Was going to paint the center console and the radio cover but decided against.....Im gonna go pick up some aluminum sheet tonight probably and get to work on it this week......

Anyone else ever tackle this project on the trans am?

 

i had the same idea. im going to get some sheets tomaro after school. i will be doing it on a camaro though. lets see some pics when you get done with it.

 

it would be nice to see some pictures of the process of we could and you have the equipment to do so. What pieces of the interior are you looking to do.

 

what i want to do is make one for the ash tray and shift area and the cover of the speedo and make the cd player and hvac flush with the aluminum.

there was a guy on here that had a nice looking pontiac and his was done like that and it looked very good but i cant find the pics of it.

 

i think im leaning towards the aluminum look too with a nice all black cloth interior. I like the combination a lot but the interior has to be held off for a little bit while i finish fixing the mechanical side of things. I dont think a lot of ppl like it but i think it looks pretty clean and adds a nice touch.

 

finally found the pics after searching for an hour. here they are camaro and pontiac. hopefully ill start on mine this week.

anyone have any ideas for how to get it to stick to the original panels? like 3m 2 face tape or some sort of adhesive?


this is powermite's pontiac.

 

i cant get the pic to load but if you search for grngryoutmyway he made a post in fabrication called "Aluminum Dash Kit.... or kinda" and it shows his camaro with all the aluminum.

 

You drill holes in the aluminum and use the old screws. Is this possible to do with the setup how you want. If the screws are clean i think it would look alright. There is still plenty of aluminum to offset the black screws and it would look pretty good if you had a black interior also. You could probably also sand down the original pieces smooth and glue the pieces together.

 

lets try this

 

i dont want to sound like an idiot. its a great idea had the ideea a few years back but i ran in to the problem of getting a clean cut.. what did you use a razor blade or snippers or what.. i decided to paint after i could get the aluminum to work...

If somone could reply
Kevin

 

im ready to do this but i want to make sure on the mounting... i am pretty sure it is going to have to be stuck together not just screwed down over the old. it looks and sounds like that is what the previous members that did this did. i am just wanting to know how they stuck them together?

i would also like to know about how to cut it. i figured i could get it pretty straight with a cut off wheel and then grind it square. ill just test it and see how it will do. im also thinking about making some custom badges.... so ill post a new thread with pics later in the week.

 

hey mike i was thinking about this also, would like to see it whaey you get this done. that would be a good addition to my car also.

 

alright sean. im about to head up to lowes to pick up a sheet or 2. i was going to go to the junkyard today but its about to rain i think. im not going to do the whole dash like grngryoutmyway did. i think i will do some of the smaller areas first. i pmed grngryoutmyway and he told me he used clear silicone sealent on his. he said that way if you wanted to remove it it would be fairly easy. ill post pics later hopefully.

 

Well to the people that did do how did ou cut it. it looks good just dont want to screw it up...SOO RAZOR BLADE OR NOT

KEVIN

 

check out my other post in the auto detailing and appearence i wrecked my car coming home from lowes.... so i have another priority b4 the aluminum.... lame. but i did get the aluminum for the car and it didnt get damaged in the wreck lol.

 

Not to sound like I gave up, but I acutally sanded and painted the radio surround and I think it looks great....

I had actually already cut the aluminum for the surround and since i had an extra one from the junk yard I figured what the hell, I might as well paint it and see if I like it...so I did and I do......I just dont feel like Im going to like the aluminum that much more then I do with it painted....'

I painted it using Duplicolor rim refinish paint....with the metal flakes in it.....came out awsome and when the sun hits it it looks great.

 

What are you cutting with a razor blade???

 

could we see some pictures?

 

not cutting anything i need to know what to cut it with for a clean cut. i dont want to buy the aluminum and screw it up just curious

THANKS KEVIN

 

If you use the roofing aluminum.....its thin enough to cut with metal shears......I used a straight edge and marked it with a black marker, then cut with the shears

Cutting inside portions is a bit harder, you will need to dremel or razor the inside then get the shears in to cut around......just be as careful as you can, it will need to be sanded/dremeled to get any mistakes out.

Just think of it as cutting construction paper....its not much harder except that these "paper cuts" are much worse

 

thanks for that i just couldnt get the answer i wanted i had tried this a few years ago with sheers and it looked horrible so thats what i needed to know.. thanks

 

man mike what happened, i take it you are ok, how bad it the car.man i hate this town for just that reason these idiots around here dont pay attension Especially on watson. hope u can save her

 

So whats going on any one gonna post some more pics..

 

that dash looks pretty cool...what type of aluminum did you use?? Any more pics?

 

well im going to start on this this weekend. but i would like to know how i would get the uluminum to stick to the original parts. i want to make it like an overlay and not have it screw down at all. but i dont want it to be permenant i want it to stick good and stay down but i also dont want it to mess up the original plastic parts.

 

You’re not going to cut any decent weight aluminum with a razor blade…

Depending on what I was doing I’d probably make the straight cuts on a table saw with a carbide blade and the curved cuts with either a band saw or plasma cutter. Not having stuff like that you’re best off with an abrasive wheel and then filing/sanding the edges straight.

As far as the screw comments… the firebirds got rid of that screw together, oh so early 80’s looking dash and console in 85, and since then had a padded one with snap together trim… Probably the easiest way to do this with that would be to use double sided tape or silicon like someone suggested. In my case my consol and radio pod were AFU anyway, so I used the stock shell and made a new framework inside out of aluminum stock, so I could just replace whatever and use real fastners, though if I did this I’d probably actually make some alighment pins to keep it from moving and Velcro to keep it down

 

3M makes an adhesive for just about any job you need done...Id look into some of their silicone products for sticking...

On a side note, go to a junk yard and pick up spare parts....dont ruin urs if you plan to keep it in nice condition.

 

they make a vinyle sticker that looks like its brushed stainless... but youd need a smooth surface to stick it too. i think its the same company that does carbon fiber stickers. some one some where talked about it on this site. same company that does spray on chrome too.