New Cherry Wood Dash

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pastortom1

pastortom1

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I thought you guys would like to see the latest dash to come out of the shop.............It's a 74 Dart Sport configuration, restored in ALSA Killer Chrome, and real (NOT vinyl) natural Cherry Wood veneer, hand cut and lacquered.

We've done these with vinyl's in the past, and quite a few...but I got really tired of the characteristics of the vinyls and the extremely thin film & adhesives.

This is the first actual exotic wood dash we've done for an A-Body, and with the outcome, we'll be doing many more. We're doing a gauge console for this one too, and all 4 door panels where the old wood grain was.....all matching Cherry, including the pistol grip.

As far as the ALSA finish, we find that it is better than any other "chrome" paint out there, but due to the fine lines on the dash units, it does not look as snazzy as vacuum plating. We'll use it again, but we'd rather have plating. We used PPG 2K clearcoat on the bezels before finishing with satin black and the Cherry.

See what you think........... Doc

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WOW! I like that. Nice change up.
 
Excellent job Doc. I'd thought about doing this when I do my interior over. Where did you get your veneer? What kind of problems, if any did you run into? Did you use a dremel to cut the openings? Keep up the good work, Tim.
 
That's some very nice work there! How much time did it take and what would it cost to do this?:salut:
 
That's phenomenal!!!!!!! I replaced my fiberboard trunk divider with oak and considered doing the console too, but hadn't thought about the dash. Hmmmm ...

BEAUTIFUL WORK!!!!!! =D>
 
Now all you have to do is find a nice old woody wagon to do this on!
 
I have patterns for the 67, but not 68 or 69........and according to our measurements, there are some differences.

We've been surprised over the years to find that the A-Body dash shown in the picture is NOT uniform from year to year either......When they re-tooled for a slightly different indicator configuration, new molds were made.....very evident in that the speedo opening varies from left to right by 3/32" from one to another, and the gauge openings on the right also vary, but by 3/32" up or down. Extremely frustrating if you try to market some stuff.

If our shop were to put one of these particular dashes out for a customer, the price would be appx. $450. if they had no cracks or gouges.......a proper lens polish would be about $25.............BUT, this type of veneer is stocked in rolls......Due to price, we only have Cherry stocked.......it'll be a while before we can offer any other grains.......not quite sure if we even WANT to offer them........it's a LOT of work guys....no dremels involved, and no computers.......all hand cut and finished like the "old days".......and the patterns are what takes the most amount of time.......when the pattern is finalized, it's fairly easy....but STILL hand cut and trimmed. 8)
 
Are you doing the ALSA process yourself, or did you have it done? Are you using CNC cutting methods on the veneer? OOPS, just missed your previous reply.

Very nice work,
Jerry
 
The ALSA is done here at the shop...........just be forewarned you guys, if you're going to use ALSA Killer Chrome, your actual reflective outcome depends directly upon how smooth your object is........If you lightly orange peel the black, your chrome will be lousy..........you need a black gloss base that's SMOOOOOOTH. The ALSA black gloss base is actually the best black gloss we've ever used out of a can......excellent stuff.....but boy, is it expensive.
 
pastortom1 said:
If our shop...
Click to expand...

Just what is this "shop" of which you speak?
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Do you have your own restoration shop, or do you work somewhere? Please, tell us more.

The information packet I got from ALSA several years ago described a "system" that could coat basically anything, and I do mean anything, in a chrome looking finish - they used tennis shoes as an example. Is this the same stuff?

Check out this video: ALSA Corp ChromeFX

Jerry
 
The shop is "my own" shop where we've worked on classics for yars and yars...actually have one in Florida, and one in NY. We generally do one or 2 cars at a time, and don't generally contract to the public......our own cars only......we do some restoration on dashes and small parts from time to time, but not in quantity.....mostly for our own cars.

The ALSA we use here is "Killer Chrome", not the Chrome FX. It consists of a high gloss black basecoat, followed by "dustings" of chrome emulsion, then clearcoat. Not as good as vacuum plating for final appearance, but the best out there thus far. The best way I can describe the difference is by "contrast".......a vacuum plate on plastic gives a "sharp" contrast.....ALSA Killer gives a "soft" contrast.

If you know how to prepare your parts properly, you can refinish your 3 part dash for about $80. give or take.........2K clear to finish it will be more.......heck, you could take the parts to your local body shop and have them lay a coat of clear on for you for peanuts....very little time or material needed.....then, just mask and detail.
 
Slap me for thinking ....
Rallye panels already have overlays thus dye cut patterns are available. Consoles as well.
Jim at DMT could probably copy and cut from any material from Reynolds wrap to Formica.
I have a question concerning the Alsa products. Did you also use their Pla-Stik bonding primer on the ASB plastic ?
I hope the guy who bead blasted a plastic panel reads your previous post.
Chemical stripping will reveal a mirror like finish on the plastic.
 
We've thought of that too with the die-cutting, but I haven't found anyone who can computer cut actual wood veneers......Lots of problems with the concept........

If they COULD, I'd be interested in knowing.........This stuff takes a lot of pressure to cut, and some woods are harder than others.......this is not thin like vinyls..........it's the real deal.

We used an adhesion promoter, but not ALSA's.
 
Here's a shot of the cluster bezel with the freshly installed restored crystals and backers.........Look to the far right and you can see the "sheen" the clear lacquer leaves.......not a gloss.......just a beautiful sheen when the light hits it.

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Thought I'd post this too........When we redo a dash bezel set, we always take it ALL apart.......all the gauges come out, circuit board is cleaned with 0000 steel wool, all new bulbs installed, and the gauges cleaned and dusted. The factory paint was just a lacquer with no primer, and has a tendency to flake off....we brush the inside clean and wipe with 000, then a good coat of self-etch primer.......after that, a new thick coat of Mopar blue enamel. Then it all goes back together just like new. (In case you guys need the info, when you remove a crystal set from the bezel, use a dremel with a small cutoff wheel to cut the plastic welds flush.....when it goes back together, you should use a dot of styrene cement on the posts.)

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Extremely good looking! I've been doing similar things with vinyl. However, nothing has the look of real wood.
 
Very sharp! Looks terrific. :thumbup:

It's details like that, which pumps things up a notch (or two). Great work.
 
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