Template everything. Some of those shapes you may not be able to
simply cover in a veneer. In those cases, you might make a template of
the current dash, then make one of the bare dash when you get to that
point.

Then you get to make shaped laminates. Or buy a solid piece large
enough and shape it on your own. You might end up using a combination
of steaming and laminating.

it's just an idea though

On Thu, 15 Dec 2005 21:19:50 GMT, Knob wrote:

Hi all, I'm fixing up a 1966 Mercury Comet and am having a hard time
finding some interior parts that don't cost a fortune so just to be
different I'm thinking of doing some of the parts in
wood...specifically the dashpad, door panels and the rear window
package tray. The car is garaged and there's no kids involved so
weather damage and normal wear and tear should be minimum. The door
panels and rear package tray I dont think present much of a problem as
they're flat so it's only a matter of selecting the grain and
stain.The interior is red so I figure a dark cherry stain on the
selected grain veneer paneling should look OK and not dominate. The
problem will be with the dashpad which has curves and angles I'm not
sure how to deal with...so If anyone has any ideas on how I could
tackle this I'd love to hear from you. The existing dashpad has a
metal baseplate with mounting bolts attached and is easily removed
from the dash itself...so using this baseplate ( after removing foam
and vinyl) seems like the obvious way to attach the wood. Thanks for
any and all input........

Hey! My only qualifications as far as car interiors;
1. I'm a Woodworker.
2. I was eyeballs deep into competing in car stereo shows in the early
90's.

Those of us competing would rip out everything in the car. A complete
gutting was essential to eliminate rattles and bad vibes. Then the new
interior panels were fabricated to hold all of the speakers and
equipment. Door panels were the easy part just as you speculated. The
rear decks for us were a little complicated. We had to match the deck
to a box underneath to contain those big-a$$ boomers. Or we turned the
subs(big-a$$ boomers) directly into the back of the seat. That made the
rear decks much easier. BUT the dash was an entirely different story.
Like you said, there are curves and strange mounting geometry. Do you
want to know why I quit messing around with car srereos? A custom dash
is a pretty serious deal. Most guys would use fiberglass to lay up a
complicatd shape like that. Before you start cutting and hacking the
foam and vinyl of of the steel mounting plate, consider how heavy the
wood is going to be and how easy it will be to warp.There are
defrosters, high humidity, direct sunlight, extreme temperature
changes, etc. But if you do proceed with this bigger-than-it-looks
project, cupholders are good, post some pictures the very day you
finish so you will have documented proof that it looked pretty nice
when it was new. Maybe the way to go would be to have an upholstery
shop to fabricate some part of the dash, the curved parts, and then you
can fit wooden panels on the top. You would have all of the effects of
a wooden dash pad with much less weight. Then you could use a matching
veneer to cover the flat parts around the gauges and the glove box.
some of those old Fords had a console down the center with a flat panel
all of the way down the center. I've also heard those flat panels
screaming and begging to be covered with wood grain.

Tom in KY,Wishing you luck and hoping you post some pictures of how you
do this and someday, the finished product!