Wood Door Cappings - Any good?

B

Brian-Northampton

Administrator
All,

I'd like to canvas your opinions on the real wood door cappings as sold on eBay (Item: 230257949409).

Seems like alot of money, but..............

Has anyone bought a set?
Are they any good?
Do they really make the car look the business?
Do they deteriorate over time?
Do they smell nice - no, I don't mean stick your nose on them, but do they add a real wood smell to the already characteristic smell of a Rover.
anything else worth mentioning....

Cheers,
Brian.
 
Hi Brian.

I bought a set a couple of years ago and am very pleased with them! :D They are better looking than the formica things,and cant understand why rover never used real wood all the time anyway! ???
The big piece will fit strip speedo cars,and you trim it down to fit round dial cars. Make sure the securing spring washers are working well on the door strips as,mine wasnt and it slipped and snapped when I closed the door :angry: " My Fault"
I won mine when they were at a 99p and bid on price,you could try sending him an offer for a set! Try £40 inc p/p! seems to be a fair price for his materials and manufacture time!
Alternatively,use a spare formica set as a pattern and find a local woodworker to give you a price to compare to!
They smell better as well! goes well with the leather and old car aroma!
Dave



Edited By pilkie 0 on 1212668633
 
Quote from Pilkie:
"...cant understandwhy rover never used real wood anyway!"

Apologies in advance for being a geek - but the early 2000's did/do have real wood!

There, I've got that out of my system!

Phil. :D
 
Yeh, wondered about that since mine seem to be veneer.

Dick West


Oh, and not sure about some of those old car smells
 
Phil Robson said:
Quote from Pilkie:
"...cant understandwhy rover never used real wood anyway!"

Apologies in advance for being a geek - but the early 2000's did/do have real wood!

There, I've got that out of my system!

Phil. :D
Click to expand...
I was aware of the early rovers having wood! But as there are very few of these with real wood about,the majority of owners will have that 'orrible formica!!
Edited to correct my posts words before webby had moderated the inevitable backlog of posts,of which yours was one.
All S2's have formica! Why when the competition had real wood did they change? Its gotta be the bods at leyland cutting costs,to add more to their own pockets!



Edited By pilkie 0 on 1212697919
 
Don't know why they changed - but it was long before the Leyland and then BL takeovers! I suspect Formica was modern and trendy at the time. Perhaps the intention was always to use Formica but they hadn't quite got it right for the early production cars, so used wood instead?

I always thought they would have looked much better with a complete wood cap (ie missing out the black plastic/nylon thing that the formica clips into) on the lines of the contemporary Triumph 2000 or as per the finisher on the P5 Coupe (which has similar window frames).

Chris



Edited By chrisyork on 1212687994
 
Pilkie, you have tempted me - I have put a bid in on Ebay. If the good lady gets suspicious that I have been spending ££ on the P6 and not her, I will tell her the trims have always been that colour and that the real wood effect and smell is something that the Rover engineers were pioneers in achieving from humble formica!

:laugh:
 
Is it not just the varnish you can smell in cars with wood in them? Just bung a length of 2x4 on the parcel shelf and tell people they`re real wood! :p
 
Even Ford were using real wood in the door cappings on the Cortina 2000E and Escort 1300E

I suppose someone will tell me they weren't real wood , but veneer stuck to plastic ?
 
rp61973 said:
Pilkie, you have tempted me - I have put a bid in on Ebay. If the good lady gets suspicious that I have been spending ££ on the P6 and not her, I will tell her the trims have always been that colour and that the real wood effect and smell is something that the Rover engineers were pioneers in achieving from humble formica!

:laugh:
Click to expand...
If you had emailed them with an offer of £40 to include p/p,and not bunged a bid on,I reckon you would of got them easy!!
I believe they will only come in one basic colour,which I would call your basic wooden car trim period look!!
Can send you a pic of mine fitted if you want?
Dave
 
Chris, I totally love your idea about full wood cappings on the doors.
My opinion of the various black plastic bits is very low, and I think it would be easy to replace those on the doors.
Plus no more sliding, damaged panels.
The timing is right for me because I've run out of funds for the more expensive projects.
Gonna do it.

Dick West
 
rp61973 said:
Pilkie, you have tempted me - I have put a bid in on Ebay. If the good lady gets suspicious that I have been spending ££ on the P6 and not her, I will tell her the trims have always been that colour and that the real wood effect and smell is something that the Rover engineers were pioneers in achieving from humble formica!

:laugh:
Click to expand...
See your bid made it then!

Be interested in what you think of them and some pics when fitted?

Obviously you'll be doing that when the other half is at the hairdresser! :D

Cheers,
Stan
 
TBH, I can't see the point of these. They look the same as our light-colour Formica items in the 2200. Full wood cappings maybe, but I don't think you'll be able to smell wood for long, if at all. You can't smell it in our P4 or P5. It may contribute to the general old-car smell but varnish seals the wood anyway. Polish them & you'll smell Beeswax or Mr Sheen, whatever your poison, not wood.
 
Hi Pilkie and many thanks. I was under the impression these were popular hence the bid. Looks like there was a flurrry of people wanting these when they first come on but not so much interest now! Oh well, I live and learn - I will play the dutch auction before bidding next time. If you have some pics of yours that would be great. Paul
 
The Rovering Member said:
TBH, I can't see the point of these. They look the same as our light-colour Formica items in the 2200. Full wood cappings maybe, but I don't think you'll be able to smell wood for long, if at all. You can't smell it in our P4 or P5. It may contribute to the general old-car smell but varnish seals the wood anyway. Polish them & you'll smell Beeswax or Mr Sheen, whatever your poison, not wood.
Click to expand...
I have to disagree with you on the way they look! Formica will always look smooth,shiney,with no realness about them.
These look like wood,feel like wood,and smell like wood,wood smells with whatever you treat it with,it only smells like real wood if its left totally natural,and it wouldnt last long if it was!!!! Its all
tricking the senses to smell what you want to!
They certainly add to the aroma with the leather and enhance that old car character smell.
Like leather,you smell the hide food treatment!!
IMAG0191.jpg

IMAG0192.jpg
 
Pilkie - many thanks for the pics they do look great. Can't wait to get mine on the car. I will send some pics through once I have installed them. For the long dash trim do you need to remove the top pad or the dash to install it or can you just 'slide the old one out and slide the new one in'.

Oooeer missus!
 
Thanks for those photos Pilkie, I'm so sorely tempted.....

I have agree with you, they certainly look the business, and there's no comparison to the "mahogany" lookalike formica which belongs in the bin! I'm going to have to think about this carefully though - just promised Ian Wilson a fortune of my hard earned "Rover Tokens" to sort out my suspension :)

rp61973 - I manage to hide the odd eBay purchase, dunno how I'm going to manage putting a complete De-Dion/springs/shocks on the boot at Duxford without her noticing though :D It'll probably cost me later :;):
 
Long dash trim installation.
VERY carefully remove the old formica trim,noting the spring type fittings,and trim pieces that hold it in place.
Once its out,use that as the template to trim the new one to the right length,cut it a little long about 5mm,this will tuck behind the instrument binnacle.To fit,carefully place the lower edge on first then press very gently on the top edge to ease it in under the dash and past the spring clips!!
I had a OOER!! moment when doing this,but take it gentle,ease the springy bits up a bit with a flat driver to help it in. The door ones are easy!!,but make sure the spring retaining washers behind it are holding it firm,as mine slid out and broke as I closed the door on it :angry: I glued it back together,but the join still shows!
OH WELL!! I call it aged character :p
 
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