Thread: how to: make a factory bezel

hey, thanks guys for all the compliments, it's really nice to know that I can inspire or help others to do stuff like this, definatley makes posting it worthwhile .I wish I could talk everyone into putting a pc in there car, but most people I know just give me that "yeah right" kinda look or just think I'm nuts, nice to see others able to use this info on there own projects.

I want to do a write-up explaining another technique I use often for fabrication which is plastic welding

plastic welding, combined with this stuff shown here, & the limits are pushed way higher as to what can be done in building a pc into your dash.


this nissan bezel in this thread was done with the goal of not modifying the actual bezel. while it worked out real nice & many other cars can use this method, I think that even more cars will need actual modification to the bezel itself. most times it's a matter of grafting the screen bezel directly to the car bezel, & making them into one piece. sometimes even more surgery is necissary to fit what you want, where you want. plastic welding is a great way to do bezel fabrication too.

I will work on getting a guide up detailing the procedure & tips, basicly with plastic welding you can build anything you want, you can cut bezels apart & put them back togeather like a jigsaw puzzle, you can relocate & move controls & buttons, theres very little you can't do really when it comes to plastic, & most modern cars are all plastic dash bezels, so this would be useful to many.


a quick preview, with plastic welding you can turn THIS:




and THIS:




into THIS:



that's from my latest install in my sig, you can see some more of it there, but I want to do a seperate guide like this one, just focusing on the methods & techniques involved in doing it. it is pretty easy to do really & if your willing to practice a little you can do some nice things with it. before I start that guide though I got a few others that I have to finish, first one is a guide to powering & using a laptop as a carpc that I promised jan like a month ago, should have that up soon, been so busy lately

it's the lcd from a fujitsu tablet that actually is my whole carpc...

there are many sources for a 10.4" lcd really...

so you bought the plastic welder? cool

as far as welding & bumper repair products, there 2 different approaches with 2 different results... sometimes one is better suited to the job than the other & sometimes a combination of welding & then fillers like used here are necessary. in my Montana I had to do welding to build my basic console & weld 3 bezels together & then use bumper repair products to finish it off as one piece. I did that one way before this one, so it's not like welding supersedes the fillers, there just different

if you want to keep it as an insert & not have to touch the factory finish then, yeah, this method is probably still the best way to make that insert.

the bezel comes with the door up top & the whole compartment there really, that's why it's such an expensive bezel to buy in the first place, think it was almost $170 list back then. yeah, the cross bar did need to be cut out. just cut a little before the edge & file to the edge... I was able to get it flush without it being visible as a cut from the outside, the seem helped there so I didn't have an actual cut edge all the way out to the face of the bezel.

there should be no problem doing it silver, we wanted it black so I never really tried to match anything silver, but I'm sure it could be matched pretty well.


the biggest challenge in what your talking about will be the shortening of the lid door. that's going to be hard to do & have it look factory. the first thing that comes to my mind is if you only need a little room, I would try to cut from the front of the door & then maybe make a lip that matches &\or mates to the bezel, cutting it at the back near the hinge sounds like a problem really, I would avoid that I think.

if you make a nice clean edge & file then sand, you may be able to get it to look good enough as is, but keep in mind that the bezel is really black & then painted from the factory, so any cut will show as black... this cut would be tricky... if your real careful & bevel the edge to the inside then you may be able to do it & have it look good as just a cut... it would have to be perfect though, or a finishing piece would be needed

is yours the same color too?

yeah, you can definatley do without the 3m stuff, I find it flows a little better & is a little easier for fine finish work sands a little easier, but either of them can def be used by themselves... most times it's either/or really... I like to sometimes use both

Awesome write-up and a great reference on how to fab a proper bezel.

I bought the same goops you use to make my bezel. I will post pics when finished.