out of town for the weekend in a couple hours).

HTH,

 

[scottm]

$600? Ouch! For that I can have it made custom. My best friend growing up is one of the best antique boat restorers in the country. I used to build custom laminated counters, I could cut out the veneer pretty efficiently and have him finish it. I think I'll settle for the $200-$300 stuff.

What's the steering wheel look like naked?

 

[Docmallory]

My 2 cents would be this:

Try to take off the old trim. If you can do it without boogering up the dash (I couldn't), then problem solved. The dash looks great without it.

If you booger up the dash like I did, just get a simple dash kit off eBay and call 'er good enough. If it peels off in 4 years, then just replace it. Cheap and easy enough.

I bought a B&I brand kit off eBay. It is real wood, in a burled walnut style. To my eye, it looks as good as or better than stock, and it matches the original color/texture nicely. It went on very easily with 3M adhesive backing. Cost me $115. It is only 6 months old, but so far it still looks perfect.

 

[IdahoDoug]

Scott,

What's wrong with the dash? You said nothing about it and several responses were about taking off the wood dash kit. Is that what's going on - your wood dash kit is coming off?? Just trying to get up to speed here.

The steering wheel. Man are there some butt ugly steering wheels out there, eh? But I'm certain I've seen some leather kits out there. I'd even consider making one and putting it on myself by purchasing a piece of very high grade leather and using a punch. After all, it's basically a rectangular piece of leather. Yeah, it would take half a day to do a nice job (measure, cut, punch holes, sew it on with some of that tough black webbing), but when you got done it would look nice. I'd look for something thin so the edges that will simply be straight across the spoke perimeters won't have much of a raise edge. Or perhaps an upholstery shop may have a way of shaving the edges down in these spots for a nice finished look. Or it may not be too expensive for an auto upholsterer/restorer to put a piece on for you. It would literally take 60 seconds to remove with a razor and they may offer this service routinely.

So, what's up with the dash? I can't see much of mine because of the Barney puppet on the blinker stalk, the fuzzy pink wheel cover and the dingo balls hanging from the instrument eyebrows...

DougM

 

[IdahoDoug]

PS - whenever I see your new screen name, I have to look twice to be sure it doesn't say "scrotum" instead of "scottm".

DougM

 

[scottm]

Scrotum? I like it! Her dash wood is delaminating a little. It doesn't matter how much, she needs to be proud of her moderately expensive ride, or she'll entertain thoughts of replacing it. Perhaps I'll peel it to see how it looks. She knows cars well, grew up in her Dad's body shop. She even wants a new windshield. The steering wheel leather is worn unusually at the top and two sides. I'm looking for a recover that includes the spokes, I'll check with some pros. I know a guy in Boyne City with a car shop, he took second at Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance a couple years ago. He's gotta know something about this. I'd like to work at his shop if I get laid off, his shop looks like Jay Leno's garage!

I'm off to fly this morn, later.

 

[Critter]

I am gonna pull the wood kit out of my 97 because just like everyone elses it has started to fall apart. Does anyone have any pictures of theirs without the kit? I am just curious to see what the forward part of the center console looks like mainly. The rest I could careless about because I believe it is all black underneath.

Thanks!

 

[Exiled]

Scott, I took the steering wheel off a Celica, which had a dried, cracking, sticky stock leather cover on it, to an upholstery shop specializing in leather, and they recovered it to match for $85. Looked essentially brand new, and it included the spokes. I thought it was worth it, and the leather they used has held up a LOT better than the original leather.