03 infiniti fx35 w/all the toys, add a carpc too? oh yeah... :)

**turbocad6** · 08-29-2007, 02:30 PM

awe man, never realized anyone was actually keeping track

I have a few other cars around too, guess I kinda like cars, can't you tell

did I say that dts was a keeper too?, well I still have it, but I think I'm gonna dump it, it's not a bad car but I just have no use for it really.

drew, the dash is pretty symetrical, but not 100%, actually I'm having an issue centering the screen as the right side of the bezel is straight but the left side is not, it goes up at an angle & gets wider at the top on that side... kinda strange the way they designed this really, when I center the screen perfect over the climate controls it's off center for the vents & even the center channel speaker, been driving me a bit nutz trying to get it perfect as it's not possible to have it perfect,

even the factory screen is a bit off center but not noticable cause it's smaller, now with the space maximized it's more obvious of centering... still screwing with that a bit, I think I may leave it centered over the climate controls & when it's all done it'll look good, but then again, I'm thinking of moving it slightly to the left so it's centered with the vents..., this part has been driving me nuts really cause I really try to make it perfect, but theres no such thing here...

I'm really happy with the paint, thanks all for the compliments, when it's final assembled & polished I put up a picture of it complete... it really looks nice

**sporty_drew** · 08-29-2007, 02:36 PM

sounds like your having plenty of fun with the screen, i'd center it with the climate controls, because thats what i had to do in my car also lol. It's always the little things that bug the hell out of you when your trying to make a decision.

Also i'm wondering how big your factory screen is, because i'm trying to find a way to incorporate a screen up in the general area that your relocating yours to.

**turbocad6** · 08-29-2007, 11:29 PM

drew, the stock screen is close to a 7", just a bit smaller, but not much

ok, I got everything symetrical & centered, not really centered, but centered.

there is no way to center it with the dash & center channel speaker, I centered it within the bezel & got exactly the same opening on each side for the ac vents, they are mirror imaged & both exactly the same, both have the same size lip too, it's as straight as it's gonna get

starting to look like a bezel, tonights progress:

**turbocad6** · 08-29-2007, 11:58 PM

so far that is all just plastic welding & sanded, no fillers at all. I may use no filler or at least next to none on this piece as I'll do all of my shaping in just plastic. plastic welding is so cool, with enough patience you can build anything from just cheap plastic trays or in this case drawer organizers,

a lot of guys screw with the abs sludge method but plastic welding allows you to do similar manipulation but much faster, when the plastic is melted it can be manipulated like sludge kinda, you can manipulate the consitancy by varying the amount of heat applied, with the benifit of like 30 seconds later it's hard again & you can continue to work the piece...

**BarryWoods** · 08-30-2007, 01:14 AM

Originally Posted by turbocad6

so far that is all just plastic welding & sanded, no fillers at all. I may use no filler or at least next to none on this piece as I'll do all of my shaping in just plastic. plastic welding is so cool, with enough patience you can build anything from just cheap plastic trays or in this case drawer organizers,

a lot of guys screw with the abs sludge method but plastic welding allows you to do similar manipulation but much faster, when the plastic is melted it can be manipulated like sludge kinda, you can manipulate the consitancy by varying the amount of heat applied, with the benifit of like 30 seconds later it's hard again & you can continue to work the piece...

Okay, you probably said in one of your other threads, but how are you doing the plastic welding?

**Peoples** · 08-30-2007, 07:07 AM

...i'm jealous

**turbocad6** · 08-30-2007, 12:18 PM

the welder I'm using is made by usc, it's nothing more than a fancy variable heat soldering iron with a slightly broader tip... a soldering iron can do it to, the tip should be a bit more flat rather than a point though. a heatgun can be used to curve & shape & help with welding problem plastics. someday I'l do a tutorial on plastic welding, it can be used for so many things in this hobby.

they make air welders for plastic that are cool too, I broke mine a while ago haven't replaced it yet, it blows a tiny tip with hot air, it kinda works like an open flame, but doen't burn like an open flame would

**JasonWW** · 08-30-2007, 01:11 PM

You have to have the right plastics as well. I've experimented with a lot and some just won't melt, they smoke and burn. Do you have any insight about the plastics to use or where small sheets can be bought?

**turbocad6** · 08-30-2007, 01:34 PM

abs sheets can be gotten from installer supply places, I usually use common platic stuff from either a hardware store/ staples, etc... there are several ways to identify plastics, one easy way is to cut it, if it melts as you cut it then it can be usable, if it cuts powdery then it's harder to work with. complcations can come when trying to weld 2 dissimilar plastics too, best thig is to try a small weld & see how well it holds, check out urethane supply corp.s website for a lot of plastic weldfing & idetifying tips

stay away from really shinny plastics, with the right welding materials almost anything can be welded, but abs is the easiest & most common to work with. there are a lot of times I'll buy several cheap plastic items to test & see how they react, usc also makes a universal welding rod that they claim welds anything to anything, but i usually use the material itself to weld & rarely use rods, unless your dealing with like a pp or some other problem plastics, they have good stuff for that, many bumpers are pp & a pain to repair.