Zebrano wood trim upgrade.
 

my wood trim has been cracked and peeling for the longest time andr I have looked online everywhere for a dash kit other than the Zebrano. No luck so I finally decided to just take off the peeled, crack trim and refinish it. I bought a can of polyurethane finish from Lowes and sanded and repainted the wood. Then I decided to experiment since I always wanted Japanese cherry wood, I decided to purchase red food coloring. Yes, food coloring, its not thick like paint and so I wouldn't mess up my finish. I out the red food coloring in a cup and I added another light coat of the polyurethane finish then I dipped the brush in the food coloring and began to paint the trim and the results are amazing! My trim looks exactly like I want it as Japanese cherry wood. I still need to resand it with a finer grande sandpaper and add more coats, but it looks great

We need pics!

Here are some pics! Still working on the center console where the window switches are. I messed it up when I was taking off the old finish. I decided to also paint the plastic trim with my concoction and surprisingly it looks just like the wood! The plastic trim is black and so when coating it with the wood finish/stain and adding the red color the streaks give it that look as if it has grain to it. Still this all brand new to me so I'm still eager to see how it all turns out. One thing I noticed is that after drying, if you rub a wet cloth on the finish traces of red from the dye will show up. To eliminate this I am going to put a protective clear coat over the finish.

Red Dye
 

Dyes typically are subject to fading rather quickly... Hope they hold up for you, because the pieces look good!

:thumbsup:+1, better than most refinishes I see.

More Pics on Zebrano Upgrade
 

Here is what the trim now looks like in my car. Camera usually has good pics, but lighting was off from sunlight, hence the window shades. Anyways, I like the redish brown color, its a nice upgrade I think. However, I think I got a little too excited, plus, being pressed for time, so I didn't give the finish enought time to dry, so I will be touching up the job later. Even the plastic pieces came out looking nice I think. I also have a a flat wood panel from a 300E (see previous pics) that I got to replace the 6-cassette tape boxes, but then again I thought that it would not look right with a blank space of just wood unless I made a hinge or something that flips up to reveal a storage compartment....not quite sure yet. I may just leave the tape holders and paint the black trim around it the same redish-brown color , I'm still debating. Let me know what you guys of the job and how it looks. I know this is a cheap way to get an updated wood trim look, but I have searched all over to look for someone that offered Japanese cherry wood trim for my model and I have not seen anything.