It's not original. Even the wood dashes of that era (Jag and Mercedes) used a very thin molded ply arrangement, not a single layer of veneer onto the metal dash. Some one upgraded to the 1800ES look.

I have redone my dash using real wood and know somewhat of the problems. First, I did it when I was really going through a larger process. I was putting on a dash cap and realized that the defroster plates on the dash were almost impossible to reach. Tiny phillips head screws that had to be removed and replaced with an offset driver. I had already removed all my gages because one of the POs was apparently a chain smoker to the extent that the glass on the inside of every gauge was "smoked."

Therefore, I partially removed the dash, which requires pulling the steering wheel and come incredible contortions upside down with your head in the footwells and blindly groping for fastings while hoping not to inadvertently pull any electrical spade fittings off.

Now for the easy way. Remove all your gauges while carefully marking the electrical connections (including the back of the gauges). Don't think you'll remember where they go, even if this is an afternoon project. My reverse lights still don't work because I have wired the relay wrong. When I put it in reverse, I blow the reverse light/horn fuse immediately. Have simply disconnected the reverse lights until further wire tracing.

Once all the gauges are out, the ES panel has an overlay of aluminum sheeting that simply tucks in around at both ends. The most difficult part is going to be removing the passenger handle hold, and you're on your own with that one. With the dash panel clear, reach in behind the dash and push out the aluminum panel (covered with walnut vinyl on the ES). With it removed, put in on a smooth surface, apply real walnut veneer from your local woodworking store, and cut out the gauge faces with an Ex-Acto knife. Since the veneer usually comes in 4 and 8 foot lengths, you can get the four foot and simply join it at the middle (think this is the fuel gauge). It won't show.

Lower switch panel is a piece of cake and would be good to start there. Two problems with the uppper. First, you can't wrap the veneer around the edge of the dash as with the original vinyl. End it by extending a little past where it starts to bend. In other words, the ends of the real veneer will not conform to the bend but need to stick out past where the aluminum bends in order to reach the body. This can be left as is and trimmed clean or small pieces of walnut can be sculpted to cover this area and make a really custom fit(this is my future ES project # 127).

Second problem is if you intend to eliminate something (i.e., the ashtray or radio). Unsupported wood veneer is fragile. You need to have some support over the open areas you are covering. Easiest method is to simply stick a piece of veneer on to the backside over the opening. Use a piece with the grain going 90 degree from the front. The adhesives will stick together fine. You have just created a 2-ply plywood, which is sufficient unless somebody really wants to poke at the dash. I don't let this type of person (usually children) in my car. There will be a little void in the dash panel in the areas where the two peices are not in contact around the edge of the opening, but you can't see it unless you put on a real glossy varnish. I used a satin finish tung oil because I didn't like the high-gloss look. Why use wood and make it look like vinyl? Completely covering up the ash tray is actually the easiest method of dealing with that area.

Varnish or tung oil and replace. Looks classy compared to the original. Burled walnut is available, but it is more likely to split. Bird's-eye maple the same. Zebra wood, bubinga, the choices are endless. The original straight grained walnut is probably the best choice and several ES owners have looked at my dash and finally said "Hey, your's is real wood," (like they got cheated when Volvo used shelf paper in theirs).

Mark Fleming
73 1800ES