bondo question??

boomboom · 07-19-2004, 06:52 PM

i have a 2002 nissan altima. i want to put my touchscreen lcd in the benzel where my head unit is. then i want to relocate my head unit location. theres a perfect place to relocate the hu,its below the factory head unit location and theres a pop out door for storage. the measurements are perfect but due to the fact theres a compartment door there it would be impossible to mount it there. my question is, i want to make an enclosure there for my head unit. i have no experience doint this kind of stuff. i want to duplicate that stock piece, could i wrap the stock piece in tin foil, then bondo ontop of that then when it dries just peel it off and have a new piece identical to the stock piece? i thought the tin foil thing would make it easy to bondo the piece to a mirror like replacement being able to get the exact fit. will this work. this might not make any sense but if you have knowledge of fabrication please feel free to ask me any questions i really need the help

saikano · 07-19-2004, 07:04 PM

look around your town for a foreign auto parts dealer, or some sort of a salvage yard...go find a nissan altima plus or minus 2-3 years and look for that piece. won't cost much, and will allow you to keep the original safe

antimatter · 07-19-2004, 07:08 PM

I have bought all of my spare dash parts off of ebay. You have to keep your eye out though

jpelzer · 07-19-2004, 07:20 PM

I'm afraid this link won't help you with a Nissan, but this site has everything for Hondas...

honda parts site

That's for the Honda Element (my new baby) and the radio trim piece is $10 new. So I'm pretty sure you can get it cheap. Junk yard and eBay are good ideas too.

If you go to a dealer, they'll sell you the parts too. Generally they'll be (from my experience) about twice the cost of going online, so the radio trim piece for my Element would be $20 from the dealer. Sometimes worth it.

saikano · 07-19-2004, 07:27 PM

curious...were they cheaper on ebay? no one sells geo tracker parts though ::cry::

boomboom · 07-19-2004, 07:43 PM

can you bondo on top of tin foil??

tsparks · 07-19-2004, 07:47 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by saikano

curious...were they cheaper on ebay? no one sells geo tracker parts though ::cry::

That's cause its a geo

aw just kidding.. try searching for chevy tracker.. not sure but you might have better luck

saikano · 07-19-2004, 07:52 PM

[growls] i know i have a geo...no fair poking fun

jpelzer · 07-19-2004, 07:53 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by boomboom

can you bondo on top of tin foil??

It might stick, but I don't think it's going to come out the way you want... There are materials better suited to making molds... And by the way, the cost of the bondo to make a replica of your faceplate is likely more $$$ than just buying the faceplate, as well is being inferior and likely very brittle. And a lot more work.

It's a good idea in theory, but if I were you, I'd look for other options.

EDIT: And by the way, I might have a totally wrong idea about what exactly you're trying to do with Bondo... Could you post a picture of the spot?

saikano · 07-19-2004, 08:22 PM

yet another fabrication tutorial...http://www.carstereo.com/help/Articles.cfm?id=62

boomboom · 07-19-2004, 08:58 PM

the piece is by the shifter u can see the square door where the compartment is, that whole piece pulls right out and its one piece the piece u can see and the compartment box behind that piece. the first line is where it pulls out from so its not that big. click on the third pic its a better viewpic