1940 and 1941 wood grain dash

[kgreen]

Confirming authenticity:

 

Is the 1940 Buick dash painted wood grain on all models whether open or closed?

 

Same question for 1941 models.

[Grandpa]

1941 Buick convertibles have a dash that is painted the color of the body.

[Guest]

I think that 1940 dash panel & garnish(window surrounds) moulding original wood graining was a 3M film process applied to the metal surfaces called Dinoc?(sp?). Repair with that material is discussed in a Buick factory instruction explanation.

[kgreen]

I'm not as clear with my question as I need to be.  The basis for this question was a conversation I had with Anderson Pearson, who owns a beautifully restored 1941 76C.  His dash is painted body color.  I've also seen Terry Boyce's 1940 76C and its' dash is painted body color.  Terry's car was an executive special order car and may not be representative of cars available to the buying public.  Here is my question below, reformatted and with known information:

 

Year	Hardtop convertible	side window garnish finish	Windshield garnish finish	dash finish
1940	Hardtop	Wood grain with plastic inserts	Wood grain	Wood grain
	Convertible	N/A	Chrome	Woodgrain
1941	Hardtop	Wood grain with plastic inserts	2?	Woodgrain
	Convertible	N/A	Chrome	Body color

 

There is no side window garnish on the convertibles.  The door glass is contained with a chromed steel frame on the top and rear edge.  The outstanding questions are:

 

1?    1940 convertible dash finish

2?    1941 windshield garnish finish

3?    1941 hardtop dash finish

 

Edited October 27, 2019 by kgreen (see edit history)

[valk]

My 1941 76C has a woodgrain dash. As Grandpa noted, '41 convertible dashes were painted body color, not sure about Limiteds.   

Sure would like to see some pics of the 76c referenced above.

Peter

[Matt Harwood]

I'm another guy chiming in with '41 information that isn't what you're asking for, but I suspect that '40 was probably the same. This engineering information manual excerpt suggests that closed cars all have woodgrained finished on the dash except the Limited limousine (which is black), and open cars have their dashboards painted body color.

 

Also related to an earlier discussion, it may also be worth noting that this page mentions two different "colors" for the engine-turned dash panels to match gray or tan interiors.

 

  

[valk]

Misspoke, I have a 76SSSSS, not CCCC...good grief.....

[kgreen]

4 hours ago, valk said:

My 1941 76C has a woodgrain dash. As Grandpa noted, '41 convertible dashes were painted body color, not sure about Limiteds.   

Sure would like to see some pics of the 76c referenced above.

Peter

 

https://forums.aaca.org/forum/58-me-and-my-buick/

 

This was a thread that Anderson Pearson started way back in about 2012.  He stopped posting in about November of 2013.  As of this year (2019) he is driving the beautifully restored car.  I suspect that once the restoration was complete, the time spent on the forum was discarded for time behind the wheel.

 

[kgreen]

Thanks Matt, I checked the Buick Heritage Alliance for the same book in the 1940 version.  Got it.  I've also updated the chart above with answers received.

 

The remaining question concerns the windshield garnish for the '41 convertible.  I suspect that it is chrome.  True?