HOWTO: Building a removable LCD screen bezel and mount - Page 4

gork · 02-01-2006, 11:41 AM

Well trying to match it 100% with texturing and paint will be hit and miss... You could probably get the SEM texture paint technique to get you close -- you'd have to really practice with it though.

Depending on the shape of your bezel, though you might be able to spray it with a strong vinyl adhesive and stretch textured vinyl over it. They have a materialthat matches that almost perfectly. Short of either paint or vinyl, you'd probably be stuck with trying to take a surface mold of your existing dash to texture your bezel. That is possible too but difficult and I wouldn't know the first thing about what to suggest using to accomplish this.

chronot150 · 02-01-2006, 11:44 AM

I see...I'll have to keep searching. It might be tough to stretch something across it. colpito posted some pictures of everything taken apart (2/3 down the first page)... maybe they can help you get an idea of what we're trying to do. http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=67786

Thanks for the speedy reply,
Dan

islandsound · 02-05-2006, 12:50 PM

Hey Gork,can fiberglass chop mat & resin be used with spray on foam insulation for other molds and build ups?

LUWE SYGABU · 02-23-2006, 11:28 PM

chronot150 - my added suggestion to what gork and others have said to texturizing if you are not dead set on the "exact same" texture would be to try experimenting with epoxy painting a similar test surface with various particles like fine sand, rubber shavings, and other fine materials or building a spray piant texture by lightly spritzing from a foot or more it in layers and light sanding until you have something similar that you like, and then sanding the texture from the surrounding areas of your screen. Then apply the texture that you like to the entire area and finish paint it.

elemeno0pee · 04-11-2006, 02:30 PM

hey gork... i have 1 question.

When you say "I apply fiberglassed reinforced bondo, and then cut away some of the foam"... what exactly do you mean by that? Maybe I am picturing something wrong? If I have foam, and I cover that with bondo, how am I going to cut away at the foam? Won't it be covered by bondo? If you could just explain that 1 process a little better, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks a lot, and GREAT tutorial!

gork · 04-11-2006, 03:19 PM

Yeah if you cover it with bondo you can't cut away the foam ... from the front ... but you can scoop it out the back! It leaves sort of a bondo shell that you can reinforce by applying layers or filling from the back. By the time I was done there was almost no foam insulation left. If you can only work from the front side you probably need to use something a little more hearty than spray-foam for your initial form. Soft wood such as balsa would probably work better. There is also a formable product that you can carve easily called BalsaFoam that you could investigate. This is going to be more structurally sound than other alternatives.

88Vette · 06-19-2006, 01:25 PM

I was very impressed by your work!

Could you please send me a working link to d/l the procedure from or shoot it over via email?
Please PM me if you can.
I am going to try that for my 88 vette. I'm removing the passenger side dash hump that sticks out and replacing it with the flat piece so i can cut a hole and mount the bezel for my Lilliput 7" LCD for the carputer.

Thanks mucho!

David

gork · 06-19-2006, 01:29 PM

I'm not sure I understand what you mean by 'download the procedure'. 100% of the writeup and images on how to do this is in the first post of this thread, which I assume you have already seen.

keyvan · 06-23-2006, 01:39 AM

Gork, excellent job, excellent write up. Thanks alot. I am however having the same problem as the fellow a few posts before me as to how you actually remove foam when you've covered it with bondo.. You said scoop it out the back.. Well arent we covering the whole face entirely with bondo? if you were to scoop out chunks of foam and fill it in with more bondo, wouldnt you still have foam in the middle portion? I don't see how I can do this without leaving foam majorly part of the inner structure. Are we intending for it to be this way? Thanks alot!!!

Wahmba · 08-24-2006, 01:02 PM

Hi Gork,
First let me say you do great work - from a fellow Texan (I'm a 12 year transplant from Pittsburgh). It's very meticulous and clean! Nice car also.....I have a black '04 that I love. I am thinking of putting in a car pc for NAV, DVD and MP3's, but I don't want to change the stock look much. I plan on making a removable bracket to hold the touch screen and keep the existing HU for FM and CD's. In your M3, how hard was it to tap into the existing wiring behind the HU? Is it possible to run the pc and the HU using the same wires for audio?

Any help you could give me is GREATLY appreciated. Thanks!! Take care.

gork · 08-24-2006, 03:32 PM

If you keep the stock head unit and want to run the PC's audio into it, just get the auxillary input kit from BMW. Your '04 will have no problems with this and you won't have to tap into anything at all. The kit gives you a standard stereo 1/8" miniplug which you can hook up right to your sound card line out.

Wahmba · 08-24-2006, 03:54 PM

I didn't know it had that capability.....Thanks!! You know the car well! Later today I'll post pick of my install in my Dad's '02 Envoy - He's the one who got me thinking about doing a pc in my car. His is the first pc install I've done. Take care Gork!

vandinglewop · 01-14-2007, 04:11 PM

Hi, i live in the UK and I am looking at buying a BMW 320 Cd M, it has the same dash as yours. Would you and if so how much would you charge to make a bezel?

Thanks

Sy