MAJOR dash Mod - What the #@%& did I get myself into..
Well after about a year of tossing the idea around in my head I took the plunge and went dremel happy on my dash. I'm about 95% complete and the finishing details are probably going to drag on and on (i.e. finishing the inner sides, the hood/dash interface... I'll also probably redo the "hood" with a more sleek design...)
The face is half flat black and half gloss black and temporary as I am not yet sure what colour to go (or even carbon fibre??) - please feel free to voice comments on a good colour (grey like the dash?). My original design always had a brushed aluminum face, but as shown below it doesn't look good with the rest of the car.. (the plate is an aluminum DIBOND sheet - very tough to finish without precise tools)
The final face plate will be painted stainless or aluminum, I'm leaning to gloss black - any other suggestions?
The hood was fun, I wanted to keep the center vents as my dogs get quite hot in the back and need the blasting A/C. I also changed the vents to Ford's Mustang vents since they can be completely closed and directed, and they look cool! Although a bit big (I think Mazda has similar but a bit smaller round vents, hmmmm...
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My first run at the hood was a plywood form for strength and security (drilled down like $#!&) with a heat molded Sintra cover.
It took a few hours of holding it in the oven to heat it up and pull it out to bend the malleable sections - repeat 10-20 times... The end result was ok, but the Sintra over about 25% of the surface was too irregular and not a finished look I was after - back to the drawing board... (I still have this first gen hood for anyone who wants it - I'll bring it to Moab)
My second attempt was to cover the plywood with closed cell foam (Ensolite sound deadener) and stretch over it some black vinyl PVC "leather" to match the dash texture. This work out a lot better but still a tad bulky, it'll do for now.
To make room for the new head unit location, I moved the Temperature control unit to the lower CD changer slot. This was so easy with the wires generally reaching, but I did have to extend four wires that connect to the little sensor thingy (It's behind the slots in the lower left, there's a mini fan in there and a sensor probe - I recommend blowing or vacuuming this out, mine was packed full of lint!)
Now the tricky part, the head unit into the temperature control spot..
WARNING: the head unit just barely fit for depth!
The back of the head unit bumps into the vent box that runs from the dash to the driver's floor area. So you can see how far out the head unit face is when compared to the original temp control face. - I guess you could cut out some of the vent (1-1.5" deep x 5 inches wide) and hope enough space is left for air flow - I never went there... yet.
I'm not going into detail on the mounting for security, but lets just say it's a lot of plywood and steel with tamperproof screws. There is some major steel brackets back there to tie into !
The cool part is I didn't have to cut much in the back so I can go back to the original dash if I really wanted to. Other than the notch in the top part of the black dash.
Over the last year I tinkered with a few preliminary designs, you can see the evolution...
I was originally going for a dual DIN last year, since I wanted Navigation. At the time I found Garmin to have much better Navigation systems than the audio manufacturers. That may be changing, but I'm sunk into the Garmin now and want to get the most use out of it I can.
My next step will likely be to remove the ashtray and 12V and put in a cup holder /change tray DIN...
Before that happens tho' I'll have to fix up the inner edges where I chopped off the vents. I'm thinking of bondo & mesh to fill in the voids and then paint black. Anyone have any other suggestions?
I also have to tie the hood into the dash a bit better aesthetically at the front. As I said the last 5% will take 95% of the total time for this MOD.
Well, now that I've proven myself crazy - who wants to follow me in Moab?
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...you poor man.
Originally Posted by CostieCosta
I picked up some scrap vinyl adhesive sheets from a sign company to try the gloss look on the face plate. Maybe I'll try to cover the dash with it too as a temporary measure to see if I like the look. It's a lot easier to put on and take off to test a look!
