Wood strip restoration for door panels.

[v12horse]

When I first bought my z the door panels were in great shape except for the chrome on the wood trim. I didn't want to buy new door panels just for that. More so, trying to track down a pair of prestine wood strips was impossible. So what I did was I used plastic model chrome foil. It does not look perfect, but it looks pretty darn close. It is not that hard to do, but it will take patience and care.

Things you will need:

-sharp razor knife: prefferably the one that has interchangable blades

-a bunch of que-tips

-"Bare-Metal" chrome foil that can be found at most hobby shops. Make sure you get just chrome, and not ultra-chrome because the ultra-chrome is too thin and very hard to work with. $6

-tweezers

-ruler

procedure:

1. Cut the width of chrome strip to 1/2'' and then place on the trim individually.

2. Burnish it with que-tip.

3. Cut away the excess chrome foil.

4. Burnish again.

Here are photos of before and after. I hope this helps anyone in their quest for a stunning interior. If you are having trouble just pm me. Good luck.

-Ben

[v12horse]

eeesssh!!!

[v12horse]

nice trim

[Bambikiller240]

Do you have a 260Z??? I've owned a 71, 72, and 73 240Z and all of them had door panel that only had one chrome looking strip in the door panels. I've never seeen one with two strips, nor with faux wood either. Wassup?

The difference in the look of your panels is a nice change. I'll have to look into that one of these days. BTW, what is the Bare Metal foil used for normally?

[JEFF]

EXELENT Reconditioning Job!!

Added that one to my list. Thankyou v12horse !

- Jeff

[JEFF]

Originally posted by BambiKiller240

Do you have a 260Z??? I've owned a 71, 72, and 73 240Z and all of them had door panel that only had one chrome looking strip in the door panels. I've never seeen one with two strips, nor with faux wood either. Wassup?

The door handle looks like a 280Z ---- Am I right v12horse ??

- Jeff

[v12horse]

I have an early 260z. From what I can tell, when I first bought the car in 2001 it was almost never touched. It was in pretty bad shape, but the milage read 62,000. I believe it to be true because the internals were in such good shape. Furthermore, I am almost certain that everything in the interior is original. The only things that I have replaced is the arm rests, and of course the super cool rally clock that actually works. Jeff, you might have thought that it was a 280 because the 260 and the 280 both share the same arm rests. Take a look the car for yourself. Thanks for the posts. Take care.

-Ben

[MDyer]

Mine look exactly like your "before". Thanks for the procedure info!

Should post in the Technical forum. :classic: