So I decided to redo the wood trim inside the Mercedes since the Zebrano's in rough shape, ( warped, cracked & broken) I decided to replace it all and looked at different types of wood that would be more resistant to moisture, heat and cold before settling on Oak for the interior. I picked up some small oak boards and plywood and commenced to carve and sand one of the boards for the dash trim today, so far the results are promising though I need to find a tutorial on steaming and bending a couple of the pieces for both ends of the dash. My results so far. The bottom wood is the original Zebrano and the top is a spare piece of oak in case I screwed up while carving and sanding on the first attempt. The center dash and glove box pieces with the first coat of stain on the back, I went with Bombay Mahogany for the colour. That's it so far.
Just an update. Dash trim is done and installed, now I'm working on the console & center stack. I'm happy with how the oak looks with two coats of the Mahogany stain and three coats of varnish. The old trim is on top for reference. The factory console top after stripping staining and coating, I'll be making a new top and moving the window, mirror and emergency flasher switches to a different position. the Pic uploaded kind of crappy. I'm eliminating the ashtray (top), the center piece will eventually be the face for a storage pocket in the ashtray's position but for now I'll use the bottom piece to cover the hole. Of course the new climate control panel laid and under way. I haven't started on the top switch panel yet since it's a pain to get out and I haven't figured out which console switches are going where.
I cut a couple of wood blocks with both the inside and outside radius plus a cap block. I tried a wood steaming process I saw on u-tube, though instead of soaking the wood in hot water for an hour I boiled it for an hour on the barbecue then while still in the hot water I covered the container loosely and nuked it on high for another 10 minutes. Once all that was done I ran out to the garage with the parts put them in the blocks clamped them in and let them set for a couple days. BTW: I used some old cedar planking for the blocks since it's easy to work with.
Have the climate control plate and the storage pocket done. No more ashtray the pocket is more useful for holding my sunglasses. Next is the top switch plate and moving the hazard & pass mirror switches from the console top.
