Goldwing1200A Posted January 29, 2004 Report Share Posted January 29, 2004 Hi folks, Needed a break from work today, so I went out to lunch. Took the Cadillac for the trip out and back. Well.....Darn, I was looking the car over, before backing out I noticed the clear coat over the wood dash trim was cracked...Now that really bugs me. Don't know how that happened, and guess it doesn't matter at this point. Was wondering if any of you have experienced this problem and if you had success with a repair? Or if you have replaced this part? How difficult is the R&R? Is an aftermarket part available? Is the item still available from the dealer? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks, Danny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Logan Posted January 29, 2004 Report Share Posted January 29, 2004 I guess you would be talking about the dash one that has the 'cadillac' stamped on it. All the wood in the car is real wood. New from Cadillac the dash part is about $500. The wood shifter one is about $700. EBay would be the place to find replacements. That being said.....I replaced my '93 SLS dash one 3 times....they all ended up cracking again...all in different places. I gave up after 3 of them. It think they will all crack due to age. Logan Diagnostic LLC www.airbagcrash.com www.ledfix.com www.ledfix.com/yukontaillightrepair.html www.ledfix.com/ledreplacements.html www.ledfix.com/j42385toolrental.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
careldo Posted January 29, 2004 Report Share Posted January 29, 2004 Logan is right live with they all will eventually crack---hot, cold, dry and humidty will affect wood sometime. careldo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonA Posted January 29, 2004 Report Share Posted January 29, 2004 Logan is right live with they all will eventually crack---hot, cold, dry and humidty will affect wood sometime. Yes, even if you try to take care of it. My car is only 7 years old and the long piece which bears the Cadillac script is cracked, all the way from left to right. And the ambient temperture will affect how bad the crack is. If it's a hot day, you can't even see it. Cold day, there's a visible line. Fortunately, it cracked along the grain (I'm sure it always will) and you can't really tell, especially from the passenger seat. I've always covered the dash on sunny days and for most of its life, the car was in a garage (and still is -- there was a period when I first got it that I lived in an apartment). So far, this is the only crack, and hopefully the last! Jason(2001 STS, White Diamond) "When you turn your car on...does it return the favor?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marika Posted January 29, 2004 Report Share Posted January 29, 2004 I have a 92 Seville SLS with the wood at the top of the dash. Assuming it's real, mine is not cracked at all and in perfect condition. I was told by the local body shop that it's not real wood. Anyone know for sure? If you really want to make people safe drivers again then simply remove all the safety features from cars. No more seat belts, ABS brakes, traction control, air bags or stability control. No more anything. You'll see how quickly people will slow down and once again learn to drive like "normal" humans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davedog Posted January 30, 2004 Report Share Posted January 30, 2004 removing the panel is a sure-fire way to find out if it'd real I had to remove the wood arond the shifter in my caddy to intall my new headunit, that's when I noticed it was the real deal. I have a very small crack in the wood aound the shifter, but it's never really bothered my becuase it's REALLY hard to notice. Now you all have me scared that I'll get a bif one across the dash or something... Crystal Red Tintcoat Exterior | Shale/Brownstone Interior | 32k Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Posted January 30, 2004 Report Share Posted January 30, 2004 There must be a way to put new clear coat on. It's the plastic that cracks, not the wood itself. I'm suprised that nobody does it already, they could make a lot of money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
careldo Posted January 30, 2004 Report Share Posted January 30, 2004 Probably some sort of lamination process and if there is someone out there that can refinish them it would be quite expense i presume. careldo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger Posted January 30, 2004 Report Share Posted January 30, 2004 I'm not sure if it is real wood or plastic. I always thought the wood trim on my Devill was plastic, though I never checked. If it is real wood you might try to spread it open a bit and squeeze some wood glue in there. I have glued wood together with that stuff and later tried to break the join only to break the wood. The joint held. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Posted January 30, 2004 Report Share Posted January 30, 2004 I found this link using google: http://www.rau-autowood.com/cadillac.htm It looks interesting. They claim to have 92-97 real wood steering wheels. I also found this link describing wood repair http://www.heritagewoodworks.com/Process.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonA Posted January 30, 2004 Report Share Posted January 30, 2004 Yes, the wood is real. It's similar to "plywood" in that they are very thin strips of wood laminated together. Supposedly, using thin strips laminated together vs. a thicker chunk of wood discourages cracking. If the wood itself is not cracking, you'd think there would be an easy way to refinish it. But yes, the wood is very real. Jason(2001 STS, White Diamond) "When you turn your car on...does it return the favor?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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