Comment

Comment by Gene Fattore on July 22, 2016 at 9:38am

I sourced the A grade Makore ("Baku wood" is African Mahogany, often referred to as "Makore") from a veneer supplier who sent long pieces so they are matched front to rear on both sides.  I don't think this was done at the factory.   I have access to a high-end custom cabinet maker and he removed the old material, cut and finished the new blanks.  I needed the work completed for the annual CLC driving tour or I would have had him "build up" the varnish so the grain was completely filled.  As done, it has some "open grain" but still looks a lot better than original IMO.   If the wood had only been faded, I would probably have simply stripped and refinished the original, but I had some splitting under the vent windows which is often seen on these cars and I wanted great wood to match the fully replaced leather interior.  If anyone is interested, my source said he would offer to perform a full remove and replacement of all the wood in the panels for ~ $2,000 not including return shipping costs.  This is cheaper than the cost of purchasing the blanks from 3rd party sources and given the time involved, probably a very good deal unless you have lots of time and just like working on your car without regard to time involved.  Otherwise, I believe this is far less than a qualified restoration shop would charge for it.  I am thrilled with the final result and it's a reminder of how nice the interiors are on these cars when fully restored.