Rx400h Wood-trim "re-dye" *pics*

[cduluk]

Hey guys :)

I've recently traded in my Rx300 for a pre-owned 2008 Rx400h, and felt it was time to make it "mine".

One of the things i greatly missed about the Rx300 was the custom wood work i had added, along with dyeing of the wood trim to a more "red mahogany" color which i thought looked better than the stock brown.

The Rx400h interior trim uses the same wood and stain used in the 01-03 Rx300's. Although the shape of the steering wheel, shifter knob etc. are of different shapes, the wood type (walnut) and color are the same.

Before i started the re-dyeing process, i looked at the stock wood of the Rx400h, and noticed that the wood seemed somewhat mis-matched. All of the wood pieces on the console, door panels etc. are accented in a walnut "burl" veneer (identified by a series of rings and unique patterns, called knots) while the wood that makes up the steering wheel and shifter knob is of a straighter grain (grain is very straight without the irregularities and knots present in burl). This was going to bother me...

Although this mis-matched combination was also present on the Rx300, i wanted the wood in the Rx400h to match.

I began looking for steering wheels and shifter knobs that had more of a burl pattern to match the surrounding pieces. I found a steering wheel on ebay from a 2007 Gs350, that would also fit the Rx330/350/400h. The airbags+switches of the GS are different than the Rx's, but the frames are identical. The only difference is the wood pattern. The wood pattern of the GS wheels is of a cherry burl, which is a better match to the rest of the Rx's trim.

I also found a shift knob from an Rx350 pebble beach edition which has the walnut burl wood.

So now i was ready to begin! I didn't take pictures to show the steps it took to re-dye all of the pieces on the Rx400h, but there's a tutorial in my signature i put together to show how i completed the project on an Rx300 steering wheel. The hardest part of this retro was the removal of all the 400h interior pieces. I had to remove the interior door panels to gain access to the screws on the back. And the center console had to be taken apart, inside-out to gain access to the screws holding the wood pieces in place. It took me about a whole day to remove all of the wood trim pieces, and another to get them back on.

The process for dyeing all of the trim pieces (minus the steering wheel and shifter knob) is the same. I recently found a new way to stain, that allows me to keep the factory clear coating on the wood. I lightly sand the acrylic coating with 800 grit sandpaper, and apply a thin coat of krylon's red "stained glass paint". I then apply several coats of two-part epoxy clearcoat and let bake at 140 degrees for a half hour or so. Then i wetsand with 2000 grit sandpaper and polish with 3M's scratch remover to remove any imperfections and get that factory shine.

The process for the steering wheel and shifter knob is different because the factory acrylic coating must be stripped and wood sanded before the dye be used. This is to remove any "ring marks" that may be present in the wood.

So here's the results on the Rx400h. I took these pictures a few weeks ago and am just putting them up now. The wood in some of the images appears to be very "bright" but that's only due to the camera. All of the interior wood trim pieces are now the same color as the wood used in the 02-04 ES models. I really like the dark maroon color compared to the factory light brown.

Enjoy and please comment! :)

[cduluk]

In this picture you may notice drops of the red dye on my shoes... yes this was a messy project!

[Sunapollo]

Wow very nice job !! btw how did you dye the front cup holder pieces and rear center piece ? did you take them apart or cover black part with tape ?

[cduluk]

hey thanks! :)

I had to remove all of those pieces as well... It took about a hour to disassemble the center console (and get it back together) with all of the springs etc. that make up the cup-holder. ALL of the wood pieces are held on by screws from the inside. A BIG mess-up on Lexus' part... Not fun to have to replace! They should have just used clips like in the Rx300.

If i ever had to do it again, i'd spend the extra time to just mask off the black areas. I had no idea what i was getting into until i had everything apart :(

[Gryphon]

Man, oh man, cduluk, you are building the ultimate BabeMobile. Fill it with some girlfriends and post pics. :)

I wish I had your time and energy.

Tom

[rapach22]

Wow ... really sharp!! It looks like your hard (and messy) work really paid off.

[SOMEONE ELSE'S GOT MY NAME]

In case we'd want to do the same thing ... did you take any shots of work in progress? ... eg; sanding out the original clear & stain? ... showing the wood's color unstained? ... stained look, prior to clear coating? etc. Also, can you post the brand of stain? ... color tint code etc.

[cduluk]

Unfortunately i didn't take any pictures before or during the process of doing mine =/ It was such a pain in the butt to remove the pieces, i was in a bad mood the whole time and didn't even think about taking pictures

The process of sanding/staining/clearing is the easy part. As soon as you have the pieces out of the car and in your hand, from start to finish, it can be completed in maybe 8 hours or so, barring any unforeseen incidents... It's just like painting a car part; just instead of using a metallic base coat, you use stain followed by the clear.

I sanded the factory clear with (i think?) 800 or so grit sandpaper, maybe 1000. Then sprayed "Krylon's red stain glass paint" through a straw and into an airbrush bottle. I created a nice sol'n, half the stain and half reducer (to thin it out) then sprayed (using an airbrush) a thin coat right on the factory clear, to give it the red effect. Let flash for 5 minutes or so, then baked in the oven at 140 degrees (actually 170 the lowest setting, but kept the door open) for maybe a half hour or so. Then took out, let cool then sprayed a couple coats of Dupont's two-part spot panel clearcoat. Then baked at the same temp for 45 minutes, then let cool for about an hour or so. Then wetsanded with 1500-2000 grit to remove any dust etc, then machine polished with 3M's scratch remover, then installed back into the car.

The clear dries very quickly when baked. Baking the paint is the key to getting it to stick and dry hard enough to resist scratches etc.

The steering wheel and shifter were the only pieces i needed to strip the wood before staining and completing the steps above. Since the steering wheel and shifter are rounded, just sanding the factory clear and applying coats of the stain will yield uneven results. It's better to get it down to bare wood so the stain soaks into the wood so you can get an even coat all around.

I swear, the hardest part is getting the pieces out. The hardest pieces to remove were the ones from the center console and from the rear armrest due to all the pulley and spring mechanisms built in. And not to mention the pieces on the door panels which need to be removed from the inside, requiring you to remove the door panels... The two pieces around the shifter knob come off in about 10 seconds as they're just held on by clips.

If i were to ever do this again, i would just remove the console from the car (6 bolts, takes a few minutes), pop off the rear armrest piece (two screws) and mask off everything but the wood and proceed from there. I didn't know how hard it was going to be to remove the pieces until i actually took it apart...

I did buy a spare console (from an rx330's tan interior with light maple wood) to play with before i took mine apart, which was helpful to refer to when putting everything back together on mine.

I do have to say that the pain and agony was worth it though!

I'll take some pictures of the stain and other materials later tonight or tomorrow (i have class in a few hours UGH).

I'll do the staining/clearing process on one of the spare pieces (from the rx330 console i bought) and take pics so everyone can see how i did it. :)

[rapach22]

that's awesome cduluk! I plan on keeping my eyes open for this project as I think you really added a lot of character to your ride with this project.

[Eng130J]

Hey all,

New here and new to the Lexus RX400h. I must admit I have never been a fan of too much wood trim but seeing your darker pieces with that dark interior makes me jealous!!!! WOW :o EXCELLENT job ! Keep up the great work.

Chris

06 RX400h

Bamboo Pearl

[muffalones]

That is the best looking wood trim I have ever seen! I wish I had gone with the black interior after seeing your car.

I just had one question. How do you get the trim panels off around the shift knob? I'm scared I'm going to break them.

thanks.

[cduluk]

That is the best looking wood trim I have ever seen! I wish I had gone with the black interior after seeing your car.

I just had one question. How do you get the trim panels off around the shift knob? I'm scared I'm going to break them.

thanks.

Hey thanks for the compliments guys :)

The pieces around the shifter knob are REALLY simple to remove. They're only held on by clips. Using a flat head screwdriver, pry up the bottom side of the shifter surround piece. It'll pop off.

When this piece is removed, the vertical piece you can get your finger under and pull towards you, it's held on with clips too.

[muffalones]

Hey thanks for the compliments guys :)

The pieces around the shifter knob are REALLY simple to remove. They're only held on by clips. Using a flat head screwdriver, pry up the bottom side of the shifter surround piece. It'll pop off.

When this piece is removed, the vertical piece you can get your finger under and pull towards you, it's held on with clips too.

Thanks that was super easy. I didn't even need to use a screwdriver. Now if I could just get the guts to paint/stain those panels. I hate the light wood.

I was thinking of painting them black and putting on quite a few coats of clearcoat to get it real glossy. I'm a little worried it will look cheap though.

Any ideas?

[SW03ES]

Awesome!

[cduluk]

Hey thanks for the compliments guys :)

The pieces around the shifter knob are REALLY simple to remove. They're only held on by clips. Using a flat head screwdriver, pry up the bottom side of the shifter surround piece. It'll pop off.

When this piece is removed, the vertical piece you can get your finger under and pull towards you, it's held on with clips too.

Thanks that was super easy. I didn't even need to use a screwdriver. Now if I could just get the guts to paint/stain those panels. I hate the light wood.

I was thinking of painting them black and putting on quite a few coats of clearcoat to get it real glossy. I'm a little worried it will look cheap though.

Any ideas?

Hmmm, i wouldn't paint them black, but it's just me. I assume your interior is the tan (as opposed to black or gray?). I feel the same way about the light birds eye maple wood that comes with the tan interior.

I REALLY like the deep maroon wood, the same shade in the 02-04 ES's.

If you tamper with those two pieces, it might look odd since the other wood panels would still be... well, wood.

Would you rather the trim be silver? (like on the 06 hybrid rx's) ? You could mask off the center console pieces along with the door pieces, and just prime and paint them silver. I think silver would look better than black...

[muffalones]

Hmmm, i wouldn't paint them black, but it's just me. I assume your interior is the tan (as opposed to black or gray?). I feel the same way about the light birds eye maple wood that comes with the tan interior.

I REALLY like the deep maroon wood, the same shade in the 02-04 ES's.

If you tamper with those two pieces, it might look odd since the other wood panels would still be... well, wood.

Would you rather the trim be silver? (like on the 06 hybrid rx's) ? You could mask off the center console pieces along with the door pieces, and just prime and paint them silver. I think silver would look better than black...

Dude you are so helpful. Silver is a really good idea. The reason I was thinking black was because I already bought a black shifter knob. I couldn't stand the (orange) light wood knob that didn't even match the other wood in the car or the tan interior. I have little to no experience painting something like this so I am worried about the staining. I was just going to paint the trim around the shifter knob black and do the rest of the wood later, but the silver may be better. Either way there is both silver and black around the stereo so it shouldn't look too bad. Removing the factory clearcoat looks awful to do, so the steering wheel is probably just getting a cover. Maybe I should get a piece of trim to practice on.

Any idea what kind of paint or clearcoat to use? Thanks.

God, I'm jealous of your car.....

[cduluk]

Hmmm, i wouldn't paint them black, but it's just me. I assume your interior is the tan (as opposed to black or gray?). I feel the same way about the light birds eye maple wood that comes with the tan interior.

I REALLY like the deep maroon wood, the same shade in the 02-04 ES's.

If you tamper with those two pieces, it might look odd since the other wood panels would still be... well, wood.

Would you rather the trim be silver? (like on the 06 hybrid rx's) ? You could mask off the center console pieces along with the door pieces, and just prime and paint them silver. I think silver would look better than black...

Dude you are so helpful. Silver is a really good idea. The reason I was thinking black was because I already bought a black shifter knob. I couldn't stand the (orange) light wood knob that didn't even match the other wood in the car or the tan interior. I have little to no experience painting something like this so I am worried about the staining. I was just going to paint the trim around the shifter knob black and do the rest of the wood later, but the silver may be better. Either way there is both silver and black around the stereo so it shouldn't look too bad. Removing the factory clearcoat looks awful to do, so the steering wheel is probably just getting a cover. Maybe I should get a piece of trim to practice on.

Any idea what kind of paint or clearcoat to use? Thanks.

God, I'm jealous of your car.....

When you say you bought a black shifter knob, did you buy a black 'leather' one or one of the black 'wood' knobs?

Some of the 04-09 Rx's came with this blackish-gray wood trim vs the brown or orange as you have now. If you got the black 'wood' type knob, you could try spraying the surrounding wood pieces with some tail light tinting paint (VHT makes one). It's basically tinting in a paint form, translucent gray (as opposed to the red translucent paint i used). This might give the wood that gray look to match. I think it would look pretty cool!

If you don't have a lot of experience with painting, do a few tests. Get things around the house you don't care about and practice. As soon as you get the hang of it, it's not that bad.

You could mask all the interior panels off (leaving only the wood pieces exposed) and spray a coat of the tinting paint, let try and coat with a few coats of clearcoat. I think it would look really cool!

I use a two part clear, the same type used on car finishes. It's by Nason Dupont, 486-00 and a mid temp activator. A qt of the clear and pint of the activator comes to about $60 dollars or so. Then you'd need an airbrush and a compressor...

If i were you, i'd just get one of the clearcoats in a regular spray can, you can find them at autozone or another car place like that.

I wish i was around your location i would help you out! I would say remove the pieces and send them to me, but they're a pain in the butt to remove. The only easy ones are the ones surrounding the shifter.

[SW03ES]

If you hate the color of the light wood that much...why'd you buy the vehicle?

[cduluk]

If you hate the color of the light wood that much...why'd you buy the vehicle?

I wouldn't base my purchase just because of wood color, it can always be changed! :) I think Lexus would have been better off with the walnut trim in the tan interior vs the light birdseye maple...

The 08-09 Rx350 pebble beach editions have the tan interior with the darker walnut trim, beautiful if you ask me!

[SW03ES]

I actually prefer the light wood I think...its different...

[muffalones]

If you hate the color of the light wood that much...why'd you buy the vehicle?

I got a great deal on the car!

It was from a Lexus dealer nearby that was planning on detailing it and selling it for a lot more than the price I paid for it. They already had it listed online for $2500 more, but since I had already been out to look at it they negotiated from the cheaper price (without detailing) and I got them to take another $600 off. It was much cheaper ($1000) than any other other RX from the same year with similar mileage that I could find online.

[muffalones]

When you say you bought a black shifter knob, did you buy a black 'leather' one or one of the black 'wood' knobs?

Some of the 04-09 Rx's came with this blackish-gray wood trim vs the brown or orange as you have now. If you got the black 'wood' type knob, you could try spraying the surrounding wood pieces with some tail light tinting paint (VHT makes one). It's basically tinting in a paint form, translucent gray (as opposed to the red translucent paint i used). This might give the wood that gray look to match. I think it would look pretty cool!

If you don't have a lot of experience with painting, do a few tests. Get things around the house you don't care about and practice. As soon as you get the hang of it, it's not that bad.

You could mask all the interior panels off (leaving only the wood pieces exposed) and spray a coat of the tinting paint, let try and coat with a few coats of clearcoat. I think it would look really cool!

I use a two part clear, the same type used on car finishes. It's by Nason Dupont, 486-00 and a mid temp activator. A qt of the clear and pint of the activator comes to about $60 dollars or so. Then you'd need an airbrush and a compressor...

If i were you, i'd just get one of the clearcoats in a regular spray can, you can find them at autozone or another car place like that.

I wish i was around your location i would help you out! I would say remove the pieces and send them to me, but they're a pain in the butt to remove. The only easy ones are the ones surrounding the shifter.

The shifter knob is from a RX330 Thundercloud Edition. The color is black birdeye and its all wood. I guess it's slightly grey, I think it looks pretty black though. I wish I could post a picture.

I do like that walnut wood a lot. I think black will look fine though and it will be very unique.

By the way, would I have to sand the panels before applying the tinting paint (or at any other time)?

Thanks again for all the help. Most forums are usually full of people telling you that you're retarded for asking anything.

[cduluk]

Ah yes, the thundercloud editions had that dark wood as well.

I would definitely then suggest you use the tinting paint on all the other panels so they all match. It's exactly what lexus does...

You don't "need to" sand before the tinting paint, but i would suggest it. Sanding allows the paint to stick better in case of an impact. It's more important on car exteriors because the elements can cause the paint to lift etc, but on the interior, the only enemy is keys falling on them, oils from your hands or rings etc... Just go over each panel with 800-1000 grit sandpaper (wet sand).

A while ago i bought a center console from an rx330/350 that was in the tan color, just to experiment taking it apart. I have some of the yellow/orange birds eye maple wood trim from it (same as you do). I've got some of the tinting paint as well, i'll do a test piece and post pics, see what you think :)

[cduluk]

Here's a little tutorial i whipped up this afternoon :) The piece is drying in the oven now, but tonight i'll finish it up and post the results.

[cduluk]