Interior Coatings - Your days are Numbered

[mobiledynamics]

Shopping/specing new car. Unfinished wood trim is actually a option. - more fine finish vs. old skool lacquer

[Coleroad]

Maybe the manufacturer was thinking this is for customers who want to custom finish it themselves. Not really meant to be left unfinished.

[Desertnate]

Which car had the unfinished wood trim? I looked at a couple Mazda CX9`s and a Volvo XC90 which both had wood trim which was not a veneer, but still felt like there was some sort of light varnish on it. In addition to fingerprints and stains, I`d be afraid of the wood getting dents from items accidentially being knocked against it.

[mobiledynamics]

Most wood afaik, is epoxy lacquered....which gives it both it`s high gloss, fillers, and hardness.



Don`t get me wrong. I`m sure its nice - different. Practical - no.

I`m sure the matte finish is nice. Not as durable as the epoxy floss lacquer. I wonder how easier the wood may *dent* with a key rub or the like without having the hard finish in it.

[SWETM]

I have Herrenfarth Sprühglanz which is based on monosilicon Si+. That you can apply on wood and stone and yeah everything. And it`s very easy to apply on paint too. The longevity is up to par with Sio2 with the same amount of Si+ and Sio2 in them. So wondering if this is coming more soon in protection options. It can be that it`s pricier than Sio2 and that`s why it`s not so many products with it. And my silver metallic car has not looked so with any product I have used so far. The longevity is up to 6 months now. Will be intresting to see if other brands starts to use Si+ instead of Sio2.

[E-Jag]

Back in the mid to late 70`s I bought a friends 1970 Mercedes 300 SEL. He took meticulous care of it and it was beautiful - the only black car I`ve ever owned. The interior (tan) was all wood, as were the door strips and console. Nonplasticized. I got into the habit of using something - Birchwood Casey maybe? = that was a gunstock oil. Made all that wood look great. I`d run on it for awhile, let it go for a few days and then use same brand gunstock wax. Great stuff. If I had a car with real unplasticized wood today I would try the same combo. Loved working on that wood.

[rlmccarty2000]

What car make comes with unfinished wood?

[Accumulator]

Most wood afaik, is epoxy lacquered....which gives it both it`s high gloss, fillers, and hardness.


Huh, how things change! All the wood in our vehicles has a pretty soft clear, relatively easy to mar. Easy enough to fix, but too thin to do that very often.


Maybe the manufacturer was thinking this is for customers who want to custom finish it themselves. Not really meant to be left unfinished.

I dunno, that`d be pretty tough to do without messing up the adjacent upholstery/etc. and IMO most of today`s buyers aren`t even gonna clean it, let alone do stuff like that. I bet it`s just another "look how special we are because we`re different" gimmick that`ll result in nasty used-cars on the lots in a few years just as gloss black exterior trim/wheels has already done.


Back in the mid to late 70`s I bought a friends 1970 Mercedes 300 SEL...

Oh man, those cars took some *maintenance*! The suspension alone...

But yeah, on some stuff from that era the Birchwood Casey stuff was a great choice! When the wood in those starts having issues it can break the bank.

[E-Jag]

Accumulator, man are you preaching to the choir! Thank God a friend of mine was an excellent mechanic. $300 for a set of plug wires! They had to have some kind of ceramic fitting to hug the plug. I nearly shed tears.

[Accumulator]

Accumulator, man are you preaching to the choir! Thank God a friend of mine was an excellent mechanic..

Perfect example of an older car that`s in the "if you couldn`t afford to buy one when they were new you can`t afford to *maintain* one now that they`re used" category. That was one over-engineered vehicle, for both better and worse.

[mobiledynamics]

I gave up on maintain a long time ago. Between electronic module A B or C, it just ain`t worth it. 3 or 4 years from here on out.

Re: the finish. What I`m saying is traditional wood trim is generally finished with what I`m calling High Gloss finish - aka, epoxy lacquer. I may be wrong, but I feel like this is what gives it the hardness that is had per se.

Some of the newer finished are not as such, which I have yet to order but am looking at options on how it`s speced. Said are matte - I presume to give it that furniture esque quality, where a low matte finish is applied but doesn`t have the hard candy gloss lacquer clear that is the norm

[Accumulator]

Man, those matte finishes would simply drive me nuts! On anything.

mobiledynamics- Do you mean that you`ve given up on "keep a vehicle forever"? IF so, I can understand it with today`s gee-whiz-tech. That`s one reason I don`t want a "more modern" car, but now I`m dealing with trying to find parts :o

[mobiledynamics]

Parts...NLA. Or super pricey. Then there is pick-n-pull if you have that locally or fleabay. I feel your pain !
I`ve never bought a used part for the keepers. OE or OEM or if a better aftermarket item existed, I went that route.
Literally, this week, I bought our 1st used part on Ebay. I think the keeper wont be a keeper in 18 months time.

Yes, last 3 have been leasers. It just ain`t worth it with all the tech. that`s inside these things.

[rlmccarty2000]

I want to keep my next vehicle for a very long time. I’m trying to pick one I think will be a future classic,

[Accumulator]

Parts...NLA...I`ve never bought a used part for the keepers...[but]..
Literally, this week, I bought our 1st used part on Ebay. I think the keeper wont be a keeper in 18 months time..

I couldn`t drive the `93 in the wet for over a year until a used-but-working wiper motor turned up in a European junkyard.

Yes, last 3 have been leasers. It just ain`t worth it with all the tech. that`s inside these things.

I can see that...although we simply don`t want any of today`s, uhm...modern tech...vehicles. Just want what we have to last forever, but good luck with that :o