What do you think about hiring someone to do the custom dash piece?

timeshifter · 01-15-2007, 07:49 PM

I've given up on trying to make a frame to mount my 7" Lilli in the dash of my 2001 Accord (Gutting a double-DIN radio for LCD frame - ideas for mounting LCD?). Looks like it was going to take a whole lot of time to construct and the result was not going to look stock at all.

I then turned my attention to molding the LCD bezel into the dash like so many others have done here. I've decided to hire it out to a local custom car audio shop.

I've seen their work before on Ferraris and other nice high-end installs. They do lots of high-end work. I took my extra dash piece and the screen there thinking that they'd want $500 to do the work and that MAYBE it would be worth $250. They said it would cost about $200 and no more than $250. I went ahead and left it with them

I figure I'd spend at least $50 more dollars in extra parts, tools and supplies that I don't already have. I don't have any bondo or any other materials at this point and probably would have spent the better part of 10 hours finding and buying the right stuff just to get started. Other projects I've seen indicate that as much as 40 hours was spent making the piece perfect.

The price seems reasonable and the person doing it does this kind of thing a lot (although he's never done a screen like this... yet). He also mentioned that he was going to use Dirmex (??). Same material that is used for bumper repair. I googled but couldn't find it.

Tomorrow I'm dropping off the cables and power adapters and some more pics of other Accord dashes to give them an idea of what I want. They may be able to have it ready for me by the end of the week.

I'm gonna stop by after he gets started and see the rough project to make sure we're on the right track.

So, comments? Is this a good plan? Am I paying too much? Not enough? Anything I should look out for?

jkiang · 01-15-2007, 07:51 PM

It doesn't look too hard to fab that piece. If someone were to ask me to do it for them, I think I'll take $150.

timeshifter · 01-15-2007, 07:59 PM

Not the piece in the thread I linked. I'm giving up on that idea. I'm after a look somewhat like doublet's 2002 Accord:

scott_fx · 01-15-2007, 08:16 PM

that's actually a really good price. if you tried it and weren't happy, i see nothing wrong with bringing it to an expert. At least you tried. my one suggestion is to have it recessed. to me it looks more oem that way. check out my install if you want an example.

timeshifter · 01-15-2007, 08:37 PM

With the other approach I had gotten to this point:

The material was going to leave a big "cliff" from the edge down to the screen. I couldn't come up with a way to shave it down with the tools I have. Plus, mounting it to the front of the old radio was require some doing. And, in the end I think it might have been pretty crappy looking.

EsKALad · 01-15-2007, 08:45 PM

its DURAMIX...maybe thats why you couldnt find it.

timeshifter · 01-15-2007, 08:50 PM

Yup, that would explain it

I had heard more syllables and googled those like it sounded but wasn't anywhere close to spelling it right.

turbocad6 · 01-15-2007, 09:00 PM

the product he is using is called DURAMIX...

you have to realize that a professional who does shaping & working with materials like this can do a job like this in real short time... just cause you may see guys working on there bezel for endless hours, doen't mean a pro couldn't do a better job in just a few hours.... afterall, a pro will do bumpers all the time & this isn't much different, so just cause he never done a bezel, he still has done the same thing really many times...

I think that if you don't have the skills & materials to do it right, while there is nothing wrong with trying it yourself & learning, there is also nothing wrong with having a pro do it....

I may be able to figure out how to mix concrete & stack bricks, but if I want a perfect brick wall you can be sure I'll have someone do it who knows what there doing... the results are usually going to be much better.... yeah, I may be able to build my own wall too, but if I need it to be really nice I'll realize my limitations.... this is the same.... good luck with it...

turbocad6 · 01-15-2007, 09:01 PM

oops, eskalad beat me to it

timeshifter · 01-18-2007, 01:17 AM

They're not completely done yet but here's what we got so far:

I saw it yesterday too when they had just applied the blue colored Duraglass and liked the shape. Seeing the work being done makes me think maybe it's not that hard after all.

Anyway, they're remounting the IR sensor in the AC vent near the top. The only question remaining is fit. The bottom of the back might be a little tight and more of the back housing may need to be cut away. Also not sure if the main interface cable is going to work there. Here's a pic:

mwmcginn · 01-18-2007, 08:15 AM

Wow, looks great. I need to get on my dash install.

turbocad6 · 01-18-2007, 08:36 AM

dude, the lines are straight, the curves are all symetrical, even & not wavy... the screen opening is crisp & square... it may look easy, but belive me, you got what you paid for, someone that knows what there doing will make it look easy, don't think for one second that you could have easily done this yourself...

I'm not saying it's impossible, but untill you've put it on & take it off, put it on & take it off, & no matter what you do it looks like crap, you don't really know how hard it is to get everything looking crisp...

looks great, good luck with it

Capricefrk013 · 01-18-2007, 10:17 AM

Doing the same thing with my 96 GMC Sonoma.

This is my radio.

This is my car