I've got myself a problem and was hoping for some insight on what I should do. I have an 01 Impala and tried to install an 8inch touchscreen about 3 months ago. It didnt turn out like I thought it would, mostly because I dont have much fabrication experience. I placed it in a modified ashtray compartment, which is where I want it to stay, but i need to redesign the part that holds the screen. I dont want to take out my radio or make any modifications to the dash besides this one part if possible. Here are some pictures of the install now.
That is the screen with the ash tray thing extended out. Its annoying bvecause when i accelerate, it slides out.
Thata a side view of it, if you cant tell, it has a bad angle for visibility from the drivers seat, and would be easily snapped off it kicked or whatever. Its very unstable and bounces when you touch it, and that sucks since its a touch screen.
Thats basically what it looks like from the drivers seat. Its not that bad to reach down to, just a bad angle to look at. I had some ideas of how to redesign this, but I was hoping for some ideas about the shape of the part, what angle it should be at, and maybe easy materials to work with that arent too expensive. That was done with hot glue and bondo, so obviously I'm ready to try some better work materials. Anyways, any help would be appreciated.
Nick
just thought I'd add a few things on here. In that second picture, the screen is shown held on by sticky velcro.This time i want it to be done right, so if i can figure out how to do this id want the screen to be molded or at least more securely attatched. right now it is easily stolen. im gonna be taking this peice off tomorrow and having a better look at it so if anyone wants different pictures of it ill take them.
so I cut apart the piece to see how I could reposition it, and make it more stable. After its done hopefully it will look better too.
That is the new front, I moved it forward and up and reattached it with abs glue. Im going to fiberglass it, so in the next picture you can see I stretched cloth over it to make the shape. Ive never done this before so im not expecting it to go well. But you never know.
The pictures aren't that good, but it has a nice curve on the back that shouldnt be too hard to do. if you have any tips on things i should do before I start fiberglassing please just let me know, I'm probably gonna start this tonight.
If it comes out decent I will try to get much better pictures.
I'm assuming that is part of the old ashtray then? Are you planning on making it so it will latch in the closed position? (A bit of added security) Do you think you will angle it a little bit towards you for a better viewing angle?
Good luck with it if you've started already. Just take your time and think ahead a little bit and it will save you frustration and $$.
Haha, yeah I started already. My first design for this is that it would flip up and latch, hiding the screen. But stability was an issue, especially the way I drive. I usually just throw a hat over it. Right now its basically right where it was in the pictures but with a first coat of resin/hardener on it. Im starting to get worried, my fiberglassing skills dont seem to be as good as I hoped. I did read up on it alot though, and I've planned it out as well as I could. The bottom line is I have no money, so making it spectacular is difficult.
Okay so last night I finished the first fiberglass coat. The cloth Iused didnt soak it in very well, so I used a polyester cloth on top of that, let it dry, and then the fiberglass cloth. This small kit I bought the resin and hardener were both creamy, and it was hard to use. For the rest of it I'm going and buying different materials.
Theres the front of it, it's not sanded yet.
Theres the fiberglass job, hopefully not too bad for a beginner. I think it came out sloppy personally. It has a nice curve though and the structure in general is really ridgid and strong. I'll finish it up within the next few days hopefully.
Okay, so after the fiberglass, I got lazy for a few days. But now there is some work being done. I put a thin layer of bondo over it and sanded it to roughly smooth it out and get a better shape. Then I mixed up some more fiberglass resin and used a flat edge to fill in all the holes and bumps in the part, which worked pretty good. Then I sanded it again.
Then I painted it a base black, and sprayed it with a acrylic clear gloss.
I must say it looks better in person than in the pictures, but theres a few things I think I need to do still, a main one is how to go about attatching the screen more securely.
Any ideas, comments or criticism would be cool.
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