Reply With Quotelooks a little rough around the edges.
After seeing this dash by i-WERKS LINK I wanted it but he did not have much of DIY so I did one this weekend. I mush say it was some hard work. Took me about 8-10 hours to do total. This was my first time with bondo and after I put the final coat on I see that I need a little sanding for some fine scratches and to even a few spots but nothing that bad.
Supplies needed,
1) 02-04 Civic SI
1) Metra Dash Kit
1) 13 once can of Bondo
1) can of black primer
1) can of Silver paint
Tools,
Dermel Tool
palm sander (I did not use one but think I should haved)
drill
drill bits
The start of the work.
First take apart your dash just like stated in this DIY
LINK
After it is fully taken apart your dash should look like this,
Now that it is all taken apart it is time to cut up the Metra kit. I made the cut right down the middle of it between the pocket and the top HU part. Then take the top and find out were you want to place it. You will have to shave it on the sides the lower it goes. I wanted it centered so I measured and it looked like this.
To get it to stay I added some bondo.
Now it is time to fill in the huge gaps. I took the dremel tool and I cut up the pocket into small parts for filler.
This is what my pocket looked like after all the cutting.
Now it time to get into the heavy bondo work. I just started to fill it in with bondo and I held the back the plastic with my hands. After I got down with the first heavy coat it looked like this.
Then it is time to get sanding it down. This will take a while. After my first sanding it looked like this.
After this was down I went out to the car to make sure everything was fitting right in the car and then I went to bed since it was all most midnight.
The next morning it was time to primer. I would say use black because it will show a lot of mistakes in the sanding. You might have to resand and put on some bondo to full in a few spots like I had to do.
Now it is time to paint with silver finaly.
After it has dried it is time to get it all put together and get it back in the car. I had to drill into the stock metal bracket to get some new holes made for the HU to sit in.
looks a little rough around the edges.
nice start, but needs a little finishing work to look perfect
Yea I know. I think over the 4th of july weekend since I have anouther 3 day weekend I am going to get it just right. It should not take me more then a day but I want to leave myself some time for drying and that. Now that I know what I did wrong I can work off that that.
nice work!
Where did you get Silver spray paint?
Do they match stock dash pretty closely in real life?
It is close I had primered all my parts before I compared them so I am not for sure how close they are. I used Testors spray enamel #1246. It is the stuff that you use on toy models.Originally Posted by Civicvtec1ps
nice. Just needs a little touching up. hope you're liking the HU.
I am liking it. Now that I burned backups off all my CD's with CD-TEXT it is so nice to see what is in the 10 disk since after a while I forget what CD's I have in it.
You had a great idea with this because when it is at stock height you can not tilt the face with out being harder to see and if you put it at the lower spot on the double din that is to low for me. Just wondering what grits of sand paper did you use for your install?
not to shabby. I like. Just need some touching up. Very noticeable it's been worked on. Still a great!!!! job, since it's your first time with bondo. I'll be scared shitless if it'll be my first. Try using automotive bondo, if u didnt with the last. It sands down better. That's what I've been told from selling paint for a few years.
I used bondo body filler. I think my problem was that I went with to light of a sandpaper. I was using 200 and up grit. I think I need to take a 100 to it to get it all even now and then work up.
What the......... 200 grid? Try not to put TOO much bondo on, then use wet-n-sand sandpaper. I'll use like.... hmm.... forgot amount, but 1000 or 2000. I help out for free at my friend's body shop sanding bumpers, heheh. It'll take a long time, but it makes things more flush
Get a rasp. Pile on the bondo, then after about 5-10 minutes, when the bondo is in the rubbery phase, use the rasp to shape it. I used 180 grit to get it close to flush, then 200 to get it flush, then 400 wet sand followed by 800 wet sand. If you have pinholes in the bondo, get the bondo glaze to fill them and repeat the sanding steps. Primer then paint.
1000+ grit is only for wet sanding the paint which is not necessary unless you want a mirror gloss finish. If that's what you want, spray about 6-7 light coats of paint, then wetsand 1000 grit, 1500 grit then 2000 grit. Finish with a fine cut rubbing compound and 2+ layers of wax. This will remove the "orange peel" effect and give you a mirror finish. I used this method for my plastic models.
If you want a stock matte finish, spray light coats from about 1-1.5 feet away until evenly covered.
Last edited by i-WERKS; 06-21-2004 at 11:29 AM.
That is what I screwd up on the first time was putting to much on. The highest I used was 400 so now I know I need to get some 1000 and 2000 to get it to look right.
This is why I did not try and fix it today since I figured I would get some tips on getting it to look like OEM. I am glad I have tryed this before I ever touched a car body.
And post some updated pics when you touch it up!!
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