The 50th has in-car entertainment at the back of the centre console. PO ripped out the old vhs machine and replaced it with a dvd - fair enough - but the vhs unit was probably 1.5 DIN, the DVD unit is just 1, and he/ she did a p*** poor job of remounting it, so I want to fix it. The centre console is leather covered, and I need to fashion a fascia to go at the back of it, in which to mount the single din unit, for passenger access. It mounts just above the floor vents. The fascia ideally should be slightly curved, to match the contours of the back of the console. I can use wood and epoxy to build the innards of what I need to mount the dvd player, but I can't work out what material is best to use for the face plate (which I will then cover with a thin layer of foam and faux leather). I'm messing around with some acrylic at the moment, but it's a bit painful. I could try a sheet of ABS, or acetate. Or try and fab something in fibre glass, even papier mache !! I'm sure there's something better/ easier - ideas anyone?
Not so easy to visualize (this reminds me need to load up pics myself!) ... so your console should (have been) be like this:
https://i2.wp.com/www.landmag.fr/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/rr_autobiography_gen-2-vhs_105363.jpg
(photo is biig!)
If by "face plate" you mean the portion where the VHS player is located in the photo, once you have built the "frame" (wood is fine) you can use a sheet of plastic and make a cutout for the DVD player face itself. After sanding you can paint it in black (matt always, looks better) or wrap it together with the upper portion in leather, etc.
If instead what you need to do is "remake" the top section (the one above the player in the photo, where the headphones jack is), then you can use body filler to add material as desired, once cured (dry) you can use sandpaper of various dimensions to trim and shape the filler until you are satisfied.
We do this process fairly often in our workshop when we are adapting aftermarket or custom solutions for our projects (example: additional light fixtures in the car's ceiling, or a radio of a different shape/size).
A simpler options - messier as well - is to use the spray foam for insulation, again once you have made the proper frame and base spray the can (shake well, use gloves and remember the sticky mess gets messier by the minute lol!).
Once it had dried - will grow in size dramatically, so be careful when spraying) you can use a sharp knife to cut the biggest chunks, and then again take the sandpaper and play around.
Compliments to want to restore a rare accessory!
ABS plastic would get my vote.
Tnx Leo, that photo must have been a brand new one - looks gleaming. I have the top wooden piece, but where the blaupunkt stereo is removed there is a gap to fill to replace it with a single din unit.
I had thought of builders foam too, but as you say, that stuff is hard to control, and would just as easily blow out the sides of the centre console, so yes I'm fishing around for which plastic to use. what I'm trying at the moment is v brittle, even heated ( just scrap from my garage - acrylic/ acetate I think) so possibly I need to source some ABS
How much of a gap are we talking? If is only to fit the DVD where the VHS is, then "weld" with a solder some plastic until you get a narrower hole, then just trim/sand it until you get an adequate shape. If you have skilled hands or catch the angle right, you are ready for finishing directly
Me, I don't have the touch of my colleague and always end up misshapen, so I need to use the filler to level
Remember, a VERY good source of quality ABS pastic are old car parts! For example, a discarded door card ... better an older car that had fairly "straight" cards. Also an old plastic box, or tray, are suitable donors. An old flat shovel ... just look around you! I rarely buy new stuff for these works ... rummaging around your junk you might find unexpected surprises! :-)
Once I've used the "bed" of a broken toy dump truck ....
I hear you Leo - I nearly used the aluminium tray from a roast chicken today... So far I've rigged up an angled aluminium bar on the base to support wood struts to brace the hinges for the cubby box lid, and put two x 2cm thicknesses of ply on the base to lift the single DIN unit up to where it will sit snugly underneath the wooden Autobiography switch unit in your photos. The ply will get covered in "leather", and then I'll fashion two side pieces to fill the 2-3cm gap either side of the unit, also covered in PU leather. There are so many contours going on it was just going to be impossible to do it all as one piece. It's only a couple of kids who will look at it anyway : o), and they don't care as long as it plays their favourite cartoons.
That makes me think, in these days of isolation - maybe I should just hook the RR up to the trickle charger and we can put the kids in the back of the car to watch cartoons while we potter around the house/ garden - I think I may have just found the path to corona virus sanity
Just don't give them any sweets or you'll be cleaning sticky fingerprints off your handiwork.
Too true. Mission complete, as of today. Did a tray out of wood, and the front lined in a few mm of foam with a distressed ( to make it look the same) PU leather covering. Wood's good as it takes multiple retaining staples for the covering. Not sure how I would have achieved the same effect using plastic tbh. The foam helps mould to the multiple contours of the centre console
Great! Now shows us this atrocity! lol!
OK - i'm an imgur virgin, here goes - start point, with aluminium angle screwed to the bottom and two wood pieces to brace the top hinge - someone either cut the top edge, or the plastic weld simply just broke, so the hinges were floating
Hooray, now I have to figure out how the hell i did that
Still hand editing links, but closing in on the solution - here's the wooden tray
Tray covered in "leather" - unfitted the foam makes it look untidy - but the foam is used to make sure it moulds to all the contours of the console when fitted. I will post a photo of the fitted unit tomorrow
Not bad! Not bad!
The "leather" has a similar texture to the original one, this is good. If you kept the gaps aligned it will look like it belongs there.
Now you got me to try to make my photo gallery work properly ... so I can post some photos as well
FInal product. I'll work on the colour match if i get seriously bored
Just noticed. That DVD player has video and audio in on the front panel but it appears to show AV in 1 and 2 (top left by the power button). Does this mean there is an additional AV input on the back? If there is that would make plugging a digital decoder in very simple. Only problems would be getting the aerial to it and arranging for the remote to work. Highly unlikely the original remote would operate it and not sure where it could be mounted so the IR sensor can see the signal from a remote.
Yep, theres an AV input at the back as well
I think the aerial runs to behind the HEVAC at the mo, to those metal boxes. Probably I shd relocate both silver boxes to the cubby box ( at some point). I think the input switching for the screen is embedded in those boxes
tidy job