123456SPEED

Am planning to add a little more fake wood laminate to the dash. All the online companies seem to sell the same kits. Anyone recommend one over another? Wood, 03, manual shift.

BLeahy

I would highly recommend Exotic Wood Dashes.

They have a great web site, and the material looks just as good when you get it.

In 1997 I installed one set on my 1997 Acura Integra. In 2000 I installed a set on my 2000 Honda Odyssey. In 2002 I installed a set on my 2003 Acura CL-S.

My point is that I have been able to watch it age over a six year period. And everything aged well - no dulling - no peeling off. Everything stayed put. I did have one problem because a piece around the shifter was supposed to bend 90 degrees. Even though I heated it with a hair dryer (as they recommend), the bend was just too much for the adhesive to hold it bent. I finally just left it unbent. No one but me would ever realize that the piece should have been bent.

The wood pieces are quite easy to install and come with complete instructions. A set is delivered on a thick piece of cardboard about 30" by 20". Each piece is fixed to the cardboard. They give you some of those alcohol towlettes you get in take-out food places. You wipe down the area where the wood will go. Then you peel off the backing on the piece and carefully put each piece in place. If you placed it right, you press down on it, and it is there to stay. Place your first pieces in inconspicious places so any errors will not stare at you each day.

Sure, it is not "real" wood. But it looks damn good, and it brings some color to the car. My Acura CL-S has black seats, black carpets, black door linings, black roof lining, and a black dash. GIVE ME SOME COLOR. I wonder if Acura has its interiors designed by a color-blind person.

The wood looks excellent, adds some color to the interior (I also had yellow carpets and a yellow dash cover made).

I'm sure that there are other companies. But I have dealt with them for six years and have been completely satisfied. I'm sure someone sells a cheaper product, but I don't want to bet that it looks as good. I don't want to have to look at the result for five years (I keep cars for five years) and think, "I wish I had bought the better product."

rickm

I've bought 3 kits from woodtrim.com (Joshua Tree). My carbon fiber kit for the CL and another car came from there and they both fit perfectly and have been holding tight for 2.5 years now without any problems (I did the install on both). Right now I am having a little problem with them though, they shipped a kit for a Honda Civic (looks nice , too bad I don't have a Civic, I would have kept it) instead of a Land Rover kit....their customer service was excellent and I should have the right kit in a few days. Even with a small problem like that, I could still recomend them since they were great about handling the whole problem quickly and easily.

123456SPEED

Thanks for the recommendations. I ordered from exotic wood co but I had looked at Joshua, they looked very reputable too. It cost $180.

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

There are many different trim kit out there. Both of those companies mentioned are good.. but personally I prefer Joshua Tree, because they use real wood. I bought a kit from them for my old 98 CL and it was real wood, yet matched the factory wood perfectly. It was a little more expensive then Exotic Wood Dashes, but worth it in my book.

It's because of that that we carry only real wood trim. The feedback and demand has just been in favor of the real wood, so that's what we went with

123456SPEED

Well that's what I wanted originally, real wood, but was told it would not match the plastic wood. Can you buy real wood for the exisitng OEM wood already there too, I didn't see that anywhere.
I had researched this for a while and got samples etc, but not many responses here til now.
I was spoiled cause my legend had real wood and I didn't like the plastic as much, but thought adding more would look better somehow.
I bought just yesterday, but would have preferred real wood.
Hmmm.
I went to the CCC site, I don't see a manual shift kit, it doesn't say real wood, just factory match, and that's what all the sites call the plastic, it could be clearer I guess, and I guess the stock wood is not replaceable.

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

Well, the stuff we carry is the same high quality stuff as Joshua Tree's trim.. and like I said in the post above... i ordered their real wood kit for my old CL about 3 years ago and it matched the fake factory stuff perfectly!! When it was installed you couldn't tell the difference until you looked really close at a cross-section and realized it was real wood!