Upgraded Dash Wood

What sets your Spider apart from the rest?
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Wheel
Posts: 112
Joined: Sun May 08, 2011 6:18 pm
Your car is a: 1982 Fiat Spider
Location: Saskatoon, SK, Canada

Upgraded Dash Wood

Post by Wheel »

I didn't do a lot to the car this winter other than the dash. I thought I would try out the Hydrographic Printing (Water Transfer) process to get the burl wood look to the dash. It worked pretty good and they were able to apply it to the shifter knob as well. I used a Canadian company from British Columbia, called Cobra Imaging, http://www.cobraimaging.com/ .
It isn't as good as using a real burl wood veneer, but I am pretty happy with it and I got the matching shifter knob.
I also took the opportunity to change the instrument bezels to chrome, change the cloudy clock glass, replace all the dash light bulbs and repaint the center dash black plastic piece.
The chrome bezels and clock glass were purchased from Csaba at Auto Ricambi.
The short shifter was purchased from Mark Allison, last year.
Here is a couple of pictures for you to look at. They have been resized to fit, but Photobucket seems to take a few hours before they display correctly. If they look cut off, just right click to view full size.
Image

Image
1982 Fiat Spider
So Cal Mark

Re: Upgraded Dash Wood

Post by So Cal Mark »

nice, did they charge by the square inch?
User avatar
Wheel
Posts: 112
Joined: Sun May 08, 2011 6:18 pm
Your car is a: 1982 Fiat Spider
Location: Saskatoon, SK, Canada

Re: Upgraded Dash Wood

Post by Wheel »

They quoted by the job. I added the stereo face surround and the shifter knob after the original quote and it added $25. The total for the complete job was about $400. The pieces are clear coated to give them a real durable finish.
1982 Fiat Spider
So Cal Mark

Re: Upgraded Dash Wood

Post by So Cal Mark »

looks good and the shift knob came out well
User avatar
Wheel
Posts: 112
Joined: Sun May 08, 2011 6:18 pm
Your car is a: 1982 Fiat Spider
Location: Saskatoon, SK, Canada

Re: Upgraded Dash Wood

Post by Wheel »

Thanks Mark
1982 Fiat Spider
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SLOSpider
Posts: 1140
Joined: Wed Mar 03, 2010 2:10 am
Your car is a: 1973 124 Spider 2.0FI
Location: Lompoc, Ca USA

Re: Upgraded Dash Wood

Post by SLOSpider »

Wow looks good from the pics but for the price I would go ahead and do it out of real wood or at least a a laminate. But then again Im a cheap ass :shock:
1975 124 Spider
1976 Mazda Cosmo http://www.mazdacosmo.com
1989 Chevy k5 Blazer
1967 GT Mustang Fastback
User avatar
Wheel
Posts: 112
Joined: Sun May 08, 2011 6:18 pm
Your car is a: 1982 Fiat Spider
Location: Saskatoon, SK, Canada

Re: Upgraded Dash Wood

Post by Wheel »

Ya, I hear you. The cost was more than I originally thought it would be, but I pondered it long enough that my curiosity about the process and finished product got the best of me. :oops: The matching shifter knob was the kicker.
1982 Fiat Spider
User avatar
SLOSpider
Posts: 1140
Joined: Wed Mar 03, 2010 2:10 am
Your car is a: 1973 124 Spider 2.0FI
Location: Lompoc, Ca USA

Re: Upgraded Dash Wood

Post by SLOSpider »

I too was curious about that process and wanted my motorcycle wheels done in Carbonfiber look. But was cheaper to just powder coat them
1975 124 Spider
1976 Mazda Cosmo http://www.mazdacosmo.com
1989 Chevy k5 Blazer
1967 GT Mustang Fastback
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