Fiberglassing a 4-Din console in a 2001 Nissan Maxima

[MetalMaxima 10+ year member]

The following will be a worklog of my fiberglassing attempt at a 4-din center console. Seeing as how my last fiberglassing project was a pretty favorable success, I am more than confident I can make this work! The console will house the following components:

(1) 7" Microvision LCD screen

(2) Alpine 9833, IMHO their last SQ-oriented HU

(3) Modified climate control housing

All of this will be mounted in a pine frame that has been backed with mortar board for reinforcment. The shifter console has been cut down to the 12V adapter in order to provide enough room for the wood frame. The wood frame will be attached to the shifter console, then the whole thing will be wrapped, resined, bodyfilled, holes cut, sanded to death, then painted. I will also be adding the buttons for an LED project into the console in the process.

Enough with the intro, now onto the pics!!! :spin:

Click to read more...

 

[MetalMaxima 10+ year member]

Here is a rough shot of all the components in place...

...and a shot of the wood frame installed (sorry for the crooked pic!)...you also get a sneak peek at my two-tone interior project here...

...and a shot from the side.

 

[MetalMaxima 10+ year member]

Alright, I didn't get as much done as I had hoped in the past few days since I lost 2 days trying the secure the HU. SO, what I finally did was just say f*ck it to using a metal frame and decided to, you guessed it, fiberglass my own mounting frame. I started out by wrappin the backside of the frame in tin foil and then wrapped the HU in tin foil. Then I simply wrapped mat around the HU and pressed it to the back of the frame...

...let is cure, then popped it out. Here is the frame. I will likley cut this tommorow and sand it down a touch. I will simply mount it to the frame using some very small screws.

Now that the frame is secure to the shifter console, I am adding two strips to reinforce the bond between the center & shifter consoles.

...with any luck, I can wrap this tommorow!

 

[MetalMaxima 10+ year member]

Ok, today I wrapped the fram in polar fleece and applied the resin. I think I am going to be having some sagging at the top where the monitor will sit, nothing a little body filler and some patience can' smooth out!

 

[MetalMaxima 10+ year member]

Alright, all I have time to do today is fit-test the peice and trim the excess fleece. I spent most of the day cleaning my fish tanks & cycling filters...the missus and I also got a new red & black oranda which has some AMAZING color to it, so we had to set up a quarentine tank for him which she has cutley named "Club Med". ANYWAY, here is the first side shot of the fit test...looks pretty good!

Looks like I will have some sanding to do on the driver's side, though...the fit is a bit too tight; nothing some wet-sand and 60-grit paper cannot make easy work of.

Lastly, we see where my big challenge is going to be. I am not sure if I am going to tackle this with kitty hair or body filler. I will have to think out how this gap is going to be filled, but I am confident we can get this filled quite nicely.

 

[MetalMaxima 10+ year member]

Alright, time to fill that ugly gap in between the console and the air vents. I started by taping up the sides of the dash and the underside of the vents, and place a trash bag on top of the shifter assembly.

Then I glopped the tiger hair into the gap...

...then I cut the excess around the vents as best I could using a straight razor.

Of course I will have to clean the lines up a bit more, but I will save that for Monday when everything is cured!

PS - THANK-YOU, REQ and dbornotdb! (on suggesting the Kitty Hair) //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[MetalMaxima 10+ year member]

Ok, EXCITING DAY!!!!! I started off by sanding the tiger hair so that I could close the gap between the console and the air vents...all in all, it looks pretty good. I am still going to have to perform some very delicate sanding to get it perfect, but this is as far as I needed to get it before the next step.

...and now, for a close-up! It's quite flush, but there is still a leeeeettle gap I will need to fill. I'll show you how in the next step.

 

[MetalMaxima 10+ year member]

Now, remember how last time I used way too much MEKP when making he 50-50 mix of body filler and resin? Well, this time I wised up and scaled the MEKP back, and the body filler up. The result? A much less-viscous liquid to deal with. The pour went QUITE nicely and filled in +95% of the gaps! Tommorow, WE SAND. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

 

[chinny 5,000+ posts]

wow, that looks awsome!

 

[chinny 5,000+ posts]

ill make sure i go by some of ur pics when i get my max

 

[i3abyjay25 10+ year member]

i h8 u.... very nice and clean work... maybe 1 day ill be able to make something 15% as good as that

 

[MetalMaxima 10+ year member]

i h8 u.... very nice and clean work... maybe 1 day ill be able to make something 15% as good as that

lol. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif Dude, this is only my second fiberglassing project...EVER. You can def do it! I purchased a dvd off of eBay showing me how to fiberglass and have never looked back. It gave me all the confidence I could ever need. You should check it out!

 

[THUNDERBIRD 10+ year member]

looks sweet!

 

[millerscents 10+ year member]

looks great

 

[dbornotdb 10+ year member]

PS - THANK-YOU, REQ! (on suggesting the Kitty Hair) //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/eyebrow.gif.fe2c18d8720fe8c7eaed347b21ea05a5.gif