I've been seriously considering taking all of the woodgraining and the plastic ash pieces OFF my son's '80 Chrysler LeBaron T&C wagon and having the "woodgrain" airbrushed on, duplicating both the ash and changing the darker wood to a lighter GM color of wood. What I was thinking was to remove the trim on the car now after photographing every single inch of placement, then filling the holes where the ash attaches, and then having the wood airbrushed on the car. This, to me, would be cheaper and considerably more durable than the decal woodgrain, and attempting to find the three bad ash pieces on the car, then making all of them match up in pattern and color in a restoration. Some of you guys will probably go apoplectic in disappointment that I'm not really interested in doing a true "resto" on it; that's fine with me, because it belongs to my son now. I'm interested in having a presentable driver for my son that he'll be proud of and won't have to freak out when he parks it at school and such. Airbrushed work can be touched up. You can't touch up a decal. With that said, does anyone have real-world experience with this technique? I've seen several woody airbrushed cars through Ask and Google, but there was no accompanying info with them that explained what's up with the work needed. Any help or ideas would be really appreciated!!!
I found this thread!!! Guess it helps to spell "airbrush" correctly in the Search window! That is thirteen kinds of cool! http://www.stationwagonforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1807&highlight=airbrush
a pal of mine did a Mondo Moola resto on a 62 Merc Colony park!! and ended up doing all the 'side' woodgrain in Airbrush!! as well as the Air cleaner top...the door sills ...and more! Its a freekin beauty!...I guess it all depends on the "talent" of the guy with the Airbrush
That is precisely what I want to do, and duplicate the original look, at the same time! What a gorgeous job!
airbrush woodgrain Considering airbrush on my Pontiac wagon. Former owners painted over woodgrain. Does anyone know cost of this type of project?
I've certainly got no objections to it. The Di-Noc on my Safari is already coming off in places. One thing you might want to do Patrick, is to airbrush the Di-Noc areas only and restore the rails. On the LeBaron, the rails give the wagon a 3D effect that you're going to lose if you airbrush everything.
I agree with this. The original rails can be airbrushed also but this would save a lot of additional work and look more original. The rails act like a bumper too for car doors. If I ever have a wagon with bad woodgrain I'd go the airbrushed route or just eliminate it. Finding a good painter at a decent price will be difficult. Not gonna be cheap.
If I re-do the woodgrain on mine (next spring/summer), I'll try to paint it with one of those woodgraining kits. I think I use real Ash and make my own trim parts on the router since they have very little curve on the flat sides. The vinyl that I did in 2007 is toast - peeling off, and I need to touch up the doglegs with new metal anyway. I'd say painting it would last longer, and you'd be using automotive clearcoat to finish it up, even if its a semi-gloss finish. I'm still debating weather I'd finish the car in two-tone or main colour and woodgrain.
When I approached a company that does vinyl wraps, their solution was 3M di-noc. Maybe I should check another company. Should wrap companies be able to make their own vinyl wrap, that might better match our original di-noc? I'm not sure how that process works.
There are other threads here about woodgraining, wrap, and replacing the Di-Noc. Years ago at home improvement stores I found woodgraining kits for funiture, doors, etc. I did my 1939 Ford dash, window trim, etc and touched up the door trim on my 1933 Chevy. At that time I did the base coat with a soft brush then different sponges and small brushs for differenent grains. Finish with a clear coat. Of course a whole wagon would take a lot of those small kits but still not be too expensive if prices are not rediculous. I'd do one door, fender, etc at a time. The wraps I've seen look nice in photos but to me would be like the original Di Noc type covering. Just a temporary fix.