Painting Wood Strip possible?

[Cascadian]

Happy New Year, Tesla family! Woohooo... the Roaring Twenties!

So, I've wanted to replace the wood strip on my Model 3 dash since I got the car. Was going to probably do a carbon fiber wrap. I've now decided that I wanted to look into something artistic... but I haven't been able to find any examples online of that kind of project. Why not? It's wood veneer, and after sanding, I'm assuming a talented artist (not me!) could paint it! Right?

I found a good YouTube video of a guy sanding and re-finishing his wood strip to a darker walnut color:

(Btw, in the comments below that video he says that the wood strip should be pulled out from both ends at once... not one side first and then the other. Good tip, I imagine.)

I don't want to stain it, and no longer want to wrap it -- IF I can somehow have an artistic paint job done on it instead.

Would so love to be in touch with someone who's actually had this done so I can learn about the pros and cons of proceeding on this whim!

 

[bpobill]

Not sure what you're looking for. If you wont paint it, give it to someone that will and they will put whatever you want on it. New ones are $200 so if they ruin it it's not a huge loss.

Pros: Its your car, do what you want.
Cons: Wont appeal to most people I would imagine.

I believe the cars with white interior come with a white piece instead of wood. That is probably easier to paint.

 

[Cascadian]

Thanks for your input, bpobill! I do wish I had the white one, as I agree that it would probably be easier as a "canvas" for the artist to do his (or her) magic. I wonder if there are "seconds" available to purchase where a cosmetic defect could be painted over. Hmmm...

Regarding the pros and cons, I am mainly asking in terms of types of paint, and things such as would it create a warranty issue somehow? The paint type needs to be such that direct sun baking it sometimes wouldn't cause it to flake off or deteriorate somehow. I'm sure that some kind of glaze would have to go over the "painting" to protect it, but I don't want glare. Not being an artist myself, I don't know how to determine the best options to suggest to any artist who might be intrigued by this unique medium. That's why I'm hoping that by starting this thread I'll find folks who might have actually done this to their dash strip or know of someone... my Google search turned up zilch. Nada.

Most of us surround ourselves with pleasing artwork in our homes, right? Well, why should my Model 3 be different?! This is first and foremost for ME, and if my passengers enjoy it as well, so much the better. I've loved driving this car so much that I imagine I'll be hanging on to it for many years, so why not make it even more enjoyable? Who knows, this could even start a trend!

Maybe we'll even see "Paint by the Numbers" kits especially for Tesla owners like me who would love to do this but don't have the artistic talent! I see a huge opportunity for some entrepreneurs out there. Go for it! ;-)

 

[Cascadian]

Well, it's been awhile since I posted this! I wound up having an artist paint a white strip that I swapped out for my less-than-exciting wood veneer one. See the photos of the end result in another thread I started asking about the material of the white dash strip:

White Dash Strip -- what material is it?

The fun part is that I've already had someone pick up my old wood veneer one to use while his Model Y white dash strip will be undergoing a transformation by another artist. I hope that my old strip loaner winds up going from person to person as more folks decide that hey, we have art in our homes... why not in our cars?!

I have a fantasy that this will catch on and we'll have annual art competitions for these Model 3 and Y dash strips. The winner will get to have Elon Musk sign it!