Woodgrain Instrument Panel Project

[Strife]

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.

So, it is the one on the right you are keeping?

Wow, don't those look nice! I just had my panel apart and can see how difficult it must be to carve out this panel, full of compound angles.

It's not zebrano, darn, so I'll pass! BB

[Strife]

It isn't done with veneer or wood. It's done with three-dimensional printing (hydroimmersion). It is urethaned over the finish. It's "walnut burl", or close to it. The one on the right, without the clock adjust hole, is the one I don't need.

[RickM]

Originally Posted by Strife

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.

Interesting projects. potential problem with LED use in an incandescent designed guage is that the LEDs have a narrow beam of light. Standard instrument cluster bulbs wash the guage face with light. There are special LEDS that attempt to achieve the same effect but they fall short.

[Strife]

What I hope to do with the LED's is use a REALLY bright one and frost/"inverted cone" machine down the top. Efficiency will go down, but a larger area of illumination will result. I have no idea why LED mfr's haven't picked up on this problem. It is very difficult to get frosted and/or "inverted cone" LED's.

[Strife]

The instrument cluster, installed. Note that there is a tiny "filler" panel I had to fabricate out of wood, because the person I got the "donor" from didn't give me the filler piece underneath - I made this out of oak and stained it with walnut - doesn't look too bad, although I may improve upon it later.