Custom Painted Radio Bezel ??'s

[Sammy Sandbag]

This is for those of you with custom fiberglassed/painted radio bezels and/or other dash pieces. I installed my 1 Din radio a while back with the Scosche kit. I wasn't very pleased with the fit/finish so I recently changed it to the oem 2 din bezel. While it looks much better, the opening isn't as wide as the Scosche. My JVC's trim piece won't fit, so now it doesn't look so good as you can see the metal sleeve. I'm thinking about filling in the 2DIN opening with fiberglass/filler so that it is a tight fit around the radio. I can probably do this easily, but I need to know how you guys got your stuff painted, how much was it, and did it match up with the rest of the dash.

I'd like to only have to paint the portion that get's filled in, so that the little "airbag" text at the bottom remains in tact.

Also, if anyone has photos of their bezels, I'd really like to see them.

Thanks,
Sammy

[Justintoxicated]

Hey Sam It will likely look and fit better if you ditch the hardware your Cd player came with, use the meta sides and the metra trim piece. If you can..... I'm going to modify mine slightly and put it back to the way it was origionaly installed.

My trim piece does not fit either, however it fits behind the bezel so I can still use it. I posted pics of both ways I installed the Metra Kit. I like the origional better but my Cd-player would not open all the way.

[smoketitan]

still dont why you guys cwnt get the trim peices to fit?? mine did

there was a guy from PA I think who was selling painted dash bezels

search for fiberglass box

he custom fits it to the size of the radio trim also


there is a picture of one on the thread for the ******* revised dash kit

[Sammy Sandbag]

Originally Posted by Justintoxicated

Hey Sam It will likely look and fit better if you ditch the hardware your Cd player came with, use the meta sides and the metra trim piece.

That wouldn't help, the problem isn't with the mount, it's with the opening in the oem bezel, it isn't wide enough for the JVC trim piece. I'm guessing the JVC is just slightly wider than other radios.

still dont why you guys cwnt get the trim peices to fit?? mine did
there was a guy from PA I think who was selling painted dash bezels
search for fiberglass box
he custom fits it to the size of the radio trim also
there is a picture of one on the thread for the ******* revised dash kit

Different radio, different size. I saw the painted dash bezel thread, I'm looking more to just modifiy this oem bezel and have it painted to match the dash rather than the exterior color.

[m95roadster]

Here's mine if you haven't seen it yet. I used the factory mounting brackets instead of a kit. The faceplate is plexiglass. The trim plate is not used.

[Sammy Sandbag]

Yeah I've seen your's m95roadster, I like it, but I think I would like the whole thing the same color as the dash more. I have the same HU so the rest of you can see there isn't much room on the sides of the faceplate and not enough room for the trim piece.

[m95roadster]

Originally Posted by Sammy Sandbag

Yeah I've seen your's m95roadster, I like it, but I think I would like the whole thing the same color as the dash more. I have the same HU so the rest of you can see there isn't much room on the sides of the faceplate and not enough room for the trim piece.

Yeah, I wanted mine to look like the factory piece as well. The only problem is matching the color. So I took the easy route.

[scotty15]

Well that cant really match the color because the plastic is dyed, not painted. I went to one of the top places in Toronto, since Im up north, and what they would do is fill the whole and make everything flush. Then they would paint that section, the above section and maybe part of the center section to match the outside of the truck (from the paint code)... It would run about 600 cdn. Ive seen it done on a few car shows and it looks good. I was even thinking of throwing an infiniti style analog clog in that piece as well, since some decks dont have clocks.... hope this helps a bit

[rjspitz]

Originally Posted by scotty15

Well that cant really match the color because the plastic is dyed, not painted. I went to one of the top places in Toronto, since Im up north, and what they would do is fill the whole and make everything flush. Then they would paint that section, the above section and maybe part of the center section to match the outside of the truck (from the paint code)... It would run about 600 cdn. Ive seen it done on a few car shows and it looks good. I was even thinking of throwing an infiniti style analog clog in that piece as well, since some decks dont have clocks.... hope this helps a bit

I'm in the process of refinishing my interior, and found the trim to be painted. The PVC plastic is a grey color similar to the finish coat, but it's not the same. Another reason I beleive it's paint, I used lacquer thinner to remove the thin layer of paint.

I applied a 'finish' to my bezel surround. I don't have the 4x4, so I filled the round blank and the small round vent below that. The finish is fine aluminum powder mixed with polyester resin to give a metallic effect coating. It almost looks like a piece of metal, almost. I also filled in the aux port in the bezel and covered the bezel and tray with carbon fiber. I'll be turning billet knobs for the stereo and climate control, just don't know what to do with the stereo buttons. Maybe I'll just replace the head unit with an aftermarket unit. I just hate the look of aftermarket head units.

[Justintoxicated]

I see what you are saying now.for $300 you could just get another CD-Player thats fits lol thats ridiculous. I'm sure you can come up with something for less.

[scotty15]

ya, its steep for sure. Im not going to do it... But, thats what a really good, custom, show quality piece would cost. So go from there.

[rjspitz]

Here's a picture of my bezel after some custom work. I'm not finished, still need to finish the vents and a couple of other pieces with the silver finish. It's hard to see in the picture, but there is a nice metallic sheen to the silver parts. I used 100% aluminum powder mixed with clear resin to get the effect. The color is just a bit lighter than the original parts, but I think it looks better. You can see the contrast between the surround and the vents. As for the lettering, I'm still looking for dry-transfer (rub-on)letters to use.

[05Titan05]

I still dont understand why people like the carbon fiber look. I think it's one of the ugliest mods that can be done on a car or in this case truck. To each his own I guess.
I didnt mind the carbon fiber hood as much on the ricers but for the interior? I like the painted or chrome/aluminum look. My 2 cents worth

[Sammy Sandbag]

I think it depends on what look you are going for. I think the carbon fiber looks awesome if you are going for a sporty look. Wood looks good if you are going for a luxury look. Aluminum finish falls somewhere between the two. Nice job on the dash rjspitz, definately a custom look that we'll probably only see one of.

[SickWhip]

Originally Posted by rjspitz

Here's a picture of my bezel after some custom work. I'm not finished, still need to finish the vents and a couple of other pieces with the silver finish. It's hard to see in the picture, but there is a nice metallic sheen to the silver parts. I used 100% aluminum powder mixed with clear resin to get the effect. The color is just a bit lighter than the original parts, but I think it looks better. You can see the contrast between the surround and the vents. As for the lettering, I'm still looking for dry-transfer (rub-on)letters to use.

I think it looks great! I really like the Carbon! Including the tope piece with the tray is really makes a big difference.