[Anthony B]

Hi all

Just wondering if anyone else bought one of the canadian grey maple dash panels from the Ruby do at Newark.
I got one as £35 was not a lot to waste if it looked rubbish.
I got it fitted yesterday and it looks lovely, much more subtle than the mahonony colour and far far better than the slab of black plastic my aero had before.
Anyone else fitted one and what do you think?

Cheers
Ant

 

[wrighar]

Ant,

The dark reddy one is Walnut

The pale yellowish knotty one is Burr Elm

I missed the Grey Maple one...

All my 9000's have the Walnut one.

 

[1989agoodvintage]

I saw the Grey Maple one, did think they looked nice. Sorta considered it for mine for a second before i realised I haven't got £35 to waste at the minute. My cars red with a charcoal grey/black interior, it's currently got the Walnut dash but I want something more sporty looking, if you know what I mean.

 

[Anthony B]

Found one for sale on ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...23&category=418

What do you think
Ant

 

[steisan]

Hi,
I'm afraid I've never seen that kind of dash. The only dashes I've seen are the black, of course, the walnut and another wood, yellowish. I've seen silver dashes too, but I think they were custom made.

I'm curious about that gray maple.

Do you have pics or links to that dash?

Thanks in advance.

 

[steisan]

Thanks Anthony,
got to speed up my typing!

 

[Aerohead]

Ant,

I bought one of the grey Maple dashboards at SOC Newport as well, and it will look much better than the black plastic on my Aero. The maple looks best with the charcoal/grey carpet in my interior. Brand new Saab dash looks much better than the somewhat tired ones I have seen offered in the past.

How hard was it to install? Did you remove the A pillar trim, dash top and steering wheel as the Saab instructions suggest? I was thinking of changing some of those 89p light bulbs while I'm in there. Any problems with rattles afterward?

 

[Anthony B]

Hi all

The dash was very easy to fit, the main problem being with removing the ashtray which I always seem to struggle with. It took me about 1 1/2 hours in total.
I did not remove the steering wheel and it was still easy, just pulled it as far out as it would come on the adjustment.
I did remove the dash top, the dash is retained by it in places. The bulbs are tricky to get to though.

The tricky bits were finding out how to unclip the air vents, be careful as the plastic on the dash is quite brittle. I managed to crack the side one...superglue time.

getting the right hand bank of switches out was fiddly as well.

Oh and make sure you label the bolts/screws as it's easy to mix them up.

Also the heated seats...green plug is drivers side

I did not remove the A pillar trim, just makes it tight getting speaker grilles in but OK

It does not rattle and fits perfectly.
I'll get some digicam photos in next couple of days when I can borrow one.

Cheers
Ant

 

[Andy_M]

Originally posted by Anthony B:
[qb]Just wondering if anyone else bought one of the canadian grey maple dash panels from the Ruby do at Newark.
I got one as £35 was not a lot to waste if it looked rubbish.
I got it fitted yesterday and it looks lovely, much more subtle than the mahonony colour and far far better than the slab of black plastic my aero had before.
Anyone else fitted one and what do you think?
[/qb][/b]

Hi Anthony
I am still interested in buying CSE 2.3t (if I can persuade wife), but its original walnut dash has faded horribly (which she hates).

Who is/are "Ruby do at Newark", do they sell various 9000 dash trims, and how much did it cost to have it fitted ?

Many thanks

Andy

 

[Anthony B]

Hi Andy

The Ruby do was the get together event recently held at the Newark show ground, not a shop or retailer.
At that do, Bond street Saab were selling the dashes as an end of line thing.
I have seen them advertised on e.bay if you want that type although it may not match if there are any other walnut bits. Used dash panels are available at many breakers for very little which may be the best for the car you are thinking of getting. I have a plain black plastic one now if you want it (it's currently outside waiting for the bin man)which I used to like in a fairly minimalist way until I saw the CGM one which is a sort of greeny grey wood effect.Fitting takes about 2 hours and is a DIY job.
HTH
Ant
Let me know if

 

[wrighar]

The walnut should fade gracefully with the age of the car

Actually, mine has not really faded very much, and it's 10 years old.

 

[Andy_M]

Originally posted by Anthony B:
[qb]...The Ruby do was the get together event recently held at the Newark show ground, not a shop or retailer.[/qb][/b]

Oops - I should have realised that

Originally posted by Anthony B:
[qb]I have seen them advertised on e.bay if you want that type although it may not match if there are any other walnut bits. Used dash panels are available at many breakers for very little which may be the best for the car you are thinking of getting. [/qb][/b]

Thanks Anthony I will check that option out - but in the meantime if anyone knows of a good 2nd hand walnut dash (going for sensible money) then please let me know.

Thanks

Andy

 

[Andy_M]

Originally posted by Scaero (ecopower stg0):
[qb]The walnut should fade gracefully with the age of the car      
Actually, mine has not really faded very much, and it's 10 years old. [/qb][/b]

Glad to hear that your walnut trim is doing well Scaero, BUT I have seen a number of 9000's recently with horribly faded dash trims - which almost look like some cheap plastic. My wife wonders whether this is due to some chemical reaction between the wood and large amounts of cigarette smoke.

 

[Derek]

I bought my car just car over 3 years ago and it was faded then at 3 1/2 years old but doesn't seem to have got any worse. It is not actually faded but the clear coat has turned slightly milky giving it a faded appearance. It is mainly on the drivers side and I think it's been caused by sunlight. No amount of T-cutting has helped. I'd like a better one but haven't come across one as cheap as £35 yet.

 

[Mark R]

I've the same problem. Anyone got any suggestions ?