Question for an expert

[clarence-nieuwhof]

We have a 73 and the wood grain on the shifter bezel and the doors is real wood. Everyone I have talked to told me I was nut and that it was like mac-tac but they are wrong this is real wood. I even seen it on another 73 at a cruise night but couldn't find the owner. My question is .... was this original for the 73 with deluxe interior?

 

[FX GS]

Per the Corvette Black Book, written by Mike Antonick "Custom interior included leather seat trim, wood-grain accents and lower carpet trim on interior door panels, wood-grain accents on console and special cut-pile carpeting." Also noted this was a $154 option

 

[Robin7TFour]

Clarence, i suspect someone took the time to make excellent inserts.or they are aftermarket add-on pieces. yes, there were optional wood-grain inserts,but i believe that they were vinyl copies.
just my opinion, Jaguars and Triumphs came with nice real wood, but i can't remember a GM model that nice..

Robin<known to be wrong> johnson

 

[Tom73]

The Custom Interior Trim came with leather upholstery, cut pile carpet, and woodgrain accents on the console shift plate and on the door panels.

tom...

 

[Vettehead Mikey]

The original parts that came out of my '73 were real wood veneer. The repos available now are mostly plastic/vinyl imitation.

There is a vendor (don't have his name handy) who is now making center console inserts from the correct veneer.

 

[mike weyman]

my 75 has the cut pile carpet and the solid walnut door panels. they are real for sure.i posted about this at another time,but found no-one with the same.mike

 

[Erik S. Klein]

The original inserts on my 72 were real wood veneer. Vettehead Mikey, I'd love to hear who is making the real deal repos now.

 

[silversurfer74]

Wood Verneer

The original inserts on my 72 were real wood veneer. Vettehead Mikey, I'd love to hear who is making the real deal repos now.

I have real walnut verneer in my '74. The shoddy vinyl schlock I recieved in the mail from CC was a joke. I did find a use for it though: 1. Take a blow dryer and heat it up and peel the vinyl off of the metal backing. 2. Slather some contact cement on both it and a sheet of wood verneer (Walnut was correct for mine). Let them dry for 1/2 an hour or so, then press them together. 3. Next day, use an Exacto knife to cut off excess verneer using the metal backing as a guide. 4. The absolute best product I've found for replicating the original finish is Watco Danish Oil. Just rub it on with a rag. Voila!
When I purchased the vette from the previous owner, it came with walnut verneer, just needed to be redone. No thanks to the catalogs out there!
Good luck guys, SilverSurfer