ok, so I made a new bezel out of a leftover piece of countertop laminate board. it's very thin, easy to cut, and flexible enough to bend/conform to the curve of the dashboard. since the monitor is bolted to the factory radio mounts, the bezel doesn't have to be strong. it is however going to be holding the head unit up about 1/2" from the bottom so I re-enforced it with plywood strips behind the bezel (only around the head unit).
once the paint was semi-dry (I am very impatient), I test fitted the bezel onto the dash. not only does it look much better than the former plywood version, but I think I actually looks good in general
unfortunetly, because I was so eager to get it in and take a picture I ended up pressing some nasty fingerprints and smudges into the paint. so I had to sand it down, re-prime, and re-paint it. this time I'm letting the paint dry overnight before i touch it again
so my next step is to relocate the buttons that are currently in my glovebox. these buttons control the dashboard's "information center" and the hazard lights. I am in the process of making a two-piece panel to replace the small compartment in front on the shifter/under the dash to house these buttons.
well, back to work...