1.5 DIN + pics

Mja1962 wrote: Looks excellent! Do you have any "before" pics?

I do take a lot of pics but strangely enough, none immediately before the transition. Here's one when I first got the car which shows the factory radio and dash: Man, that seems life forever ago but actually it was only June. Since this pic was taken, I replaced the carpet, sewed some new sunvisor covers, and replaced many interior parts from ones aquired from a parts car. The revised trim panel was from the parts car so it did not have the gain control under the factory radio.

Mja1962 wrote: BTW, was the car running when you took the pics? Just wondering 'cause if it wasn't, your tach may need calibration!

Negative. The car was not running at the time of the pic. These gauges are kinda cool and strange at the same time. When the ignition is turned on, they sweep across the entire gauge scale. Cool. But when it as at rest, they seem to climb to a comfortable position and stop. Strange I really appreciate all of the positive comments. I feel very welcome for a newbie. I recently finished some upper door panel trim made from aluminum to replace a broken piece. It came out so well that I'm going to have make three others to match. Since they're not fibergalss, I'm not sure that the pics should be posted here. Let me know what you think.

randman1 wrote: [quote="Mja1962"]  I recently finished some upper door panel trim made from aluminum to replace a broken piece. It came out so well that I'm going to have make three others to match. Since they're not fibergalss, I'm not sure that the pics should be posted here. Let me know what you think.

Yeah man post them bad boys, this is fiberglass and "interiors", nobodys gonna get onto you for that. We love pics here and love to see the talent of others.  I'd love to see them also I've done some aluminum work myself and I understand its not easy trying to make them things come out perfect. The metal is so soft one little mistake and you got a big dent in it. anyways put them up im sure people would like to see them.

OK. These might not seem like a big deal but since I can not extrude my own profiles, I thought they turned out pretty good. If you've ever removed door panels on a Bonneville, you know how much of a nightmare it is to unclip the upper trim. You might have even broken the trim as i did. Between my car and the parts car, I was able to get four door panels that I was happy with but only three upper trim pieces. I've been driving around without one on the passenger's front door for some time. We can't have that now... can we. Here is my resolution to the upper trim replacement. I went to the hardware store and bought a 6' piece 1/2" aliminum channel and a 8' piece (they didn't have a 6 footer) of 1" x 1/16" angle aluminum. The longer lengths were cut to a managable 36" or so. I also had to cut the angle legs to 5/16" X 13/16". I did this on my table saw with an aluminum cutting blade. Here's the original and the cut pieces: In order to bond the two pieces of aluminum, I used contact cement. I taped the areas that I did not want any cement on and applied after cleaning the surfaces with 0000 steel wool. Once the contact cement was ready, I joined the two pieces. This was a little difficult because I wanted to simulate the shape of the OEM piece by recessing the part that faces the window. I did this by clamping the remains of the 5/16" cut to the bottom of the angle material. This produces a 1/16" recess. Here's a side-by-side comparo of the two profiles: Unlike the OEM piece, the new and improved one does not lock the panel at the top of the door. My observations when I had no trim at all showed that it was really not necessary. The bolt at the top of the handle provided enough support to hold the top of the panel. I just have to decide on a finish for the new trim piece. I've narrowed it to three choices: Body color (green) Polished aliminum Textured and painted just like my new dash trim panel.

I'll also throw in my visor cover write-up. I'm a member at www.bonnevilleclub.com and did this so others could benifit from the instructions. Plus, the embroidery is cool... The link to the tutorial

WOW!  dude...thats pretty sweet.  i like what u did and the how to on the visers is awesome.  good job.

great job.

Impressive work