Click to view attachmentwell last wek I decided to start making a wood dash cover. Went to Home depot and got myself some real woood 1/4 thick. and started working. here is an unfinished pic.

I removed the bottom portion of the dash the material that covers it as well as the metal plate under the material. the edges don't have to be straight as they will be hidden (slides in) the top and part of the dash. The 1/4 inch wood fits perferct under the edge. at first I was thinking of using double sided tape, but it will not be necessary to use any glue or tape as the upper and lower part of the dash will hole it perfectly.

This piece will ne able to slide out if you desire to put the dash back to original.
the best part is that it is real wood and hand made.

I have to work on the center consol, the middle piece that holds the gauges the radio frame and the glove compartment cover.


I will be posting more pics as I go alone.

Let me know what you guys think!!

Yep, it's wood. Is it a solid piece? What kind of tree did it come from? Are you worried about warping? Did you consider marine plywood with 1 good side? Do I have any more questions? Looks good so far.

I am not sure of the kind and yes only one side is finised.

thanks

That looks pretty good!

Wood trim is/was a popular look, and a lot of aftermarket companies made wood look trim for dashes, so why not!

It may be easier to just use some wood laminate on the flat panels of the 914, cutting the edges and holes with an X-Acto knife. I did my dash with a carbon fiber look, so anything you want to do is great! That's what's fun with these cars.

I wanted it to be something different with more value than the after market ones. I chose to use real wood. And the 1/4 fits prefect without having to use any glue.

My first 914, a 72 had real wood like that, heck that was back in 85-86?

Always liked wood dashs. Will the switches clear through the wood?

Keep going and posting. Like it a lot.

Steve Hurt

Just remember the stain and finish make or break the end product. Looking good

AMOCO? made a kit, back in the day. It was real wood. Openings for switches were oversized so you could get to the knobs.

Cool. My RL has wood accents and its really nice. Are you going to stain and lacquer it? or are you going for the natural wood look?

Do the steering wheel too!

Ok, as a professional cabinetmaker, here's my 2 cents. I've contemplated making a wood dash for my 914 for 35 years. I've seen several and some of them look ok, but I was just never impressed with them. I've seen the door panels to match. I even made a wood bumpers after removing the late bumpers, and not having a good chrome set to replace with. They were painted black and most folks didn't even know. I love the look of highly polished exotic hardwoods in the luxury cars. Remember that early car body builders were coach builders and cabinetmakers. 1/4 inch plywood is, well, plywood. Hardwood or nothing! The best and easiest way to accomplish this would be to veneer the existing metal. Don't use lacquer. it will fade, crack, peel, and disintegrate in a few years. Use polyurethane, or marine spar varnish(my choice). A high shine can be had by several thin coats, and rubbing between coats with 600 grit paper or 0000 steel wool. Keep a good coat of carnuba paste wax on it and will good for a long time. Don't forget the pics.

BTW, hard to tell from the pic but that appears to be a piece of fir, or perhaps oak

Did that a few years back. It disappeared when the rest of the interior did.
I rated it OK.

They should I am planning to test that today

This dash was in my car when I bought it in 1973. I was told by the Dealer that it was a Dealer Installed Option.. They probably bought them from Amco ?? I friend did the gold Leaf lettering back in the late 70's. It is cut lightly enough it could be sanded out at some point. Looks to be Oak.. The switch holes are beveled so that the knobs can push back enough to shut off. I can't imagine my car without it ??

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FWIW- my buddy is the original owner of this 71 914/4 & it came from the dealer with one of the accessory/option Rosewood dash faces. A prior buyer ordered it with that, turned aluminum threshold plates, hood badge & Western alloy wheels - then backed out, so Jerry picked it up.

FYI - here is what it looks like today at about 61k miles -

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Note that the wiper dash knob in the bottom pic is a very tight fit due to the thickness of the wood, & harder to operate than on the standard dash face.

HTH -

thanks

this looks great!!! thanks for the tip