Being a wood worker all of my life and built a business on quailty historic woodwork and having a 10,000sf shop and more equipment than you can ever imagine I guess I know the subject matter pretty well. That all said I have a question about all of the new company's selling the additional wood interior trim packages for cars but mainly the XLR's since this is there forum.
I know my 04 X's trim is Ecyaliptis. The trim packages look awsome but never seeing any up close I wanted to know exactly how well they fit, cover, adhear to substrate ect. I had a wood package in my 87 vette it looked good but in some area's the thickness was a bit much for some of the controls. I know this is a problem due to the needed backer and adhesive for the veneer but not in all areas. That all said who can help shed light on this subject? Thanks in advance! Jim F

Jim, I believe you will find info from several years ago on the site if you do a search. I think the general feeling is that some of the pieces look good and others look funky - most seem to only install certain pieces. Also, all of the ones that I have seen have the grain running the wrong way on console and lower dash. I had looked at a used XLR that had the trim installed and my have a picture that I can send you. I'll check my files.

Jon

One of the XLR sites (it might have been this one) had a post awhile back showing a member's photos of his eucalyptus faux wood installation. While the match was close, even from a distance there was no mistaking the real deal from the rest. The fit on the side of the console aluminum trim was pretty bad; I've seen this on several other XLR installs, so I don't fault the installer. For me, this car looks great with wood as an accent, not plastered all over the inside of the cabin. Kind of like cufflinks and a tie bar, --a little goes a long way. Just my .02; everybody's taste and style is different.

CC :seeya

Maybe we need to get the folks at Woodview to show us some "Up Close" pictures of XLR installs of their various trim products.

Jim, I believe you will find info from several years ago on the site if you do a search. I think the general feeling is that some of the pieces look good and others look funky - most seem to only install certain pieces. Also, all of the ones that I have seen have the grain running the wrong way on console and lower dash. I had looked at a used XLR that had the trim installed and my have a picture that I can send you. I'll check my files.

Jon

You are correct. I purchased a set for my 04 XLR. I used certain trim pieces: door, etc, but did not install all pieces because they were, like you say, funky and did not match the other wood trim exactly. It matched poorly when you attempted to match a piece to the factory installed wood piece and the grain did not match. As long as the part was not next to to original, it looked okay. Now that I have a 09, I cannot locate any wood kit that matches the new wood interior.

Thanks guys, Thats pretty much what I thought too. The original pieces are a thicker veneer and lots of built up finish and the spot where the trim goes was designed to hold that particular thicker piece. I can see the retro fits with the micro thin veneer on door panels and large flat areas and some that have offsets. I know as a wood worker the new trim will never match as it has not aged. In my o4 the glove box is darker than the surounding trim as it was open most of the time and was not exposed to the UV as much and that will never charge as they will always be aging the with the same time lag between them. I am still hoping to see samples for myelf so keep sending me info and or samples. Tkx jim

Jim, Here are those pics, I do agree....waaaay too much wood! :) M :seeya

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc224/tflak/Customwoodinterioron2005SatinNic-4.jpg

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc224/tflak/Customwoodinterioron2005SatinNic-3.jpg

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc224/tflak/Customwoodinterioron2005SatinNic-1.jpg

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc224/tflak/Customwoodinterioron2005SatinNic-2.jpg

I like the 'rubber band' touch on the cruise control arm...ammo for road rage? Ha, only kidding. I must say I really like it. At first it looks like too much but the more I look at it the more I like it.

Darrell