See I knew someone would help me

Thanks R Leo I think I may look into the veneer wood I could glueit to the current plastic. I'll do that while re-polyurethaning the current wood. That way I can get back into the wood shop and do something with my woodworking tools.

Dave

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1970 220D, owned 1980-1990
1980 240D, owned 1990-1992
1982 300TD, owned 1992-1993
1986 300SDL, owned 1993-2004
1999 E300, owned 1999-2003
1982 300TD, 213,880mi, owned since Nov 18, 1991- Aug 4, 2010 SOLD
1988 560SL, 100,000mi, owned since 1995
1965 Mustang Fastback Mileage Unknown(My sons)
1983 240D, 176,000mi (My daughers) owned since 2004
2007 Honda Accord EX-L I4 auto, the new daily driver
1985 300D 264,000mi Son's new daily driver.(sold)
2008 Hyundai Tiberon. Daughters new car

....and of course you would have the nicer feeling of having done it yourself---as opposed to forking over a large pile of euros for a kit.

Perhaps some fellow down the black has a Zebrano tree in his front yard... do you have a chain saw?

-----

I once bought a single piece of 2x6" Honduran Mahogany about 3 feet long. I ripped it into 1/4" x 2" strips with a band saw (against a fence) and then power-planed them smooth. I had enough material there to do all sorts of neat projects on my boat---using an epoxy glue to hold them down. All still holding together after 10 years---much of them in direct sunlight and weather.

__________________
1977 Mercedes 240D. 4-speed transmission. Windows, A/C, and sunroof: all manual. Medium Red. 204K miles.
1988 Subaru GL wagon. Dual range 5-speed 4X4. Daily driver w/ twin parts car.
1994 Subaru Loyale wagon. 5-speed 4x4
1966 International 3/4 ton 4X4 truck. Ooh yeah!
1952 Ferguson TO-35 farm tractor.
1984 Snapper rear engine riding mower. Just like Forest Gump.
1988 Nimble 20 sail boat
--Older stuff is built better--

Dave,
Do you have a Paxton or Woodcraft nearby? Both of those places have exotic veneers...of the two, Woodcraft probably has smaller lots where I'm guessing that the least quantity of veneer you can buy at Paxton would supply 50 cars.

You might also check the 'scrap' bin at Paxton. Once upon a time, I bought several decent chunks of cocobolo and, I think some zebrano for knife handles. Expensive but they were already planed to the right thickness (1/4").

Around here, Paxton's customer service really sux. They exhibit a truly bad attitude unless you're buying a $400 Lie-Nielsen.

R

__________________
Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

This is going to sound CRAZY so dont make too much fun for it...it really makes sense...and is do able with the right tools

while in school my buddy was working on a "wood" display for one of his concept cars (in 5th scale) what was done was a super high res scan of some wood...and then he built the "floor" and had it printed on super high gloss uv guarded bill board self sticking paper...a lot faster than building scale planks and nails...

LOOKED AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

now - that is very similar to how i made my white gauges, but i did not use gloss paper...THIS STUFF IS 3M AND STICKS, ONCE ITS DOWN - GAME OVER...BUT - YOU CAN APPLY IT WET. My gauges have been in for about three years - no problems (i do use a fitted sun screen)

now the only reason i mention this two fold...

1) you can scan wood you already have so that the interior matchs perfect
2) when i covered my HVAC control with a crushed plastic (.02") to match the rest of the black plastic (woods not my gig - im working on a good carbon fiber type...anyway -) i had to cut it out COMPENSATING for its thickness in interaction to the silkscreened icons for the controls, minimal detail, but a detail...it took a few tries to make it perfect for me.

BUT - the print out will be paper thin, thinner than any wood i would think you can use.

also - if you could...

Scan in the HVAC contol 1:1

if you have access or can have access to ILLUSTRATOR
build it all in illustrator (the final wood design, with even the icons cut out and EVERYTHING - depending on time/ability/ect..), assign cut paths to all that you want cut out, the bill board printer should have a CUT FEATURE...this will use a x-acto like knife to cut out the HVAC to perfect tolerance given the scan...

i had all of my ODDBALL switches replaced with "custom icons" to look more factory than a triplet overhead light switch...the cutter cut out those details that small - no problem

food for thought
Jake