Can anyone give me advice on a good wood trim kit (simulated) for the dash.
There seems to be a number of suppliers ( found on ebay) and price ofering to determine quality is not obvious. Funny the best one I found ( for now) is least expensive: $135 and made of ABS not vinyl. I plan to do it well and only once, so I wish to buy the best.

Also, I need to replace a busted speaker cover but need one with chrome surround- not black. Dealer says: not available. Any idea where to source one?

Le Chat
2005 Xfire Coupé

 

For what it's worth, I put the MimoUSA dashkit in, rosewood, and I like it just fine. It was relatively inexpensive, ebay $80, high gloss finish, sticks well, and leaves the silver trim around the edges but really does IMO look nice.

 

First thing you have to do is figure out what YOU like, not us. I did carbon fiber, others have done wood, marble, painted the color of their car. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, you are the one who is gonna look at it so pick something you think is cool. As for tips.........I put mine on in 1/2 hr. Make sure you follow the directions with your kit. I cleaned all the areas with alcohol. I also put mine in in July so it was pretty hot. Sat the pieces on the dash before I applied them to soften them up and make them more pliable. Fit whatever piece you are applying before you removed the tape covering. I make sure I hit mine with detail spray on a soft cloth every so often to keep it nice. Good luck with your choice and I have to throw in a plug for the work SRT-6 does.

 

There is one on ebay now from Mojoparts_iam which matches your MimoUSA but they ask $134.

Do you think it is the same? Or if not, what was the name of your vendor?
Thanks,
Le Chat

 

MojoParts is who carries MimoUSA products. Mimo is a wholesale only, to my understanding.
I did the "Marblewood" in mine, looks like grey birdseye maple.

 

Thanks for the info about Mimo. There is a reseller in Brooklyn, NY ( ie near Montreal, Canada) that sells a kit made by BD TRims. They state it is not vinyl but ABS. Do you have an opinion on this material? Have you ever heard of this manufacturer?

Luckily for me, the car is stored until at least May 1st, so I have ample time to decide but would like to have it done before we finally can get back on the road.

Le Chat.

 

yes, that's the one. I got a good deal on ebay, they may have gone up a bit. I like it.

 

Did you get a Mimo kit with 21 or 24 pieces or the BD Trims?

Your information gets me confused.
And when did you buy it? You said $80, I doubt that in current economics and with a discontinued model like the Xfire the price would have gone up to $ 135. Not that 135 is expensive but why pay 135 if 80 will do. I ask as there also seems to be "small" trim packages with no door inserts that cost less, like the Benvento ( they have either 18/not enough or 36/too much pieces kits).

Can you send me a picture of the finished product in your car and the exact type of the finish you chose. If you also have an invoice, you may be able to answer all of the above concerns I expressed.
Finally, it will also give me confidence in doing it myself.....if that is what you did, unless your are a pro in the business that is!
Tx
Le Chat

 

Hey Zeus, look at my posts a couple up. I already said I put the Mimo kit in, 21 pieces, and I paid $80 for it, Ryan at Mojo autoparts sold it to me off ebay, Ryan is really good. I bought it a year ago, so maybe there's not alot of Crossfire dashes left, I have no idea. If it's 135 now, so be it, that's what it is. It was 80 back then, now 135-try to find it at 80 if you can. That'd be great, but if noone will sell it at that well, then, that's the way it is. Pics are in my gallery, white coupe, pics from the both doors open and the trunk. I would have liked a couple more pieces to go on behind the steering wheel to complete the look of the wood all the way across, but Mimo didn't make that. oh well. they did do the door handles though.

 

Here you go, Le Chat. This is a before and an after shot of my dash kit

Before-

TheTarget1.jpg

and after-

TheTarget2.jpg

and a side shot-
Dash2.jpg

 

Sadly I am not God ( Zeus) and need to understand before I get going on something. I have restored many cars and made mistakes where I said 'I wish I knew", now I clear the lot before, not after.
Now, I can understand some more as I also notice that the pics that Mojo uses in their ad in ebay is actually YOUR car.
This may explain a lot, including the price you paid, unless YOU are Ryan or Mojo owner?

 

Thanks for the pics. You and mdaniels4 clearly demonstrate what Chrysler could/shiould have done from the onset to improve their relatively cheap interior for little more money.
I will definitely install a dash kit in Le Chat ready for its first pring outing.

Thanks all, now all I need to find is a proper speaker cover.
Le Chat

 

I apologize for being short with you last night, LeChat. I understand your need to understand, I was tired last night, listening to a few things that irritated me, and shouldn't have responded when I was in that mood. In any event, I like the dash kit, no I'm not Ryan or with Mojo, but after I bought it I did tell Ryan he could use my car to show what it looked like in the Cross. Sometimes you can get a real deal on ebay, and this apparently was one of them. I had searched dashkits before, never finding one below about 100 and then this one showed up and I used the buy it now because it was so inexpensive. I got it in like February and waited until April on an almost 70 degree day.

Fitted them first, the put all the pieces in the sun to soften. Wiped down the areas with the cleaner and activator and started by putting them on slowly, in one corner, setting them down lightly so I could move them if needed, which I did. My kit may have been a second because some of the really small pieces were split, or maybe that happened from the cold or something. But I matched them up as I put them on and you can't see them.

I agree, this is a kit that Chrysler should have put in, at least for my taste, but then again, different folks have different tastes-from the Spartan to the pimped. Ya gotta like what you put in. What pattern are you thinking to put in. I went with the rosewood because I like the grain, and the slightly reddish coloring. I had had basically that in the Cadillac, from the factory, I had with the black interior and it looked really nice as a color combo. But I almost put in the lighter tan that the 300 has, but in the end felt that was too much of a contrast. If I had had the vanilla interior I would have gone with that. I don't like the look of carbon fiber so that was not for me. I liked the woodgrain because it warmed the interior, to me. Mark

 

Thanks Mark and I understand that at times we get off to a quick start. No problem.

I am like you: wood and definitely reddish with our dark grey interiors. I will consider zebrawood, rosewood as well as some burled walnut or mahogany. We own a few Jaguar of the 50's and 60's so burled walnut is a "way of life" for these...and for us. I will although go with simili wood as I know what fading caused by dryness, UV and water seepage can do. I have just started work on a Jaguar Mark 2 and must redo all the woodwork inside, with varnish, rubbing, varnish again and again....so I can appreciate both the task and the results. Anyhow, in our modern cars, even the real wood of my wife's G35x with rosewood accents interior and my Volvo are the same, the real wood is sunk under a clear plastic urethane coat that makes it look same as simili anyhow.

I will likely wait until after Xmas to order- unless an ebay superdeal appears- as we leave today for the country for the Holiday period.

Happy holidays to you and we'll keep in touch hopefully to show the results I'll get when all done.

Le Chat

 

Thanks Cat. I appreciate your courtesy. I wish you and your family a wonderful holiday season too. Mark

and yes, that was my car on Mojo's ebay sales site.

 

Mark,
I'm thinking of doing the dash trim and wondered what you think of the lite tan in the yellow roadster with the vanilla interior? Or can you suggest something else, I just have not seen any and can't picture how they will look....I like rich and not pimpy...Judi

 

hey Judi. I think the platinum would look good with good with the yellow and the vanilla interior. I was looking at mr. Taz's yellow roadster this weekend and thinking about that. The other idea would be more of the brownish wood, perhaps the maple, maybe the Cherry as that would be a nice contrast. the reddish of the rosewood might be a tad dark and too much contrast with the yellow. IMO of course. I don't think I'd go too dark though with the lighter interior, so a medium brown to pick up the yellow tones from the outside, and then the contrast with the vanilla with the offset of the slate I think would look elegant, if you want the wood look. I've never regretted it. But again, that's just me. I think what I would do is to try and see if they will return it for a replacement color if you try it and don't like it. Ryan at Mojo was really good to work with. Mark BTW, did you see my pics in my gallery? That'll give you a good idea. The key is to make sure they are warm and flrxible when you put them on, and take your time. Eassy, but you want them where you put them!

 

I have 1 chrome surrounded speaker cover. Let me know if you are interested. Thanks.

 

Musclefan,

Yes I am interested in your chrome surround speaker cover if it is in excellent condition.

What price do you want and how can I pay you? Paypal would be fine for me.
Depending when we finalize, I'll give you a shipping address either in NY or Florida.

Thanks,

Pierre "le Chat"

Yoiu can also reach me at pao@paouimet.com

 

I just checked my original thread to see how much I was asking and it was 40 bucks shipped and paypal fees. Well, I will give it to you 35 bucks shipped and paypal fees. And yes, it is in excellent condition.