Aftermarket Navigation bezel build

370zNRG

So I got the idea for the build from "Rons better late than never journal" great install and inspired me to do it myself. The only problem that I had with the build was fixing the hole that's left from cutting out the factory button controls. At the end of Rons build he used the carbon signal bezel that they came out with, that fixed his problem of covering his hole. Carbonsignal had a limited production of those bezels so I had to figure out how to cover the hole and do it to look as factory as possible. So here's how I went about it:

Here's a image of what the hole looks like:

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I started by mocking up the design I wanted using cardboard. The first image was my first attempt but I thought it didn't really work with the rest of the car styling it just had to sharp of a edge. Then I stole the design from carbon signal and used there design which is in the second picture.

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The next step I did was went to lowes and bought some buckets with plastic covers sorry I don't have any photos but I can pull up my receipt if anyone really wants to know what I used just pm me. So I used the plastic covers and cut out the shape to match the cardboard design I made. Then taped it in the dash where I need it to be covered and glued it with plastic weld apoxy.

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So after I did that it started body working the panel using some body filler and block sanding it.

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Then continued with body work adding glazing putty and some primer then went back and sanded it again and then adding the details in and perfecting it.

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The next step was to add the final coat of primary

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The next step I had to do was get the right paint so the hardware store I work at we have a spectrometer which is used in matching paint colors and It was basically dead on but I had issues at first cause I got the wrong sheen I later corrected it after I realized I screwed up. So here's the paint I used it's California brand

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just make sure the finish is FLAT NOT EGGSHELL

Then used a paint gun and painted the panel

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So this is where I'm at with the build. I still have to do another coat of paint and fix small imperfections. Also I'm curious what your guy's thoughts are if I should paint the curved part of the panel to match the plastic radio bezel color. I've been thinking about doing that but not sure if I should just leave it the way it is.

Here's one more photo of it:

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So any question feel free to pm me and I'll keep you updated as I continue it.