Wood Grain dash kits

[SonicAdventure]

He SAID a Volvo kit which do not glue on and in fact the center piece is quite a daunting experience trying to install it, half the dash has to come apart!!

I READ correctly. If I were an expert in the first place I wouldn't be asking the questions, right? Thanks.

[bmdubya1198]

I've seen a surprising amount of these cars in the junkyard with those stick-on applique kits, and they do not age well at all. They seem to hold on well enough, but they are all cracked and faded and they look nasty. My old '95 Accord had it too, and I almost thought it was stock at first, but you can see the ugly edge on it. It's just not a look for me.
I swapped my gray dash for wood grain, and it was a pain in the you-know-what, but worth it. I could not stand the gray, it looked so cheap. The center piece around the radio was an absolute b**ch to install, but I got it in after a full afternoon of fighting with it. There are a few screws that I didn't get back in, but there are so many holding the piece in, I'm not worried about it coming out. It's nice and solid as it should be.
The console and glove box piece are a breeze to install.

[BEJinFbk]

The other thing to consider is that these sticky kits are pretty much a one-way trip.
If you decide that you don't like it, peeling and attempting to clean away the adhesive
may very well destroy the underlying parts. I'd suggest going with the OEM wood-look.

[bmdubya1198]

Since you mentioned adhesives, that reminds me, do NOT try to vinyl wrap it either, unless you are very good at it and know what you're doing. I tried it on my car and you would need to have the piece out of the car, and I'm not the best at wrapping anyway. I also managed to put a nice slice in my dash alongside that center stack piece.
My cousin and I wrapped the wood trim in his Durango too, and there is still reside from peeling it off. Nasty stuff if you ever want to take it off.

[SonicAdventure]

Yeah I agree, it's a nice look on certain cars but I'm probably not that motivated after learning more. My 1999 Accord had OEM appliqués that held up quite well over the years. In fact, they were hardly faded even 18 years later. And not one section of the many pieces ever came delaminated or lost their adhesive. If I knew who the manufacturer of those kits were and could research how they attached them I would be interested.

The OEM center bezels, console pieces and even the wooden shifter knob of the P80 V/S series just don't impress me. I have a wood shifter but I replaced it with a leather XC70 one. The "wood" felt cheap and plastic....because, well, it is cheap and plastic! And the grain of the OEM pieces is just not that impressive to me. It looks better in the tan interior than it does with the grey. But as these cars age I agree most of the wood I see in junkyards hasn't aged well, especially the piece on the lower console around the shifter.

[bmdubya1198]

It took me a while to find the wood center console, and luckily a fellow forum member here had one which he traded me for a wood shift knob.
I have the wood shift knob as well, and I like it but I would really like the leather one. My cousin has one in his T5, along with the factory carbon fiber-type trim. I've seen a leather knob in the junkyard (the car had the same trim, maybe it's a T5 thing), but some moron messed it up and cut it with a broken dash piece. Hopefully one of those shows up there soon.
I agree, the wood looks much better with the beige interior. The black would look nice with a darker wood or aluminum.

[BEJinFbk]

Just take this a little farther out there, Volvo did provide some optional
REAL wood veneered trim parts from the factory for the x70's, and they're Nice.
( But they weren't cheap...) So keep your eyes open at the J/Y - Ya never know!

[SonicAdventure]

Just take this a little farther out there, Volvo did provide some optional
REAL wood veneered trim parts from the factory for the x70's, and they're Nice.
( But they weren't cheap...) So keep your eyes open at the J/Y - Ya never know!

I could have sworn I saw real wood veneer in a 2000 XC70 at the jy once. Unfortunately it was in horrible shape due to the sunroof being open and snow and rain had come pouring in over the months tha car sat there. The most damaged piece was the center console around the shifter, but what had happened was it pulled up from the plastic and looked nothing like the plastic wood stuff as illustrated in Scotts photos above. It looked like some kind of burl veneer with a heavy coating of polyurethane...similar to a 90's XJS Jaguar center console trim. I wish I had done a closer inspection, I bet that was a real wood veneer kit.

[scot850]

Apologies for the delay. Had 3 sets of winter tires to swap and clean, and also more importantly could not find part of the center console until yesterday when it turned up in a box it should not be in!

Anyway,

All the parts that are the lighter brown are from the same car and are the center console section and rear section that faces the rear passengers are as before in the pictures previously. The gearshift in that car had a chip out of it.

Here are a few pictures of the various parts I have squirreled away 'just in case...!"

Volvo lists multiple color choices of wood finishes and other finishes including plastic, black walnut, red walnut, birch, 3 x aluminum variants, and red imitation wood. The lighter wood pieces are I believe (but happy to be corrected) the walnut, and the gear shift is possibly the red walnut as is the lower of the 2 glove box lids possibly?

All parts except center dash piece

Auto gear shift in darker color

Gear shift front button

walnut and possibly red walnut finished glove box lid

Yes there is a small dimple in the middle of the glove box lower section

Center section of console wrapped in bubble wrap

I did not remove the bubble wrap as the pictures were taken previously just before wrapping it up and carefully packing away.

Center dash section

2 more gear shift levers

Here is a darker gear shift. The button is damaged but there is a good button in the gray plastic shifter that can be swapped over. I do have another of the 'red' color shifters in similar condition to the other one above.

Buttons on plastic and darker shifter

Darker shifter

All the parts may have some slight marks/light scratches, but they are at least 17 years old! None are bad. The worst is the center piece of the console as previously shown. I have been keeping an eye out for a better one, but most are smashed at PnP or trashed buy careless ownership.

PM me if you are interested and we can agree a price and send your Zip Code so I can estimate shipping, or, I can put them back on the shelf.

Neil.