Plasti Dip on a modern stereo's face plate

[ejp]

I'm probably not the only one who feels that modern car stereo face places look terrible...especially in our cars. When I replaced my head unit, I bought what I thought was among the least vulgar options that still managed to have the functionality that I was looking for (while avoiding a classic-type, original, or new Blaupunkt).

For the last year, the shininess of this thing has been bothering me. The trim ring and face were all piano black plastic. There were also multiple chrome-plastic buttons and trim parts. IMO, it just looked wrong on an old 911. Further, I have absolutely no idea why manufacturers feel the need to print a list of the heat unit's features onto the face plate. I know what it's capabilities are...I already bought the *&%#ing thing.

I bought a rattle can of matte black Plasti Dip last week to cover the shiny black plastic trim surround for the head unit so it would better match the car. In less than 10 minutes, it was dry enough to go in the car - and I was so pleased with the result that I decided to try my hand at 'dipping' the face plate.

Here are some before and after:

This first image is the car with the trim ring plast-dipped, but the face plate had not been Plasti Dipped. Ugh.





The top image is a stock photo of the unit, unmodified.

The middle one is my first try at spraying the unit. I had a few problems with the masking, resulting in a few ripples/bubbles in the matte coating. I decided to remove the Plasti Dip coating and re-mask, not only doing a better job, but also covering more of the glossiness, and putting a thicker coat along the chrome plastic trim and buttons.

The bottom is how it looks now. I left an opening in the masking tape for the chrome colored plastic button on the left, and coated the plastic around the volume knob, as well as more of the shiny screen. It also covers up some of the unnecessary lights that flash (like the "Rear USB" light).



It's far from perfect. If I wanted to spend more than just a few minutes on it, I'd take measurements and print out a 'negative' template of the mask on card stock with the corners curved (e.g. on the right side of the display), and then use an X-Acto knife to cut out masking tape very accurately. I've done some research on other forums. Most warn against the longevity of plasti-dip on interior surfaces that are often touched, so I'm not banking on this dip lasting forever on the buttons. The sharp corners on the forward/backward buttons will likely go first...but the leftmost button is rarely used, so it will likely last a long time. The volume knob has a rubber grip ring around it already, so I expect that to look pretty good for a while. The Plasti-Dip also covers the IR remote control sensor, but I've never used this and have no intention to ever use it - nothing lost there.

Anyway, I just wanted to share this result here to offer another option for those who want to make a modern stereo stand out a bit less in the interior of our old cars.

[eimkeith]

as much as I don't get plasti-dip; I completely get where you're coming from on this and am with you 100%. please continue to post as you play with this concept.

[Mike Billings]

Brilliant application!

[universeman]

Nice idea. What about one of these? Blaupunkt was of course a Porsche supplier back in the day, so that adds to the authenticity (a bit). Blaupunkt Toronto DIN Sized Radio w/ Bluetooth | Classic Car Radio & Speakers

[Dpmulvan]

I wish that was all I had to worry about with my car, nice application looks great.

[Nick Triesch]

What? Don't you know? You are not supposed to have a radio, cup holder or a clock or A/C. You just need to hear the motor and feel the road. What the heck? Just kidding. After years here on Pelican I read all this stuff from members.

[ejp]

Originally Posted by universeman

Nice idea. What about one of these? Blaupunkt was of course a Porsche supplier back in the day, so that adds to the authenticity (a bit). Blaupunkt Toronto DIN Sized Radio w/ Bluetooth | Classic Car Radio & Speakers

I checked out the Blaupunkt and it seems like the hot ticket. I know someone doing a backdate and is going with this unit, too. It doesn't do all of the stuff that my Kenwood does (e.g. HD Radio, Pandora, changeable button and display color 3-line dot matrix display, etc) - but if I had to do it all over, I'd definitely go with the Blaupunkt. It just looks better. Unless something better comes along (e.g. Porsche Classic w/ GPS) - when mine breaks...and it will, I'll check this out.

However, I think that my post may still be relevant on this end. It would appear that the Blaupunkts come with piano black trim rings:



A rattle can of satin black Krylon would last much longer for this piece, and look perfect...but Plasti Dip could also be used.

[r-mm]

I found a 2000s nakamichi that is absolutely perfect in terms of looks, matte black plastic, simple knobs and illumination. MbIV. I think it was. Search for my thread.