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Woodgrain Instrument Panel Project
I admired the Aris woodgrain instrument panel (germany), but it was over 300 Euros and a core charge on top of that. So, I think I figured out how it was done and had it done here, see images.
The one with the back installed should fit my '86. The other one is for an older SL, without a clock. Note how much wider the slat below the idiot lights are than on the 86. There was also no clock adjustment hole - the clock was in the center vent hole in the dash on this model.
These turned out very well, but not flawlessly; the one I don't need actually turned out better than the one for my car. I'm debating that this may not be bad, because if they DID turn out perfect it would look like mass-produced plastic, and not "crafted".
If anyone would like the "older" one (in the US), email me; I did it as an experiment and am looking to get out of it what I put into it, around $60 USD. Otherwise, I might trial-balloon it on eBay. Note that this is for the front piece only, not the clear plastic or rear plastic/gauges. My experiments had demonstrated to me that woodgraining (glossy) behind the plastic would not really look that much better and would cause annoying reflections, making it impractical on anything but a show car.
I'm also working on hyper-bright (>15 candela) LED's for instrument panel lighting and turn signals. I was annoyed last summer because the turn signals are hard to see with the top down. I caught myself doing the thing I can't stand seeing other people do! I'm an electronic geek mostly; the current draw of each LED will be within 5% of the "real" bulb so as not to upset any electronic systems.
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