# Almost done with the interior. Need to install the sail panels in the rear and wind lace and head liner side trim.



## mcmsmsc (Aug 8, 2020)




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## pontrc (Mar 18, 2020)

Nice love the bench seat


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## ericroby33 (Aug 22, 2020)

Nice wood grain dash. I'm currently assembling a 68 and have a complete dash,but the only wooden grain replacement piece to cover my worn out wood grain is a sticker. Did you refinish yours? If so what did you use 
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## O52 (Jan 27, 2019)

The original wood grain for a 68 is also a plastic sticker, so there's no refinishing. Just peel off, clean, prep, and apply a new one


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## PontiacJim (Dec 29, 2012)

O52 said:


> The original wood grain for a 68 is also a plastic sticker, so there's no refinishing. Just peel off, clean, prep, and apply a new one


Original wood grain for 1968 _appears to be a real wood veneer _ - mine appears to be glued directly to the panel. It appears the veneer has a shellac or clear of some type as the stuff on my '68 Lemans has generally peeled away leaving what looks like exposed wood.

The aftermarket seems to only offer a 1968 vinyl sticker.

1965 used both a real wood veneer on aluminum backing and paper backed imitation wood grain.
1966 used a real wood veneer on aluminum backing.
1967 used an imitation wood-veneer (assume paper backed just as 1965).
1968 used a real wood veneer, but does not seem to have an aluminum backing. (found out to be a wood veneer finish on a plastic panel - Jim)









1969 did not use an insert or plate around the instruments. A wood insert molding was used on the lower section of the panel.

Above info is from my '68 Lemans dash panel and the Restoration Guide. The photo shows on the left the 3-layers of the panel construction, the brown plastic base, veneer wood grain application, and a clear sealer. The piece on the left was my burn test. Plastic. It burned/melted giving off a black whispy smoke, and had the obvious smell of burning plasitc.


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## O52 (Jan 27, 2019)

Don't know Jim, maybe they changed it through production. But my _Original_ plastic wood grain peeled off. 
The 68 dash was discussed earlier over on the PY forums. General consensus is that its a hard plastic with a laminate cover. Some had a steel backing, others had the hard plastic.

68 GTO Dash Bezels - PY Online Forums - Bringing the Pontiac Hobby Together


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## PontiacJim (Dec 29, 2012)

O52 said:


> Don't know Jim, maybe they changed it through production. But my _Original_ plastic wood grain peeled off.
> The 68 dash was discussed earlier over on the PY forums. General consensus is that its a hard plastic with a laminate cover. Some had a steel backing, others had the hard plastic.
> 
> 68 GTO Dash Bezels - PY Online Forums - Bringing the Pontiac Hobby Together


OK, I read the post. I have photos of my bits and pieces that I removed. There was a glue that was similar to rubber cement? Softened it up with lacquer thinner and pried up the veneer - some in bigger sections and some in small bits.

Here is what I have in the photos and you can see if this was the same as yours?

Pic#1 - Front side of a couple larger pieces.

Pic#2 - Back side with some of the glue - no backing plate.

Pic#3 - Hopefully you can see the separation between what I can only describe as the varnish (which has darkened moreso in some areas than others) and the veneer underneath. You can see this in the forefront of the pic and another separation on past that. I could easily pick/peel/flake the coating (some in large pieces) off the top of the veneer and expose what looked like new wood underneath it.

Pic#4 - On the left side you can see a defined difference where some of the varnish (?) coating remains and the the clean/lighter veneer has been exposed from underneath it after I peeled it away.

I am thinking if I can get a chance tomorrow, I will sand the wood grain and see if it will sand - which should prove that it is either a true wood veneer or a wood grain plastic. What caused me to think it was a wood veneer is what appears to be the varnish top coat and how it has darkened and peeled off the wood to expose what looked like a like new veneer, and it seemed to have texture - unlike a vinyl or plastic which would be smooth.

I did purchase an inexpensive vinyl wood grain for the 1968 dash, and it definitely looks vinyl and has no texture. I am not using it per say, but wanted it for a template in making a custom insert.


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## O52 (Jan 27, 2019)

All I have left is the glovebox portion. The rest I tossed a few years ago. It too looks like yours. 
I bought the Ames replacement with the metal backing. I'll be at the point of rebuilding the dash in a few weeks when I get my gauges back from Pete Serio, so I'll see how it comes out.


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## PontiacJim (Dec 29, 2012)

O52 said:


> All I have left is the glovebox portion. The rest I tossed a few years ago. It too looks like yours.
> I bought the Ames replacement with the metal backing. I'll be at the point of rebuilding the dash in a few weeks when I get my gauges back from Pete Serio, so I'll see how it comes out.


OK, a follow up to my Post #5 & #7 to close and correct the question of the 1968 wood veneer dash panel insert. I already edited my previous posts to reflect my findings so no confusion will be had in the future should someone read this.

The photos I supplied show pieces of my 1968 Lemans wood veneer dash face insert. The question was "what is the material?" The results - a plastic base having an imitation wood veneer grain, and some form of a clear coat sealer.

I did sand the wood veneer, and it did clean up somewhat like wood does, but as I continued to sand, I went through the veneer coating and down to the brown plastic base it is applied to. So the next obvious test for me was to set it on fire as wood burns differently than plastic. Sure enough it went up in black smoke, melted/curled, and had a definite odor of burning plastic.

So this clarifies and confirms what the actual wood veneer panel is composed of as found on the dash/instrument panel on the 1968 GTO/Lemans, and optional Tempest (?) cars.

This photo and my re-write is in my Post #5, but is posted here again to show the layers of the panel (plastic base, veneer, and clear coat which can be seen best in Post #7) and my "burn test."

And you won't get this over at the PY site!


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## O52 (Jan 27, 2019)

LOL. Well they did have a picture of an overheated cigarette lighter.


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## Marv King (Aug 17, 2020)

The choice of seat color looks nice. I can't wait to see the outcome.


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