Hi everyone, My woodgrain has seen better days. Anyone know the best place to get the correct pattern for my 84 Colony Park? It looks to be a super fun job with thin strips of vinyl woodgrain centered in the aluminum roof rack and side trim as well
1st Welcome to the forum "As always, the Colony Park featured woodgrain siding. According to the 1980 brochure, it was “designed with both beauty and practicality in mind. The full length of its bodyside, and the tailgate section, feature appliques in rosewood color with matching bright and woodtone rails." this was from an old article about Colony Parks' What you are looking for is 3m DiNoc These 2 are the closest I found, (I owned a 82 Ford Country Squire; 89 Colony Park (back when they were new and just sold my 85 Colony Park) Your car is just short of 18' long and 6.5' wide, you need min of 47" of product to redo the car. cost from Custom Auto Trim about $1700.00 To do it right the chrome trim should come off. Hope this helps, it not a inexpensive endeavor, not particularly hard but very time consuming. 4 Ft Wide Roll, Sold by the Sheet. Approx. 8 mils (0.2 mm) thick. Grain Pattern runs in the direction of SHEET LENGTH (e.g. For 4 Ft Wide x 12 Ft Sheet, the Grain Pattern runs along the length 12 Ft). From: https://www.customautotrim.com/ 3M DiNoc Wood Grain Vinyl Wrap - Rosewood-B. https://www.customautotrim.com/vinyl-wrap/wood-grain-vinyl-wrap/dn-wgrwb/ or 3M DiNoc Wood Grain Vinyl Wrap - Rosewood-C. https://www.customautotrim.com/vinyl-wrap/wood-grain-vinyl-wrap/dn-wgrwc/
thanks for the welcomes gentlemen! Wow, that is quite a pretty penny for the vinyl but it looks good! My question is - woudl I have to cut my own strips for the vinyl that is inside the trim running down the length of the body and the vinyl inside the room rack trim? that's what I'm worried about...the big sheet on the side and rear I can get someone to do correctly I'm sure, between the vehicle wrap guys and sign companies.
drhill yes you would have to cut, for your roof rack and the side trim pcs. You've had your CP for a while and I'm sure you have figured out that some body/interior pcs are impossible to find and some of expensive. For yukes I priced relacing all the chrome trim - all from ebay, all used - cost $1900.00 a side - as for the vinyl, yeah it ain't cheap but its the real deal 8 mils thick, if you read the prior posts on woodgrain you'll see that some have used everything from painting it on themselves, kitchen contact paper to real wood veneer. Had friend in the 90's who also had a CP and he used use brown KIWI shoe polish on his woodgrain - it certainly evened out the discoloration and lasted for a bit, might want to try it. I looked into having my 85 CP totally restored and updated with current brakes, suspension, even though from 10' it looked new. Cost to just have woodgrain done, total repaint at moderate prices was $14,000 total refurbishment, not restoration, came in at $47,500 - if Mercury made this car today it would sticker out at about that. So to fix these it has to be a matter of love because it isn't for financial gain. good luck!
Woodgrain painting has unfortunately become an extinct art form, like body-leading. If you could find anyone who still does it, you would have the freedom of choice, regarding patterns. The finish should even outlive the sticker by a longshot, if properly cared for and several clear coats get applied
It's never too late to learn. All you need is some surviving oldtimer who's willing to not take his knowledge to his grave, without passing it onto someone who's interested
There used to be an old signpainter in Mount Airy, North Carolina who gave woodgraining classes. He was extremely good at what he did and shared his knowledge. I remember he was also hand building a three wheel vehicle that he called Scorpion. I have tried and for the life of me I can't remember his name. This was back about 15-18 years ago.