Journal: Finn John's Journal

I'm not much of a metal worker, but I do know my way around a wood shop. So when I took a look at the condition of the interior trim bits -- you know, the vinyl-wrapped fiberboard that goes over the inside of the door and the hatch and stuff -- I knew I could do better. Or at least cheaper. Kits of these things -- and remember, they're just vinyl over fiberboard! -- are around $325 at The Roadster Factory.

Anyway, I had a slab of African bloodwood lying around, 18 inches long by four quarters thick. I don't any more, but I do have some really nice looking trim. For the door cards, the vertical trim is bloodwood, the paneling is planed-down clear Doug Fir flooring, the whole thing is topped with the tropical-hardwood door caps (they were covered with fluffy vinyl stuff! I stripped 'em). I did the same with the under-window panels in the back, except I used some Sitka spruce guitar tops that were rejected from the factory in Concrete, Wash., that made guitar tops for Taylors back in the early 1990s. A coat or three of McCloskey's Man-O-War spar varnish and it should really look good.

Photos later, after I find the camera SWMBO hid. Cheers!