Has anyone used a black that matched the color of the dash well? Ive molded some gauges into my dash which required some bondo to fill in some gaps. I would like to match the oem color so nothing sticks out.

I rarely post pictures, especially before I'm done but I've decided to change a few things up so it isn't so much of a sleeper and relax the secrecy of my mods. These gauges were all hidden inside the vents before so only the driver could see them.

Here was the first basic idea


This is the beginning of what I ended up with after a couple of different layouts


I filled the gaps in with pieces of balsa wood


Current state with bondo covering the balsa wood


Just needs some sanding and some paint. Ill post some pictures with the gauges in soon, they are all angles toward the driver.

Please let me know what paint will match for me

 

third thing that came to my mind (besides "aw... no more center vent", then "heh, cool") was one of those vinyl repair kits; they have a template pad thing, that adds texture to the repaired surface.
Sorry for going OT, but.. anyway...

 

Are you sure that's body filler?

That sure looks like glazing putty to me which you really wouldn't want to use in the capacity that you're using it (if it is indeed glazing putty).

Why not just use fiberglass? Or even the body filler with the fiberglass strands embedded in it.

As far as the paint this should work:

http://www.tcpglobal.com/autobodydepot/semccaero.aspx

It would be best to do all your center dash pieces (piece in yoir pictures, climate control surround, and shifter trim) in it so that it all matches. You could also sand off the texture on the "outside" face of the panel so that you don't have an abrupt texture beginning/end where you added in the new material.

 

Use Plastidip for paint.

 

At first I was like wtf isn't that the stuff you dip tool handles in? But I guess they sell a sprayable version?

Apparently this was sprayed with Plasti Dip, looks good:



But according to guy who painted it he had to respray it several times due to chipping and peeling. I think I'd just use a normal satin or flat "real" paint rather than deal with chipping/peeling.

 

I don't see how it started to peel/chip when that stuff is rubber in a can. I used it on my grill and it's been holding up quite well. I don't see how it could be holding up so well on the front of my car and getting messed up inside of a car.

 

Its by the Bondo company, its called "Glazing and Spot Putty" so I guess you are right. I use this for filling in small spots because it spreads easily, sands easily and drys quickly. Because of the frame I built with the balsa wood, I'm not using it thicker than 1-2mm so a heavy fiberglass being so much stronger takes a lot more sanding and usually needs filling of small spots with this anyway. Also the coarser sand paper required for the tougher fiberglass filler will easily damage the softer plastic all around it. For this I start with 320 or 400 and don't have to worry about being super careful.
Of course now you have me nervous, what are the downsides of using glazing putty for this purpose?

 

Well, glazing putty is really only for very small imperfections. Typically you would only use glazing putty to fill minor imperfections in the primer coat and/or after body filler to fill imperfections left in the filler (like, say, the small gouges/scratches that can be left after your initial sanding with rough grit paper).

Basically, you don't want your glazing putty to be any thickness of consequence at all or to "build" or "fill" anything other than very minor/small areas - same as you don't want to use body filler to "build" anything on a car body. What you're doing is somewhat akin to people using body filler to "fill" body lines and whatnot on cars, which always end up cracking out. And glazing putty certainly has a tendency to develop large cracks if it's spread "thick" how you have it.

Not saying it WILL crack/break apart, but odds are it will.

Why not use some ABS plastic in lieu of the balsa wood, and then use two-part plastic weld in lieu of the glazing putty? The two-part plastic weld actually will form NEW material that can be sanded/shaped in addition to "welding" it all together, making it a full-fledged one-piece/solid unit. ABS + two-part plastic weld is largely how I built my headlights and all the mesh grills I built where I added in material on the cut-out sections of the underside top frame to make it a solid "bar" rather than all the cut-outs.

 

Just touching on James suggestion with using SEM paint brand products. The color you will want to use to best match the stock dash color is Landau Black.

 

I used body filler on my plastic mods, including the same one you're doing and it has held up fine, even one where quite a bit of stress and weight is applied. Though the spot putty is much softer and not as dense as body filler, so you might see some problems arise. Considering you're already as far as you are, I wouldn't worry too much about the "what if's" and "should have's". Sand it down, shape it and see how it holds up.

Flat black Krylon is a near perfect match BTW. It's cheap and can be found anywhere, try it out. I used it as a temporary solution to cover the reshaped area until I got around to finishing and respraying the entire piece. Looked so close that I have delayed the trim respray/finishing indefinitely.

 

+1 on the flat Krylon, I've used that stuff all over my Civic and it has held up very well and matches the interior panels perfectly. Sprays on real nice too, almost impossible to screw it up.

I even painted my bumpers and exterior trim in flat Krylon

Pics of your setup Hectic?

 

IMO if you have the time scrape off the glazing putty.
use fiberglass, fiberglass putty, or regular body filler (bondo).

i think you're "ok" with the balsa wood...BUT personally it wouldn't be the material of choice but it looks like it should hold up.

i agree with what james said about the plastic.

keep in mind your dash take a beating from vibrations. anything that's not able to flex with the rest of the dash (vibrations, temp changes, physical movement) will cause the product to separate or crack. you'll then end up doing the job again which is a total PITA.

do it once...do it right....or you'll have to do it again.

how about maybe using some sheets of aluminum (you can get it from home depot) and bending it and rivet it on the sides. then use a little 2 part epoxy urethane and fill in the gap.