Woodgraining the dashboard & window frames

[Uncle-Pekka]

Has anyone done the woodgraining job by himself?

On my budget restoration/reconditioning, there is the need to do it and I considered I might give a try. The car is 1948 D24 Custom.

What paint/colors you have used, tools/brushes?

Would be nice to see also some photos of the process or the results.

P.S.

The frames & dash on my car have unfortunately been painted on with plain paint, thus there is not much left for a color/pattern. However, the edges I have been found to trace the original pattern, it seems like the original may have been applied by some kind of roll or machine. Makes me think would it be better for the outcome to do the top layer with a foam roller rather than with a brush?

[fireman_033]

I saw where they done woodgrain on overhaulin(i think may have been on Jesse James show) by painting a brown background and taking a blowtorch without putting oxygen to it and sooted up the surface slightly then took a paint brush and gave it a grain and clearcoated that looked pretty good on tv.

[BobT-47P15]

I think there have been some previous threads here about woodgraining...but

not sure how far back. I believe the original grain on these cars was with a

Di-noc decal. David Maxwell is currently working on some re-woodgraining

projects, as I recall.

Did you ever use the "antiquing kits" for furniture......a base coat of color,

then a dark color painted on over it and streaked using a rag or brush to

make the grain by wiping some of it off. I think the dash process is similar.

[knighthawk]

look up ' dash final product' by Lou Earl , he's got his method and some good pictures, I did mine using his methods, got a little different result, very happy with the way mine turned out [/img]

[David Maxwell]

...the roll-on process. This is the process I use. Grain-it-Technologies is where I got my equipment. You can see the process on their online videos and see many examples of their work. I believe Hudson may have been one company that stamped their parts after the grain was applied, but that is not the norm for the era. One look at the Hudson dashes and you can see that the "simple" contours of their dash allowed for this. The Dodge and Plymouth have much more complex curves and crevices in their dash. Some feel this makes rolling on the grain impossible. All I can tell you is I'VE DONE IT many times now. It's not easy, but can be done with results that look identical to the original. It takes quite a bit of practice to master the technique. Definitely not as easy as the video makes it look. I think I removed the grain 10 - 15 times on portions and even re-shot the base coat a couple of times on the first one I did.

[Don Coatney]

David;

What is the cost of one of your grained dashes?

[claybill]

basic info....the di-noc decal system is not the original and isnt easy or correct.

best results are base coat...i little wiggly brush trick. another thin coat and dry brush thru the wet paint. then clear coat.

this you can do without taking out the dash.!

bill

[David Maxwell]

...$650 if they send me their dash. Otherwise, $750 for one I have in stock. All the dashes in stock right now are ungrained. I need to finish two I'm working on first. Sounds like a lot, but it's about $1200 from Grain-it-Tech. It's A LOT OF WORK!! Frustrating as hell sometimes and if I didn't love these cars, would probably just convert my graining shed to a garden room for my wife and eat the cost I have sunk into the graining materials. Oh well, I suppose if I keep at it long enough, it will get easier lol.

David;

What is the cost of one of your grained dashes?

[Uncle-Pekka]

basic info....the di-noc decal system is not the original and isnt easy or correct.

best results are base coat...i little wiggly brush trick. another thin coat and dry brush thru the wet paint. then clear coat.

this you can do without taking out the dash.!

bill

Bill,

I 100% agree with you: Chrysler corp. did not used decals for interior finish in the fourties. Looking the backside of the window frames I've removed, there is the tan base coat all over and in one of them there is a 4" long track of rolled brown gain pattern, I suppose Mr. Master has tested the roll prior to the woodgrain job.

The process you briefly described makes sense, similar to furniture graining.

What specific colour tones you've used?

Enamel on enamel or some special paint for woodgraining?

Can you post a picture of the parts you have painted?

Br/Pekka

[Fireball]

here's Lou Earles car and his way around woodgraining, very nice indeed.

http://www430.pair.com/p15d24/mopar_forum/showthread.php?t=2626

Pekka I suppose Miranol or similar enamel is just fine, they don't sell Rustoleum here. I'm doing mine at some point also.

[Uncle-Pekka]

Pekka I suppose Miranol or similar enamel is just fine, they don't sell Rustoleum here. I'm doing mine at some point also.

Ok - Is Miranol-type of paint better for this particular job than regular car enamel or acrylic paint?

(I am asking because I dislike Miranol, it takes week to dry...

On the other hand we have 100+ half empty cans of 70's 80's car enamels (non-acrylic), as remainders of the days when my father used to paint cars for the villagers in his garage... Those were THE DAYS )

[Joe Flanagan]

What I would do is blast a piece of scrap metal, paint it brown, and start practicing. See if Miranol works. In fact I'd do a bunch of them using different techniques. From what David Maxwell says, it sounds like you have to get the feel for it.

[JohnS48plm]

Dave do you need any more old dashes? I still have the one I replaced when I found one with good woodgrain. JohnS

[David Maxwell]

...and let me know what you've got.

[cole18cars]

Hello, I recently saw a show called Orange County Chopper on the Discovery Channel, or maybe The Learning Channel. Anyway, they wood grained an entire motorcycle with a dipping method that I beleive Chrysler used originally. What happens is there is a woodgrain pattern that is floated on a liquid that disolves the graining so it floats on the surface, and the part is dipped into this liquid and covers the part.

[48mirage]

Here is a link to an "old" method.

http://oldmopar.com/oldmopar/woodgrain.html

[windsor8]

Here are a couple of pictures of the steering wheel drop support that I fabricated and put a wood grain like finish on. I just painted the part a dark brown base coat as the the original dash was painted and then used a thinned down black wash applied with cheese cloth to give it a little grain look. Then clear coated it.