Thread: 03 Neon SXT in-dash Xenarc install

Originally Posted by BarryWoods

MEK is some nasty stuff. Be careful with it. It's been banned in the Air Force.

No kidding. I popped the top and instantly the smell was sickening, and I was working outside. But it did melt the ABS shaving within a few minutes. I should pick up a respirator.

Originally Posted by Sidewalksalvage

WOw love the set up so far, should come out lookin preety nice.

You are doing plastic fabrication rather than fiberglass or else?

what made you choose ABS?

Yeah I went with ABS because it's more durable than fiberglass and I hate working with fiberglass. Also, the Xenarc bezel is already ABS, the car's bezel is ABS PC, ABS sheets are cheap. So everything should be pretty compatible.

I've used Bondo on plasic before, and although I haven't had cracks yet, and the job came out really nice, I want this install to be perfect so I'm doing it right, fusing the plastic pieces together as one.

Originally Posted by damarble

I should pick up a respirator.

Yes you should. I know a guy on permanent disability because of these kind of fumes.

Originally Posted by BarryWoods

Yes you should. I know a guy on permanent disability because of these kind of fumes.

Thats sad. I was in lowes today and saw the MEK stuff. I got sick looking at the warnings

good luck with the install. I understand now why you chose ABS

Yay the ABS sheet came today! But still no sign of the bezel. I'm all set to start fabbing this up too. I guess I might cut the abs peices tonight, since my old bezel is the same as the new one....

Oh yeah, I found a respirator at work so now I shouldn't die from the fumes.

The optical enclosure came today. The case is pretty flimsy, but I guess it will work. I put an extra DVD-ROM from my Dell laptop in it for now. It powered up just fine and played a DVD with only the USB cord plugged in, to a USB port on my desktop's front panel. But it will not power up if used on a hub, so I def need to run a 5v line to the enclosure.

Still no sign of my bezel though and I'm getting ****ed. I can't get started until I have that bezel. I tried mocking up the LCD on my old bezel, but it just won't fit how I want without cutting the bezel.

Finally the bezel is here. I got the LCD bezel and DVD enclosure bonded into position. I ended up using ABS cement so far, since what are the 2 ingredients in ABS cement? MEK and ABS resin!

You can see the cardboard template for the side pieces. I'm taking my ABS sheet into work tommorow to use the bandsaw to get the pieces perfect.

Looks good

I cant wait to see how it comes out

Just got the side pieces cut, going out to epoxy them on now. I put both pieces on top of each other while cutting, they are perfectly identical.

Edit- Done what I can for now. I not sure yet if i like the lower corners, they are a bit too square I think. I'm going to bring it along a little further and see how it looks, then probably hack the corners off and make it flow more with the curve of the bezel.

Made up some ABS goo with the pipe and MEK last night. I ended up getting it a little too thin. It was perfect when I made it, but the container didn't seal to well so it thickened up too much after 1/2 hour. I added more MEK and wrapped tape around the cap to seal it. But it's too thin now. I tried it this morning before I left for work. I need it mostly just to fill in the gaps on the sides. The MEK seems so evaporate very fast, I wonder if it will be ready when I get home...

Any thoughts on how I should finish the bezel once it's done? The original had a faux carbon fiber laminate that was glassy smooth. But this one doesn't have any finish, just the bare plastic. It has a very slight texture, almost unnoticable. My first thought was to sand it all smooth then apply a very high gloss black to match the exterior. But maybe I should just do the light texture thing.