firstoldsmobile

I've posted pictures of my 86 442 to which was a bucket list car after selling 2 79 Hurst Olds and a 88 Cutlass Supreme Classic i felt nauseous. As a guy who fixes up cars doing the best I can to make things look good - a couple of things I did that worked well which keeps cost down tremendously.
If somebody has a dash that is cracked - door panel- or center console -mine instrument cluster surround was awful - sand down flat - use fiberglass filler and sand reasonably smooth. Use Flex Seal. - I sprayed really lightly standing back dusting it. Then painted to color. It really did a good job replicating the grain look. That stuff is awesome.
On the wood grain parts for the dash and door panels - I bought wood grain sticker sheets - used an exacto knife and trimmed around each piece. I then took a silver paint marker to do the edges.
On the body stripe - I did this myself as well using just double pinstripe - cutting the corners at an angle for the wheel wells. I triple striped the front and rear bumper covers. I know all this isn't OEM but Phoenix Graphics wants quite a bit for the stripe kit.

RetroRanger

all good tips, i try to find little things like this as well

i have a 72 and my dash bead was junk. i found a 1\4" half round chrome trim piece at the auto parts store that replicates the part very well and 1/10 the cost of a cutlass specific replacement.

as joe pointed out on another thread many times chevy parts are the same as olds parts like the horn contact pin, you can generally find chevy parts that are cheaper than Olds marketed parts.