Wood Dashboard kits

[Mayor]

I am a FREAK with having wood on my dashboard. I dont like the "cheezy" I have wood on every inch of my dashboard look, but I like a very Lexus looking type of dashboard - classy and luxurious.

Anyway, would anyone know a few good websites that offer wood dash kits for an '04 SLE?

Thanks in advance!

Mayor
"Ive got WOOD"!

[steve-o]

Google is your friend..

[mattyboyl]

Try ebay or simply Google.

[PXLpainter]

I think they're looking for first-hand experience with the kits here... which is something I've looked at before too, but most of what I've found by searching just looks like pre-cut shelf paper (in other words, CRAP!)

I would hate to lay down money to get a big kit that has 80% of what I really don't want to only have it show up and NOT match my OEM wood trim.

So - if anyone does have experience with a particular manufacturer please share with us your experiences!

Thanks!

[whdean]

I can help ...

I have an '05 Solara SLE convertible and have the molded kit made by Woodview - The molded is their Heritage series.

I have seen both the flat kits and the molded kits, and I would agree that some of the flat kits look terrible. The molded kits use a pliable material with a 3M adhesive backing. You do not need to use a destructive adhesive promoter on the surface first, like with a flat kit. It sticks great, but will come off with some patience and a hair dryer to loosen the adhesive. On the Solara, the arm rest pieces are 3-D molded and fit over the arm very well. All the pieces are dead-on fits and color match. I screwed up a couple of pieces during the install and Woodview replaced them for me. Word of note - The Woodview molded kit is made for the sedan - With the convertible, the rear cup holder pieces do not fit, nor can you use the overhead trim pieces. But I think it looks great.

Here's a link to the site I purchased it from:

http://www.wooddashexperts.com/customer/home.php

If you go to the right side of the page, under Support - Click on photo gallery. Click on Toyota - On the first page of pics, my car is the Arctic Pearl convertible in the lower right hand corner. You can compare it to the pictures of the flat kits on that page for the 04-05 Solara - You will be able to see the difference.

Hope this helps.

[steve-o]

The problem is that not many people have experieced this so hence the lack of replies. Heck ask about a shift knob or a shift boot for a gen 2 you'll get the same thing. I had to use dogpile (that's another search engine that uses other search engines) to find a frickin grey oem knob that'll fit my '06 manny tranny..give it rip www.dogpile.com. enter wood & dash & toyota & solara..oh yeah check out these kits..
http://www.bitrim.com/toyota.htm

[PXLpainter]

I can help ...

I have an '05 Solara SLE convertible and have the molded kit made by Woodview - The molded is their Heritage series.

I have seen both the flat kits and the molded kits, and I would agree that some of the flat kits look terrible. The molded kits use a pliable material with a 3M adhesive backing. You do not need to use a destructive adhesive promoter on the surface first, like with a flat kit. It sticks great, but will come off with some patience and a hair dryer to loosen the adhesive. On the Solara, the arm rest pieces are 3-D molded and fit over the arm very well. All the pieces are dead-on fits and color match. I screwed up a couple of pieces during the install and Woodview replaced them for me. Word of note - The Woodview molded kit is made for the sedan - With the convertible, the rear cup holder pieces do not fit, nor can you use the overhead trim pieces. But I think it looks great.

Here's a link to the site I purchased it from:

http://www.wooddashexperts.com/customer/home.php

If you go to the right side of the page, under Support - Click on photo gallery. Click on Toyota - On the first page of pics, my car is the Arctic Pearl convertible in the lower right hand corner. You can compare it to the pictures of the flat kits on that page for the 04-05 Solara - You will be able to see the difference.

Hope this helps.

WOW! Thanks for the info! That molded kit really looks nice indeed! Did you match it with the existing panels that were in your car or replace it with the kit pieces?

Thanks again...

Cool shots of your car they used too!

*EDIT: It looks like from the pics in the gallery, that may either be a combination of molded/flat kits or just the flat kit, because there are only about 20 pcs in the molded kit available to the Gen 2 Solara. There are 42 pcs in the flat kit, which also include cover-ups of OEM wood so you can change to whatever you want. Pretty slick either way IMO.

http://www.wooddashexperts.com/customer ... 896&page=1

[whdean]

Thanks for the kind words ...

The kit has only the additional pieces that match with the SLE trim. I had a microwave backup sensor installed by a high end custom audio shop. When I picked the car up, they said they were having a discussion over whether or not the wood grain trim was factory or add-on. That's how well it matches.

The molded kit only has the door pieces that are 3-D molded. However, the rest of the kit is made of the molded material, albeit in a flat shape. It fits and contours very well. The flat kit in your link has a lot of extra pieces, but after talking to the folks at Wood Dash Experts, I came away with the impression that the Woodview molded kit was the class act.

If you decide to get a molded kit, PM me - I can likely save you from the mistakes I made that necessitated getting some replacement pieces.

[Down2TheC]

First to rate your ride... You have a 5 now.

[MikeATL]

I'm on the fence with how this looks...

[whdean]

Just my observation, for all that's worth -

This is a flat kit. Most obvious differences vs the molded kit are that the arm rest covers are flat and sit on top of the armrest as opposed to wrapping around the armrest. Notice the treatment of the strip where the heated seat buttons are - The flat kit has a small strip that fits over the bottom 1/2" or so of the trim area. The molded kit covers the entire area with cut-outs for the heater buttons - Not better or worse, just different.

This next comment is entirely subjective, but notice the original silver trim showing around the edges of the installed wood trim. I did not have that effect when I installed a molded kit - the fit was perfect. However, the underlying silver trim showing could be a function of the installation and not the kit - Can't tell.

The flat kit has a number of pieces that this installation apparently did not use - Like around the steering wheel, etc. If your intent is to maximize the wood trim add-ons for a more customized look, the flat kit may be for you.

Thanks.

[mattyboyl]

I bought a kit from NYCdashes.com and had no problems. I will try to post some pictures for you guys to see. I actually have an SE Sport and covered up the carbon fibre trim and went with the wood trim. It's a wood you would see in a Mercedes. I'll try to post some pictures.

[Mayor]

Hey guys,

Since I first posted I have done alot of research on this and found out pretty much what WHDEAN has stated about FLAT kits vs MOLDED kits.

For my '04 SLE Convertible I bought the FLAT KIT: http://www.veneerz.com/shop.php?shop_action=show_kit_details&kit_id=TACS04G

Here is a picture of the pieces that come with the kit:


They offer kits with more or less pieces but for $193 you cant go wrong. I am a FREAK when it comes to wood on a dashboard, but I am only going to use the pieces that cover the vents, radio, shifter, door handles and storage lid.

Thanks for all your replies - WHDEAN - your dashboard looks AWESOME!!

Mayor

[mattyboyl]

What type of wod did you get? If you have extras and would mind sending them my way, let me know.

[Solarafreek]

^^^
^^^ Damn thats alot of WOOD!